Economic Inequalities

Unlike many major crops, up to 90% of cocoa comes from smaller, family-owned farms. Many of those millions of farmers and workers are in poverty. This is one of the factors that allows child labor to thrive.

An Ivorian cocoa farmer alleges that managers of the children are paid 9 U.S. dollars for each child’s work week, and the children receive roughly half. This farmer explained that he feels these methods are unethical, but he struggles without them because of the low profits he earns for cocoa.

Image Licensed Under Creative Commons: Source

Based on research for Fairtrade, Ivorian cocoa farmers earn about $1,900 per year, and most of the people in rural areas do not have a source of electricity. UNESCO reports literacy rates in the Ivory Coast at roughly 44%. Parents often have their children work on the farm because they don’t have enough income to provide schooling for their them. It has also been reported that many children migrate to cocoa farms by force of people who are not their parents.  Child workers struggle to afford food, let alone send money to their family or buy medicine.