The Cocoa Industry
Today about 70% of the world's chocolate comes from West Africa, while the remaining bit is harvested in Central/South America and Asia. About 40% of the world's cocoa comes from the small West African country Ivory Coast where in 2002 it was discovered that 284,000 children were trapped in bonded labor on cocoa farms. 15,000 of those children have been trafficked from surrounding countries, the majority of which are Mali, Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso. Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, West Africa's other cocoa producers are also known to receive and provide trafficked children. In 2001 a senator from Iowa, Tom Harkins and a House Representative from New York, Eliot Engel attempted to create a bill requiring chocolate manufacturers to put a label on their products showing the chocolate products that were not made by slaves. The chocolate industry protested this act saying that it would cause consumers to boycott, hurting the cocoa farmers even more by bringing in less money, and causing them to use more slaves. The chocolate industry began publicizing action they would take to eliminate child slavery in order to stop the government from taking action. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association adopted the Harkins-Engel Protocol aimed at establishing mechanisms to end “the worst forms of child labor.” Harkins and Engel set a 2005 deadline for the chocolate companies to eliminate child slavery, however it was extended to 2008 when it was not reached. The 2008 deadline has passed with little change made.According to the World Cocoa Foundation 50 million people worldwide depend on cocoa as a source of livelihood. It is a 13 billion dollar per year industry in the United States bringing in over 400 thousand tons of cocoa beans. By the time these cocoa beans reach the big chocolate manufacturers it is impossible to know which beans were harvested by slaves, and which were not.
To see direct information about where cocoa comes from, and where it is consumed, go to our “The Numbers” section below.
Africa
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast produces 1.3 million of the world's 3.5 million tons of cocoa per year making cocoa exports account for roughly 1/3 of Ivory Coast's total revenue. Cocoa was introduced on a European-owned plantation in 1880, and wasn't grown by Africans until around World War 1 as global cocoa prices rose. Coffee was Ivory Coast's leading export initially after gaining independence from France in 1960, however it was surpassed by cocoa in the late 1970's when the government offered various price incentives to encourage cocoa cultivation during a global coca boom. Since then cocoa productions have entrenched the economy so much that cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast rely fully on their harvest. Cocoa revenue helped fuel a civil war in Ivory Coast from 2002 to 2004 which ended up creating a unity government between the current president of Ivory Coast, Laurent GBAGBO and a rebel force occupying the northern half of the country. Several thousand French and UN troops remain in Ivory Coast working to keep the government united. Cocoa market prices are very unstable and fluctuate frequently leaving farmers with less profit, so they buy child slaves from “locateurs,” the businessmen responsible for trafficking children through out West Africa. In 2000 Ivory Coast signed an agreement with Mali pledging to punish people who use and exploit child workers, and to send the children back to Mali. In addition the UN Global Program Against Trafficking in Human Beings was started to address the trafficking issues. Although it appears the government of Ivory Coast is making progress through this protocol, and it claims to be cracking down on child slavery, the problem is still unchanged, and Ivory Coast is still making money from exports.The legal working age in Ivory Coast is 18 years old. Child labor is barred by law. Cocoa farms in Ivory Coast are generally tucked deep in the jungles, so it’s difficult for Ivory Coast’s government to know what goes on with these cocoa plantations. So children are either smuggled into Ivory Coast through back road borders, or are found in the villages near the cocoa plantations and are forced to work, keeping them out of school, and in dangerous working conditions for which they are not payed.
Trafficking
The majority of children trafficked into Ivory Coast to work on cocoa farms come from Mali, just north of Ivory Coast. The “locateurs” wait at Mali bus stations looking for children (mostly boys ages 9-15) who are begging, or lost. They offer the children well paying jobs, and lock them in warehouses near the bus stations overnight. When there are enough children the “locateurs” load the children into small vans, and drive towards the Ivory Coast border. In many cases as they reach towns close to the border, the children are forced to get out of the vans, and onto small motorcycles that will take them on back roads across the border, and then meet back up with the vans. They are taken into towns near cocoa plantations and sold to men and women who will sell them to the cocoa farmers.South and Central America
Brazil
We do not yet have any information about slavery on cocoa plantations in Brazil. This is what we have found so far.Brazil produces around 155,000 tons of cocoa annually, making it the 6th largest cocoa producer in the world. Brazil once was the world’s second largest cocoa producer, however in 1989 cocoa production began suffering due to mixed weather patterns and the Witches’ Broom fungus. By 1999/2000 cocoa output sank 75%, forcing Brazil to import, and in 2000 cocoa production reached an all-time low for Brazil, decreasing by 21%, yet cocoa exports increased by 3%, and cocoa imports increased by 67%. Brazil now produces about 6% of the world’s cocoa. Farmers in Brazil spend a lot of money on restoring and renewing cacao trees because of the fungus.
