The Dark Side of Chocolate; Child Slavery Behind the Cocoa Industry

credit : mindthis.ca

Cocoa trees are grown on small, independent farms of fewer than 5 hectares. Small farm sizes in the cocoa industry mean that production is heavily decentralized among hundreds of thousands of farmers. It is estimated that there are over 4.5 million small scale cocoa producers worldwide. These producers are scattered about the globe, but are generally located within 20 degrees of the equator, where the climate is most suitable for the crop. Altogether, producers across the globe supply 4 million tons of cocoa beans annually, and Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire now produce 70% of the world’s cocoa supply.

credit : thefrogblog.org.uk

Unfortunately, the cocoa sector in this region is also afflicted with a severe child labor problem. In 2009, the U.S. Department of State estimated that there were more than 109,000 children working in the “worst forms of child labor” in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry, and about 10 percent of those were victims of human trafficking or forced labor. In Ghana, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated in 2010 that about 43.5% of Ghanaian children aged 5-14 years were working.

Children who work on cocoa plantations are exposed to hazards such as dangerous tools, dust, flames or smoke, chemicals, and/or physically demanding labor such as carrying heavy loads or spending many hours in the sun. (source : http://laborrights.org/industries/cocoa)

Spread the word, Try buying certified Fair Trade or Slave-Free products!
These chocolate companies are known to use slave-produced chocolate :
M&M Mars
Hershey
Kraft:(including Cadbury, Nabisco, Toblerone)
Nestlé
General Mills (including Häagen Dazs)
Lindt and Sprungli (including Ghirardelli)
Unilever (including Breyer’s Ice Cream)
Godiva
and others
(themarginalized.com/forced-migration/chocolate)


or Take an Action by hosting the screening of The Dark Side of Chocolate :
 https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4058/donate_page/darkside