Catherwood LibraryILR School

2.1 million West African children still labor at producing cocoa in Ghana and the Ivory Coast – the world’s largest cocoa exporters - despite 15 years of slow progress since the Harkin-Engel Protocol (the Cocoa Protocol) was enacted in 2001. The two nations have a combined GDP of $73 billion, less than the $100 billion in sales experienced by Nestlé last year. Cocoa prices continue to rise, increasing 13% in 2015 despite price drops in raw materials, and demand continues to grow, but the average farmer continues to live below the international poverty line which is set at $1.90 per day. A 2014 Tulane study reported that child labor has increased 21% since 2009, with 96% involved in “hazardous activity”. More recently, Project Akoma, a human trafficking operation, liberated more than 150 children last year. In order to meet the Protocol’s deadline of reducing child labor by 70% by 2020, chocolate candy companies are investing funds towards training programs to help farmers improve productivity, improving social conditions, and boosting long-term supplies of “certified” sustainable cocoa. Meanwhile, local government programs are striving to make education mandatory for children. Slow progress has been defended as a complex issue rooted in rural poverty and a long-standing culture where children either work for their families or leave home at an early age to find work. It’s estimated that only 10% of what is needed to eradicate child labor is being done. An on-site, in-depth look at current working conditions on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana (includes video).