Author : Ketevani Kapanadze
Nowadays millions of underage children are “employees” instead of being scholars, precisely 218 million (one of every seven) of them are working. These staggering statistics are from a new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO). There are in total 166 million child laborers under the age of 14 in Africa and 74 million of those risk their lives in hazardous works. Moreover, 2.12 million children were found in child labor in Cocoa production.
Nowadays millions of underage children are “employees” instead of being scholars, precisely 218 million (one of every seven) of them are working. These staggering statistics are from a new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO). There are in total 166 million child laborers under the age of 14 in Africa and 74 million of those risk their lives in hazardous works. Moreover, 2.12 million children were found in child labor in Cocoa production.
Everyone loves chocolate, but not everyone recognizes darker side of chocolate. While some children enjoy the taste of chocolate the reality is rather different for African kids. The mainstream of chocolate is manufactured on the Ivory Coast and Ghana, respectively 40% and 30% of cocoa beans are grown in these areas. Netherland has the highest import share from Ivory Coast and also from Ghana. Then it is followed by 9 countries which are in the top-ten list of importing markets for a cocoa from West African countries.
Ivory Coast and Ghana together produce about 70% of the world’s cocoa supply. In Ghana, child labor was 33.9% in 2013 and it reached 79% in 2015. On the other hand, in Ivory Coast child labor was 26% in 2013 and in 2015 it became 50%. Obviously, child labor is on the rise in those countries. There is a huge increase in chocolates' demand and correspondingly in cocoa production. Moreover, higher poverty in West Africa is driving more children to work. Abidjan is the economic capital of Ivory Coast and it is well-known by the biggest cash crops in West Africa. The highest share of the cocoa plantation is found here. By 30 November 2012 the Abidjan Cocoa Declaration was signed with 29 big companies. The most familiar (European and US-based multinational) firms among signatories are Mars, Nestle, Cargill, and ADM. They buy cocoa usually from big suppliers but on the other hand, these suppliers purchase it from small farmers. The farmers who are the backbone of the cocoa industry tend to be small farmers. Mostly they are illiterate and the kids who are helping them to grow cocoa are less likely to attend school.
My analysis is based on survey research on child labor in West African cocoa growing areas of Ivory Coast and Ghana during 2013-2014. This survey is joint work of Tulane University and the US Department of Labor. I have studied only the data of Ghana because the survey was held in French in Ivory Coast. The age bracket with the highest frequency is 5-11 (40.39%) and the one with the lowest is 15-17 (25.6%) in Ghana. It is worth mentioning that all respondents are underage (below 18 years). About 84.78 % of respondents were engaged in the work at least one hour during the interview’s week. This implies that child labor is a big issue in Ghana that interferes with children ability to attend regular school. Those who work during underage are less likely to become educated. Among 35% of “employee” children left school at 14-15 and 30% left at 13. On the other hand, kids who were not involved in the work they did not drop out the school at all (0%).
Most importantly 68.61% of respondents have worked in cocoa farming during 2013-2014. And the approximate average time they usually spend per day on work in cocoa plantations was 4.2 hours. The average age of respondents who started working on cocoa farms for the first time was 9.5 years. About 90.29% of children did not receive the payment for the work (including kids who are working on the family's farms). Correspondingly, 75.96% of respondents replied that they do not want to become cocoa farmers. It has not escaped our notice that 62.6% of children have not even heard about child labor and 99.12% of them have worked in cocoa farming during 2013-2014. It is the painful truth but still it is important to bear in mind that about 15.88% of children who have worked in cocoa farming have never tasted chocolate.
Diane and Kirkhorn (2005) showed that children who are around 13-14 were involved in hazardous activities in Ghana. They used sharp and big knives in cacao plantation and most importantly they worked with pesticides. Based on the survey data of Ghana I found out that respondents on the average have been injured 3.6 times in cocoa plantations. About 12.86% of respondents operated tools or machinery while working on cocoa farms and 18.68% of them got injured during performing their works.
On one side big firms are competing for higher profits and on the other side thousands of cocoa farmers receive a smaller amount of share from the revenues. Furthermost the biggest part of the profit is gained after the beans are transferred to the world. While cocoa farmers and correspondingly workers (including underage children) get by on less than 1.90 US dollars a day, below the threshold of absolute poverty. In 2015, about 6% of the price of chocolate was collected by cocoa farmers because they do not have general knowledge about movements of cocoa prices on the international market. A small share is also accompanied by unstable cocoa prices. Rich crops for cocoa farms cause high supply and low prices, but on the other hand, if there are poor crops this lead to a decrease in supply which might increase the price. Unfortunately, small farmers cannot mitigate this volatility. The costs of price instability are economic uncertainty for millions of cocoa farmers. With narrow income and shortage of knowledge on market developments, the cocoa farmers are the losers in a money-spinning cocoa and chocolate industry.
The Harkin–Engel Protocol which is known as a Cocoa Protocol is an international agreement aims to stop the worst form of the child labor in the production of cocoa which is the main component in chocolate. The protocol was signed in 2000-2001. As of 2015, it is unclear if the protocol worked or not. Still, there are some improvements in the area. For instance, the topic has been kept in the international debate and government has been sensitized. But in terms of real change we have seen no progress so far.
There is no rapid solution to the problem of uncontrolled child labor in West Africa. International Labor Organization (2003) stated that poverty and low incomes are main reasons of child labor in Ghana. Godwin (2000) emphasized that magnitude of poverty level affects the decision of child whether to become an “employee” or a scholar. Manzo (2005) focused on child slavery on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast. She mentioned that main factors of child slavery are high labor costs, unequal terms of trade, and capitalist expansion. However, all factors which Kate Manzo mentioned in her article I would name as a GREED!
So, have you ever thought who produced your eaten chocolates?!
See tables in Annex
http://www.pdf.investintech.com/preview/b188a494-5d65-11e6-b7ef-002590d31986/index.html
http://www.pdf.investintech.com/preview/b188a494-5d65-11e6-b7ef-002590d31986/index.html
