CHILD LABOUR IN COCOA FARMING

6 Jun

WHAT THE 2023 CHOCOLATE SCORECARD REVEALS

For 23 years the chocolate industry has been aware of child labour in the growing of cocoa in West Africa and beyond. It is important to clarify what we mean:

Child / light work - normal help of children in families or households that does not interfere with their well-being and development or extracts them from an education
Child labour - damaging to a child's physical, social, mental, psychological, and spiritual development because it is work performed at too early an age. Child labour deprives children of their childhood and their dignity.
Worst forms of child labour - work which could harm children’s health or well-being and/or expose them to danger. Agricultural work also presents great dangers, especially where children work with dangerous tools and equipment or with chemical substances, like pesticides for crops. Much of the time, children have either no safety equipment, or it is adult equipment, which does not fit properly and does not provide proper protection.

History and Context

In the two biggest cocoa growing countries (where over 60% of world cocoa comes from) the average cocoa growing family size in Côte d’Ivoire is 7,* and in Ghana, it is 6.~ This means that households typically have 4 - 11 children, and are generally poor, ranging from extreme poverty to poverty. Children born into these families are often relied upon for help on the farm for survival, and also when their parents are too old or unwell to work. These children are a form of social security in these contexts that do not have retirement pensions or funds.

In Ghana the cocoa community litany is: Ghana is cocoa and the response is and cocoa is business! I heard it going around Ghanaian cocoa farms and co-ops so many times. Most cocoa community gatherings start with this “call and response”. It reflects cocoa’s vital importance to Ghana. There are ongoing efforts to improve cocoa growing practices and skills by the chocolate companies and COCOBOD^. However, child labour remains a significant issue, and programs to address this have only recently been introduced. Ghana is also rich in minerals, including gold, which also present challenges regarding child labour.

Côte d’Ivoire is the largest cocoa producer globally, but the industry is plagued with child trafficking and labour. Although there has been an increase in awareness and the introduction of programs by chocolate companies, child labour and the worst forms of it still exist. The recent discovery of gold and minerals may lead to an increase in child labour as young people leave farms to try their luck at mining, leaving a greater need for labour on farms.

Efforts to address child labour include training programs and child labour monitoring and remediation schemes (CLMRS). Additionally, companies like Nestle and Barry Callebaut have introduced pruning and harvesting teams of young people, which can help with labour issues on farms and provide an income for those who are no longer children and do not have an income apart from the shared income from cocoa in households. As these initiatives are scaled up, they may have a positive impact on child labour issues in the future.

Aggregated Data On Child Labour & Worst Forms of Child Labour

Based on data collected from companies on the Chocolate Scorecard, it’s estimated that 1.3 million households are covered by CLMRS by these chocolate companies. Among the companies surveyed, 110,000 cases of worst forms of child labour were found. This means that combined efforts of these companies were able to identify approximately 7% of all child labour cases in West Africa.**

The “R” in CLMRS is remediation, which involves taking steps to help children out of child labour and implementing measures that prevent their return to it. When asked about their remediation efforts, the companies reported that 28,836 cases were no longer in the worst forms of child labour, which represents about 30% of those initially identified.*~ However, this is only 0.2% of the number of children in worst forms of child labour being ‘remediated’.

CLMRS coverage and effectiveness is growing, but it needs to cover all cocoa growing families, and effectiveness needs to be proven.

How are the companies doing?

There are leaders and there are laggers. A look at the Chocolate Scorecard will give an indicator of who they are, specifically looking at the Child and Forced Labour and the Agrichemical Management categories. While there has been some improvement over the years, there is still a lot of work to be done. In order to address these issues, innovative solutions are necessary. Examples of such innovation include Nestlé’s Accelerated Incubator “experiment” and the increased transparency and efforts of Tony’s Chocolonely. The key to progress is acknowledging and addressing the realities of the situation.

We also asked the companies, if they had a policy to monitor, reduce or eliminate the exposure of children to pesticides. Exposure to pesticides tips child labour into the worst forms of child labour (which is a form of slavery). So, it is a critical element of the overall child labour scoring.

Of the 53 companies that were asked this question, only 62% (33 companies) had a policy.

It was also disappointing to see that there was very little change between the last two surveys in pesticide use given that this is a recognised area with standards and increased assessments that highlight the risks not only to children but farmers and particularly pregnant women.

The chocolate industry’s journey towards eradicating child labour and modern slavery is like a long trip where the exact route is unknown. Whilst planning for the journey is important, ultimately, success lies in the execution which involves seeking guidance from those who went before you, experimentation, getting direction from locals! We believe the chocolate industry is on the journey to eradicating child labour, but there is still a very long way to go.

So if child labour is concerning to you as a consumer, look at the company scores in this area and make your chocolate choice!