LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom — “When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh,” said Drissa, a former enslaved cocoa worker, in a 2000 documentary on slavery. When consuming chocolate, one is unlikely to consider where it has come from or how the main ingredient, the cocoa bean, has been cultivated from bean to bar in cocoa-producing developing countries like Cote d’Ivoire. Child labor in cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire is of particular concern.
The Issue
Child labor in cocoa production has long plagued the Cote d’Ivoire and accounts for around 45% of the global supply. According to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research in 2022, only 5% of cocoa originates from huge plantations covering 40 hectares or more whilst smallholder farmers cultivate 90% of cocoa on family farms of two to five hectares. Between 40 and 50 million farmers and their families in the Global South rely on cocoa production for their livelihoods. Around 90% of Ivory Coast and Ghana farmers make their living primarily from cocoa.
According to Seedtrace, in 2020, around 2.1 million children were working in cocoa production across the Ivory Coast and Ghana and were “exposed to the worst forms of child labor.”
Children living in poverty find themselves working in cocoa fields to support their families. Traffickers who promise lucrative pay lure plenty of children into this dangerous work. Shockingly, relatives also sell children into hazardous labor, unaware of the risks and the absence of educational provisions. Once on the cocoa farms, many children do not see their families for years or ever as the trafficker has sold the child worker to work for years.
Violating the Laws
Children, as young as 5 often have to work up to 14 hours daily. Using chainsaws and machetes, they undertake hazardous tasks, violating international labor laws and the U.N. Convention on eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
Around 30% of these children miss out on education, a violation of international labor standards. Without education, children cannot break the cycle of poverty, according to the Food Empowerment Project.
While the Ivory Coast passed laws in 2015 mandating education until age 16 and prohibiting work for those under 16, the impact on trafficked children remains minimal. Stories like Abou Traore’s highlight this grim reality, who, despite the legal framework, has not been inside a classroom for five years, Food Empowerment Project reports.
Cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast make $0.78 a day for the cocoa they sell, well below the extreme poverty line of $1.90, Seedtrace reports. For those children working on their parents’ farms due to the low income parents find it challenging to afford their children’s education. The pervasive use of child labor is a consequence of cocoa farmers’ insufficient earnings, despite the chocolate industry’s substantial annual profits of around $103 billion.
The industry’s exploitation of child labor in cocoa production creates a cycle where parents choose to involve their children in farm labor rather than send them to school.
Nestlé’s Test Program in Côte d’Ivoire
In 2021, the International Rights Advocates (IRA) filed a lawsuit that exposed Nestle’s complicit use of child labor. In 2022, in the pursuit of tackling child labor in cocoa production in Cote D’Iviore, Nestlé has launched an ambitious initiative, the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. Nestlé collaborates with suppliers and local communities, focusing on family and community engagement.
Nestlé Cocoa Plan includes:
- Access to Education: Education is pivotal in reducing child labor. Nestlé provides access to bridging classes for children who have been out of school. The company works directly in communities to secure school kits and birth certificates, essential for children to attend school in Côte d’Ivoire.
- School Construction: Nestlé has supported the construction and renovation of more than 50 schools in Côte d’Ivoire, contributing to creating a conducive learning environment
- Impact Assessment: Nestlé has protected more than 145,000 children from the risk of child labor since 2012. The company maintains contact with the families of more than 86,000 children to assess the risk of child labor continually.
- Poverty Alleviation: Nestlé recognizes poverty as a root cause of child labor and supports farmers to improve their income and livelihoods. This includes “providing training, women’s empowering programs, and loan associations,” according to Nestlé.
- Community Engagement: Nestlé helps parents understand suitable tasks for children. The company utilizes the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) across thousands of households to detect and address child labor risks. Nestlé has shared this system with the industry, contributing to widespread use by other cocoa-buying companies.
The Future
In navigating the future of Nestlé and its commitment to tackling child labor in cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire, the company’s Cocoa Plan stands as a beacon of hope and progress. It highlights Nestlé’s dedication to improving livelihoods and contributing to breaking the cycle of poverty that fuels child labor.
By 2025, Nestlé envisions a future where every child has the opportunity to pursue education, free from the shackles of hazardous labor and ensure 100% of the cocoa used is sourced within the cocoa plan.
– Ellen Jones
Photo: Flickr