Slavery in the chocolate industry

Slavery in the deep brown Industry Chocolate is a product of the cacao loft which grows primarily in the tropical climates of western Africa and Latin America. The cacao edible bean is more commonly referred to as deep brown, so that is the term we will economic consumption throughout. Two air jacket African countries, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply 75% of the worlds coffee market. l The cocoa they grow and harvest is sold to a bodily body of chocolate companies, including nearly of the epicst in the world. In recent years, a handful of organizations and Journalists direct exposed the widespread expend of shaver grind, and in some cases thralldom, on westmost African cocoaSince that time, the patience has become increasingly secretive, make it serious for reporters to non only access farms where piece rights violations still occur, exclusively to then disseminate this information to the public. For example, in 2004 a journalist was kidnapped and stiff mi ssing today. 4 More recently, three journalists from a daily newspaper were detained by g all overnment authorities in the Ivory Coast after create an article about government corruption related to the cocoa industry. 5 The farms of westmost Africa supply cocoa to international giants such s Hersheys, Mars and Nestl revelation the industrys direct connection to pincer labour, human trafficking and slavery. chocolate contentl The Worst Forms of chela Labor In West Africa, cocoa is a commodity naturalise grown primarily for export. As the chocolate industry has grown over the years, so has the demand for cheap cocoa. Today, cocoa farmers b atomic number 18ly make a living selling the beans and often resort to the use of child cranch in order to keep their prices competitive.The children of West Africa atomic number 18 surrounded by intense poverty and most begin working at a young age to help support their family. Some children end up on the cocoa farms because they need work and they ar told the pay is good. other(a) children are sold by their own relatives to traffickers or to the farm owners, and it has in any case been documented that traffickers often abduct the young boys from small villages in next African countries, such as Burkina Faso and Mali. 3 at a time they have been taken to the cocoa farms, the children may not see their families for years, if ever.When a child is delivered to the farm by a family member, that relative collects a sum of money either up front or at the end of an agreed duration of labor. Unfortunately, the relatives do not realize that the children will be exposed to a treacherous work environment and deprived of an education. Most of the children are between the ages of 12-16, just now children as young as 7 have end up working on the cocoa farms through adulthood. A childs workday begins at sunrise and ends in the pointing. The children climb the cocoa trees and cut the bean pods employ a machete.These large, h eavy, dangerous knives are the standard tools for children on the cocoa farms. Once the bean pods have been cut from the trees, the children pack the pods into large sacks and carry or rag them through the forest. Some of the adhesive frictions were taller than me. It took two race to put the bag on my head. And when you didnt hurry, you were beaten. 2 Aly Diabate, former cocoa slave. Holding a single large pod in one hand, the children strike the pod with the machete and obtrude it open with the tip of the blade, exposing the cocoa beans. Each strike of the machete has the say-so to severely cut a childs fingers or hand.Virtually both child has scars on the hands, arms, legs or shoulders from accidents with the machete. In addition to the hazards of using a machete, children are in any case commonly exposed to gricultural chemicals on the West African cocoa farms. 3 equatorial regions such as the Ivory Coast consistently have to recognise with prolific insect populations a nd choose to spray the pods with large amounts of industrial hoidenish chemicals. Without protective equipment, children as young as 12 spray the pods with godforsaken chemicals. 6 The farm owners often provide the children with the most inexpensive food available, such as corn paste and bananas. 2 In some cases, the children sleep on wooden planks in small windowless buildings with no access to clean pee or sanitary athrooms. 2 Again, they may live in these conditions for months or even years. Most of the children are unable to attend school while they are working, which is a violation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) child labor standards. Depriving these children of an education has many short-term and long-term effects on their lives. The children of the cocoa farms have little hope of ever breaking the cycle of poverty.Slavery In recent years, cases have been documented in which children and adults on cocoa farms were hold against their will and forced to work. 2 While the term slavery has a variety of diachronic contexts, slavery in the cocoa industry involves the same core human rights violations as other forms of slavery throughout the world. chocolate_content3Cases often involve acts of physical violence, such as being whipped for working slowly or exhausting to escape. 2 There have also been cases documented where children and adults were locked in at shadow to prevent them from of my life.I had seen others who tried to escape. When they tried they were severely beaten. 2 Drissa, a recently freed cocoa slave who had never even tasted chocolate, xperienced similar circumstances and when asked what he would make known the people who eat chocolate made from slave labor, he replied that the people enjoyed something that he suffered to make, adding When people eat chocolate they are eating my flesh. 8 Is Slave-free Chocolate Possible? To date, comparatively little progress has been made in cut and eliminating child labor and slavery in the cocoa industry of West Africa.The governments of Ghana and the Ivory Coast lack the resources needed to properly inquire and prosecute employers who violate international labor laws. At the very least, they have agreed to ork to eliminate what the ILO calls the worst forms of child labor. These are defined as practices identically to harm the health, safety or morals of children and include the use of hazardous tools and any work that interferes with Currently, the vast majority of children on West African cocoa farms endure the worst forms of child labor every day.Despite their role in contributing to child labor, slavery, and human trafficking, the chocolate industry has not taken significant steps to remedy the problem. A serial of alliances and oversight boards may create good public relations, but misdirect the fact hat the industry has the power to end the use of child labor and slave labor by paying cocoa farmers a living wage for their product. The chocolate indus try is also being called upon to go against and financially support programs to rescue and rehabilitate children who have been sold to cocoa farms.To date, the industry has not committed to developing such a program. 9 chocolate_content2Are the Labels on Chocolate Meaningful? Aside from large-scale production in West Africa, a significant amount of cocoa is also grown in Latin America. This is where the majority of organic cocoa originates. 10 At this time, child labor and/or slave labor have not been documented on these cocoa farms. While it remains possible that some Latin American farms may employ these practices, it is unlikely and certainly not widespread as is the case in West Africa.The truth is that consumers today have no sure way of knowing if the chocolate they are buying convolute the use of child labor or slave labor. There are many different labels on chocolate bars today, such as Fair tack Certified, however, no single label can fix that the chocolate was made wit hout the use of exploitive labor. In 010, the founders of the Fair Trade Certification process had to suspend several of their West African suppliers receivable to evidence that they were using child labor. 3 address the root causes of the worst forms of child labor and slavery in West Africa. However, the success of these efforts will attend greatly on the genuine support or lack thus from the chocolate industry over the coming years. Recommendations It is important to offer ways in which people can make decisions to do their best to not contribute to injustices and cruelties involved in the food industry. This issue is a ery difficult one to fully access as the most serious abuses are taking place across the world.However, that does not mean our responsibility is diminish since chocolate is indeed a luxury (though some might whole tone differently) and not a necessity like fruits and vegetables. Taking all of this into servant and looking at the research that is available, at this time F. E. P. recommends that people do not buy any chocolate sourced from areas in West African where child slavery is the most pervasive. Questions What are the systemic, corporate and individual ethical issues raised by this case? In your view, is the kind of child slavery discussed in this case absolutely wrong nomatter what, or is it only relatively wrong, i. e. , if one happens to live in a society (likeours) that disapproves of slavery? 3. Who shares in the moral responsibility for the slavery occurring in the chocolateindustry African farmers? African governments? American chocolate companies likeHershey, Mars, Nestle and Kraft foods? Distributors like Archer Daniels Midland Co. ,Barry Callebaut, and Cargill Inc? Consumers like you and I who know about thesituation but continue to purchase cloud chocolate?