Chocolate should be enjoyed by children, not made by them
Increasingly, companies are fighting for children’s rights, establishing systems to prevent child labour. But there is still a long way to go.
On the Be Slavery Free blog we explore how companies can identify child labour, take action when it’s found, and prevent the risk of it happening in the first place.
Why is child labour still an issue in the Chocolate Industry?
To get to the how of solving the child labour issues in the cocoa growing in West Africa we have to know the why. To find the answer to the why we have to look at the cause.
ANTONIN’S STORY
I met Antonin in Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire as I was walking from my hotel to find an ATM. He crossed the road and walked alongside me and asked, “are you a big man?”. A big man in West Africa is someone who has influence, has some power and is generally considered wealthy. What pursued in his broken English and my very broken French was a discovery of his story.
CHILD LABOUR AND EMERGING TRENDS ON MONITORING SYSTEMS
Around 75% of the world’s cocoa is grown in West Africa. Child labour issues in West Africa for cocoa have been known for over 20 years. According to the NORC Report around 1.56 million children are estimated to be in child labour in two countries alone – Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.