Child Trafficking and Slavery
In the Chocolate Industry
Megan Green
100483981
Timothy MacNeill
Social Policy
SSCI‐1200U
Thursday, March 12th, 2015 INTRODUCTION Historically, the chocolate industry in Africa has been accused of covering up the trafficking of children and the use of child labour in coco plantations. It has been proven that young children work as slaves in the chocolate industry (Mistrati & Romano, 2012). Despite the Harkin-Engel Protocol agreement signed in 2001 stating that, “child labour and the trafficking of children are prohibited in the coco industry after 2008”, the use of child labour is prevalent amongst coco plantations on the Ivory Coast (Mistrati & Romano, 2012). This paper will address the main social issues and effects of child trafficking in the coco industry, and propose policy solutions to help combat these issues. The international chocolate trade is associated with the use of child trafficking and child labour which has created allegations of abusive conditions raising human rights concerns for the government and coco industry participants
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In the documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate (2012), Mistrati and Romano ask the companies Nestle, Mars, Cargill, ADM, Kraft and Barry Callebaut for interviews addressing the social issue of child slavery in the coco industry but they all decline to comment on the film (Mistrati & Romano, 2012). Instead, these companies issued a statement through their joint spokesperson stating, “The vast majority of coco farms are not owned by the companies that make chocolate or supply coco and therefore we don’t have direct control over coco farming and labor practices” (Mistrati & Romano, 2012). These companies also mention that the industries deny all responsibility for the poor working conditions (Mistrati & Romano,
Unfortunately, not everyone involved in the production of this popular sweet benefits. Today, over 70 percent of the world’s chocolate is exported from Africa (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 10). While chocolate industry flourishes under international demand, the situation in Côte d’Ivoire in particular illustrates dependency theory and highlights the need for the promotion of Fair Trade. Chocolate has had a considerable impact on the country’s economic structure and labor practices.
The videos provided for this subject builds a great understanding on what happens behind the scenes and how the production cycle of chocolates turns deadly for few. The chocolate industry is being accused having legit involvement in human trafficking. The dark side of chocolate is all about big industries getting their coco from South America and Africa industries. However, it is an indirect involvement of Hersheys and all other gigantic brands in trafficking (Child Slavery and the Chocolate Factory, 2007).
In the book Bitter Chocolate by Carol Off, is found a passage on a boy’s account of being sold into slavery. At only the age of fourteen, he went looking for an opportunity to make some money. After being deceived by a child trafficker, and brought by night through the jungle, the author goes on to say, “…a stranger came for him. Money changed hands between the man who had taken him from the bus station and the stranger. The transaction completed, Malik and the other boy were told to leave with the individual. …for the next several years… Malik slaved on a cocoa plantation” (125). This is just one of many accounts that occur daily. To best understand this problem, which is very prominent in Cote d’Ivoire, a region that supplies about half of the world’s cocoa, the economy and those that influence it must be taken into consideration. Several issues must be addressed in order for cocoa farmers to receive more pay for their crop, which in turn will reduce slavery.
Smaller chocolate companies have taken steps to remove, and improve its chain supplies. “…West African cocoa farms is a longstanding and difficult problem for the entire chocolate industry. But while Hersey’s primary competitors have least taken steps to reduce or eliminate slavery and other forms of abusive labor under cruel conditions…” (Robbins 1) Hersey’s should also do its best to eliminate all issues towards abusive labor practices, human trafficking, and its forced labor. Doing so will make hersey’s appear much professional and caring towards its cocoa supply. As Robbin argues if other competitors have purchased cocoa from certified farm fields that are free from forced labors then Hersey’s can also take the same steps to eliminate such
Child labor is very different in the industrial revolution compared to the chocolate industry, however there are some similarities. This issue occurred back then but is still around now, especially through different aspects of child labor; such as how these children are treated, which is not very friendly. Even the political role plays a major part in this situation. On the other hand there are some benefits from it, but it is still a terrible and unfortunate thing to happen to the children.
Market research and information about the industry is very important to the organization because it will allow the organization to position itself well in terms of sourcing chocolate raw materials and in identifying the market for its products. For example, understanding that some chocolate product purchases are seasonal, e.g., at Christmas; around Mother’s Day; and, on Valentine’s Day, allows the organization to have more product on hand and to create displays, in store, that will increase purchases and attract more customers when existing customers tell their friends about the availability of high end products, at reasonable prices, in their store.
