Child Slavery In The Chocolate Industry

• Where are cocoa beans primarily sourced from?

More than half of the world’s cocoa beans are sourced from Africa. In 2019, Africa “held a share of about 77% of the global cocoa production.” [1]

The Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are countries in Africa, are the two largest exporters of cocoa beans, with the Ivory Coast taking the lead in 2019 with a value of “about 3.57 billion US dollars worth of cocoa bean [exportation] worldwide”. [2]

On the other end, the largest cocoa bean importers are the Netherlands and the United States. In 2019, the Netherlands imported a value of 2.28 billion US dollars worth of cocoa beans and the United States imported a value of about 931 million US dollars worth of cocoa beans. [3] Within these countries, some of the leading chocolate companies that import cocoa beans include Hershey, Nestle, and Cadbury.

• Child labor during cocoa sourcing?

Since the Ivory Coast is the largest exporter of cocoa beans, a lot of the forced child labor that occurs during cocoa sourcing happens in this country. However, forced child labor in cocoa sourcing also happens in other countries that export cocoa beans, such as Ghana. The victims in this large-scale problem are children. It is estimated that about 2.1 million children are forced into working in cocoa farms! [4] While in these cocoa farms, children must work long hours each day, throughout the span of many years, to source cocoa beans. They must complete dangerous agricultural work, such as using chainsaws to clear the forests where cocoa trees are located, climbing tall cocoa trees to cut down cocoa pods, cracking pods open with machetes, and transporting heavy sacks (that could weigh up to 100 pounds!) of cocoa pods on their backs.

Aly Diabate (former cocoa child slave):

“Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn’t hurry, you were beaten.” [5]

Apart from exposure to tools and procedures that could wound them, these children are also exposed to the chemicals and pesticides that are sprayed onto cocoa forests. They also are given low-quality food, do not have access to clean water or bathrooms, and often are forced to sleep in “wooden planks in small windowless buildings.” [6]

• Who are the victims?

As previously mentioned, children who are forced to work in these cocoa farms are at the forefront of this issue with cocoa sourcing. While any child, no matter their nationality or ethnicity, could fall victim to forced labor in cocoa farms, the children who are working in the Ivory Coast (where the majority of cocoa beans are sourced) are primarily from the neighboring, and poor, countries of Burkina Faso and Mali. [7]

These children are very young, typically ranging from ages 12 to 16, but children as young as 5 have been spotted by reporters. [8] Since these victims are so young and vulnerable, they are more easy to manipulate and exploit. Despite the fact that the Ivory Coast alone "supplies 30% of the cocoa beans for the world chocolate market," and despite the fact that these children are conducting dangerous and demanding labor, these child laborers earn only about $0.90 to $1.00 daily if they are lucky. [9] That is below the current international poverty line, which stands at $1.90 per day! [10] However, the truth is that not all child laborers get paid for their work.

These victims are also subject to mental and physical abuse. If they do not work fast enough, efficiently enough, or try to escape, they are subject to being locked up at night or have to endure physical violence (such as whipping). In the end, leaving this type of environment becomes very difficult for these young children, who often also experience language barriers or who do not recognize themselves as victims to this forced labor problem. [11]

• What is human trafficking?

1. The Act (What is Done) → The: Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbour, or receive of people

2. The Means (How it is Done) → Through: Threat or actual use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of position of vulnerability, or givement of payments/benefits to a person in control of the victim

3. The Purpose (Why it is Done) → For the purpose of exploitation, such as: The prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, or the removal of organs [15]

• Forced child labor as part of human trafficking?

Forced child labor is not only a form of modern-day slavery, but it is also a type of human trafficking: forced labor. Labor trafficking involves the recruitment, harbor, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person—in this case a child—for labor, services, slavery, or involuntary servitude. This labor is implemented through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. [16] The process through which a child ends up in a cocoa farm involves multiple parties. First, a human trafficker obtains a child from a local village through the means of deception, fraud, or force. Then, they take that child to another human trafficker, who transports that child through the Ivory Coast border. Finally, that person takes the child to yet another human trafficker who is in charge of selling the child to cocoa farmers. Cocoa farmers pay to use the child for labor; many pay a price that starts at $280. [17]

• Characterizing forced child labor as human trafficking:

According to San Francisco’s “Human Rights Commision,” some factors that characterize labor trafficking and human trafficking are:

1. The victim’s movement appears to be controlled

2. The victim does not know their home or work address

3. The victim does not have access to their earnings

4. The victim is unable to negotiate working conditions

5. The victim works excessively long hours over long periods

6. The victim has limited or no social interaction

7. The victim has limited contact with their family or with people outside of their immediate environment [18]

By 2019, the profits rose to 103 billion US dollars! [24] Based on these facts alone, it is clear that there is a high demand for chocolate. Not only is there a demand for chocolate itself, but there is also a demand for cheaper cocoa in order for chocolate companies to make more money, which forces cocoa farm owners to sell their cocoa for lower prices. When cocoa beans are sold for lower prices, cocoa farm owners are more likely to employ forced child labor in order to keep their prices competitive and still earn some profit themselves, but the children doing the hard labor do not earn as much. For perspective, during the 1970’s, cocoa bean prices were higher and made up nearly 50% of the retail value of a chocolate bar sold—meaning that cocoa farm owners and farmers were being paid more. Today, cocoa bean farmers—who perform the hard and dangerous labor to source cocoa beans—earn only 6% of a chocolate bar’s retail value, while manufacturers and retailers keep around 80% of a chocolate bar’s retail value. [25]

• Lack of Law Enforcement

While there are currently some laws in place to protect children from being exploited for their labor, these laws are not heavily enforced and continue to be violated.

For one, according to US law, the importation of goods sourced “wholly or in part with forced labor” is illegal and comes with legal consequences. [26] However, the United States is the second largest importer of cocoa beans, which is a raw product that is known to be sourced using the forced labor of children. Since this law is not being enforced enough—considering that American companies continue to import unethically sourced cocoa beans—companies do not feel enough pressure to expand their strategies to trace down the sourcing of cocoa beans.

On another point, children working in cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast are exposed to dangerous tools and have to carry out dangerous procedures in order to obtain cocoa beans. However, this violates international labor laws and the regulations put in place by the United Nation’s “Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention” that aim to protect workers and children. [27] Further, according to standards put in place by the International Labour Organization’s “Child Labour Standards,” children have to attend school, even if they are child workers, but about 40% of the children working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast alone do not go to school. [28] In 2010 and 2016, the Ivory Coast government also passed legislations that “define[d] child labor and set penalties for its use,” but child labor continue to flourish instead of decreasing. [29]

The lack of proper enforcement of these laws traces back to the nation’s economy. Since law enforcement does not receive enough funds to complete their job adequately, officials do not enforce the laws to the extent to which they should be enforced. For instance, the primary anti-trafficking police unit, which is located hours away from cocoa farms where child labor is used, receives a yearly budget of only $5,000—an amount that is not enough to have a successful law-enforcing unit. [30]

As long as laws set in place to protect child laborers continue to not be enforced by those in power, the problem of forced child labor in the cocoa sector will continue to be prevalent.