Allegations of labor exploitation in the chocolate industry
Encyclopedia : A : AL : ALL : Allegations of labor exploitation in the chocolate industry
| The [Neutral point of view>neutrality] of this article is [NPOV disputedisputed]. Please see the discussion on the [chocolate plantations in west Africa. Some west African states have been accused of allowing the practice of slave labour in cocoa plantations. In the Côte d'Ivoire boys aged between 12 and 16 have been documented as being sold as slaves. Most slaves are impoverished young men and boys from Benin, Togo, and especially Mali. Children found alone at bus stations or begging for food are lured to the Ivory Coast and sold there. [link]Traffickers promise them paid work together with housing and education; instead they suffer forced labour and severe abuse working on cocoa farms. The Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa is the largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans. West Africa, notably the Ivory Coast, supplies nearly 50% of world cocoa. Slavery is persistent and hard to detect in remote Ivorian farms. [link]
Contents
DisclosureA 1998 report from UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, concluded that some Ivory Coast farmers use enslaved children, many of them from the poorer neighboring countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. A report by the International Labour Organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, also found that trafficking in children is widespread in West Africa.The practise first reached a wider public in 2001 with a British television documentary , Slavery made by Kate Blewett and Brian Woods. This claimed that 90% of Ivory Coast cocoa plantations use forced labour. A ship was found near West Africa allegedly carrying child slaves. Another reporter, Sudarsan Raghavan working for Knight Ridder, travelled deep into the Ivory Coast where farms used child slaves. [link] He claimed the Ivorian government is involved in the practice as are the farmers and chocolate manufacturers in America and Europe and chocolate consumers may not know of the problem associated with the chocolate they buy. Following the broadcast of this programme some British consumer groups demanded that the United Kingdom’s major chocolate producers, Cadbury and Nestle source chocolate that is untainted by slavery. These large companies buy cocoa at International Exchanges and Ivorian cocoa is mixed with other cocoa making it impossible to tell which cocoa is slave produced. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association, a trade group for American chocolate makers, acknowledges that slaves are harvesting cocoa on some Ivory Coast farms. [link] A BBC reporter, Humphrey Hawksley [link] reported in 2001 that uncounted numbers of children have been reported missing in Sikasso, Mali. Many of them are believed kidnapped and sold as slaves for about US$30. Other children are sold by their parents. In the poor parts of Mali street sellers and other slum families sometimes sell their children into slavery for a few dollars. It is believed 15,000 children or more are in the Cote d'Ivoire, some under 11. They are unlikely ever to be reunited with their families. Often they are held forcibly on farms and made to do tiring work for 80 to 100 hours per week. Those who attempt to escape are beaten. A former slave, Aly Diabate said, [link] Malick Doumbia who used to be a child-slave said that he had escaped but thousands are still there and if just one was freed through the report that would be good. The Sikasso police chief is sure the children have gone to slavery. He says the children are overworked till they become sick and some die. Save the Children Fund established a refuge for former slave-children. Currently no child is there. Mali's Save the Children Fund director, Salia Kante, has stated, Calls to actionAction has been called for by a range of anti slavery groups. Consumer boycotting has been suggested. A general boycott of cocoa products would be relatively ineffective, as non-slave products would also be harmed.
In the organisation’s opinion companies ought to buy from plantations directly to ensure proper treatment of workers. If they use Middlemen or exchanges they should work with the governments of the countries, which grow cocoa to enforce acceptable conditions of work.[link]
Obtaining Fairly-Traded ChocolateFairly-Traded Chocolate are the only chocolate products at present which are guaranteed not to contain any sourced from a slave plantation. A full range of high quality fairly traded chocolate products are available to consumers through shops in the UK. In the USA and elsewhere fairly traded chocolate products are available online. This link has more information about how to get fairly traded chocolate online. [link]Response to ActionThe Chocolate Manufacturers Association is surveying Ivorian farms. The United States Labor Department is trying to end West African child labour in cooperation with the International Labour Organization. See also
Further reading
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating. |