Cowgirl Chocolates have struggled to achieve probability and a growth in sales with it being in the business for four years thus far. What has kept her business afloat has been the success of the positioning of some of the locations of her chocolates, but while those were successful she has had a hard time expanding outside of Moscow. It is hard to find Cowgirl Chocolate customers because of the odd mixture of hot and spicy taste with chocolate. You have to be craving something very different to want to try this product. This has placed her products into the specialty foods category. I feel as though with the “tough” cowgirl or cowboy picture in the company logo it draws more men to try it then women. The statistics for the market show that men prefer hot and spicy taste rather than women. Something else that would draw men to the tryout the company would be the company logo, “Sissies Stay Away,”
2. 	In the exposition of The Chocolate War, Jerry Renault, the freshman quarterback, was receiving constant blows from opposing players. Jerry was trying to get the ball to his receiver, the Goober, but not having any luck.
Child Labour In the past few years, a great deal of attention has been drawn to the global problem of child labour. Virtually everyone is guilty of participating in this abusive practice through the purchase of goods made in across the globe, usually in poor, developing nations. This issue has been around for a great length of time but has come to the forefront recently because of reports that link well known American companies like Wal-Mart and Nike to the exploitation of children. Prior to this media attention, many Americans and other people in developed nation were blind to the reality of the oppressive conditions that are reality to many.
Chocolate companies changed from minimal production to massive manufacturing. Thus, targeting different market segments that weren’t possible to reach due to the high cost of the good. The market was able to shift because of the industrialization process that includes several innovations, such as van Houten’s process, this allowed a broad production and distribution of chocolate that spread around the globe.
In 2013, about 7.4 million tons of chocolate is expected to be consumed globally, totaling to nearly $110 billion (Pardomuan, Nicholson). I can honestly say that I will be one of the many people who contribute immensely to those massive quantities. Chocolate has always been one of my guilty pleasures, leading me to consider myself a “chocoholic.” After 20 years of eating chocolate, I learned there is more to chocolate than meets the eye. Many chemicals compose each delicious piece creating multiple psychological effects on the mind. With the knowledge of the chemical and psychological influences that chocolate has on the human mind and body and my own curiosity as to why I love it so much, this led me to ask: Why is chocolate considered such a pleasurable and craveable food?
Child Labor is not an isolated problem. The phenomenon of child labor is an effect of economic discrimination. In different parts of the world, at different stages of histories, laboring of child has been a part of economic life. More than 200 million children worldwide, some are as young as 4 and 5 years old, are slaves to the production line. These unfortunate children manufacture shoes, matches, clothing, rugs and countless other products that are flooding the American market and driving hard-working Americans out of jobs. These children worked long hours, were frequently beaten, and were paid a pittance. In 1979, a study shows more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered child labor (United Nation labors agency data). In 1998, according to the Campaign for Labor rights that is a NGO and United Nation Labor Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories, and household. Some human rights experts indicate that there are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time under unsafe work environment. Based upon the needs of the situation, there are specific areas of the world where the practice of child labor is taking place. According to the journal written by Basu, Ashagrie gat...
From Dairy Queen’s Chocolate Extreme Blizzards to a Hershey’s bar, I love chocolate of all kinds mixed with all assorted goods. I believe that everyone knows that chocolate is bad for humans to consume in large/multiple quantities. But I also heard of people having “chocolate addictions”. I realize that most people are exaggerating when they say they are “addicted” to chocolate, but it lead me to wonder if it is possible to really be addicted to chocolate and if it is something that could happen to anyone.
The Theobroma cacao tree is where it all started. Olmecs, Aztecs, and Mayans were the original consumers of cocoa: they would form it into a drink and ingest it for medicinal reasons (Allen Par. 7). The Spanish then brought it back to Europe and continued to treat a variety of ailments with it (Allen Par. 7). In the last 40 years people have started to question the health benefits of chocolate, but new research is starting to prove that the Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayans and Spaniards were not too far off. Now, the pods from the tree containing cocoa beans are collected, and the cocoa beans are taken out of the pod (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). The beans are then fermented, dried, roasted, then ground to make cocoa liquor (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). The cocoa liquor is then combined with sugar, vanilla, and cocoa butter to make what is now known as chocolate (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). Controversy over the health benefits and detriments of chocolate is slowly subsiding, but there are many things that a lot of people still do not know about how chocolate can affect ones health. Chocolate is misunderstood.
Picture this, your young, beautiful, daughter is walking down the street with her best friend, just walking to the local ice cream shops like she would do another day. But today she was kidnapped by people in a big, white van that drove away quickly with dust trailing behind leaving you to worry about where she is. Now, she is in a different country being used for sexual reasons or for cheap labor. In the past few years, many African children have faced hardships with human trafficking. Human trafficking is when people kidnap someone and bring them across borders to use them for horrible things. Many children are used for sexual reasons, illegal child selling like in factories where babies are sold for ritual, trafficking, and other purposes (Akor, Ojoma) Victims are being used for cheap labor. One specific place this is a problem is in Nigeria because of the population being so large and the amount of the population that is poor is very massive. Poverty is an extensive problem for the unemployed and poverty stricken people.