Check back for information on Central/South American cocoa production soon.
Caribbean
Trinidad and Tobago
We have not yet found any information about slave use on cocoa plantations in Trinidad and Tobago, and it was supposedly abolished in the early 1800’s. The cocoa industry there is so small today, this is the majority of what we have found.Cocoa production has decreased greatly from providing 20% of the world’s supply of cocoa in 1920, and reaching it’s peak production in 1921 at 75 million pounds of cocoa as 4th or 5th largest producer in the world, to producing between 4 and 5 million pounds of cocoa annually today. The decline began as world cocoa prices declined along with the Great Depression in the 1920’s, and production expanded to West Africa. The Witches’ Broom fungus appeared in 1928 making it much more difficult to produce as much of the crop as before, and farmers began abandoning cocoa plantations as they brought in less money. The sugar and oil industries also began expanding, causing less focus on cocoa. Between 1945 and 1965 Trinidad and Tobago’s government began pushing for cocoa rehabilitation, which lifted production a bit, but it dropped a bit more around the 1980’s, and never quite recovered. There is still hope of expanding the cocoa industry in Trinidad and Tobago today, and the cocoa that is produced there has a reputation of being pure and higher quality. Trinidad and Tobago has a goal of expanding cocoa production by 10 million pounds over a ten year period, which raises a bit of a concern about future use of slaves on cocoa plantations there.
Check back for more information on Caribbean cocoa production soon.
Asia
Indonesia
We do not yet have information about slavery on cocoa plantations in Indonesia, however here is a little information on the industry there, and a big chocolate company that benefits from cocoa produced in Indonesia.Indonesia is the United States’ second largest supplier of cocoa, importing 178 million dollars worth of cocoa in 2005, and growing since. It is also the world’s third largest producer of cocoa, expecting to be number two by 2010. The cocoa industry in Indonesia supports an estimated 800,000 families, and Indonesia’s government has focused a lot more attention on the industry recently. A small moth, called a Borer, has been a recent problem for cocoa production as it lays it’s eggs inside cocoa pods allowing it’s larvae to eat the cocoa beans inside. This problem has lowered productivity by 30% , and it is estimated that as a result farmers lose about 500 million dollars per year due to this. The Cocoa Stability Partnership (CSP), a public-private partnership involving the Indonesian government, farmers associations, research institutes, businesses and donor countries, has started a pest management system to take care of this. Mars, Inc., based out of McLean, Virginia (the makers of Mars bars, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Skittles and M&Ms) has become a big part of this, as Indonesia is a major source of their cocoa. They have supported many efforts to take care of problems like the Borers. Mars, Inc. is one of the largest private-owned corporations in the United States, and they also source many of their cocoa beans from West African cocoa plantations with slaves, and have lobbied against the legislation that would force chocolate companies to put “Slave-free” labels on their products.
Check back for information on Asia's cocoa production soon.
The Big Chocolate Companies
There are three big companies that buy the majority of cocoa from around the world, and then sell the cocoa to chocolate manufacturers. These three companies are Cargill, headquartered in Minnesota and the second largest private company in the United States, Archer Daniels Midland Company, headquartered in Illinois, and European company Barry Calebaut. According to both Cargill’s and Barry Calebaut’s websites they are taking steps to promote sustainable and responsible cocoa production. Results of these steps are still hard to see. These three companies sell the majority of their cocoa to three large chocolate manufacturers, Nestle, Hershey’s and Cadbury. In 2005 Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and Nestle were sued by the International Labor Right Fund on behalf of former child laborers after missing the 2005 Harkins-Engel Protocol deadline to eliminate child labor. The ILRF blasted the chocolate industry for refusing, “to exchange a small portion of its massive profits to ensure sufficient return for farmers and workers." The three plaintiffs, Mali children who were between ages 12 and 14 when they were taken from their homes and forced to work on cocoa plantations, said they had been forced to work 12-14 hours a day with no pay and little food or sleep. Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland and Nestle never commented on the lawsuit brought against them.For specific numbers and graphs see our "The Numbers" section below.
What can I do to help change this?
The step that comes after getting informed is indeed taking action. Currently we are researching this issue as well as various Fair Trade chocolate companies. We are posting the Fair Trade and Slave Free companies we’ve found on this knol: http://knol.google.com/k/responsible-shoppers/responsible-shopping/3vc4m1bitkaj4/3#view. Please check this out to learn about responsible shopping not only in the cocoa industry, but also with clothing, accessories and household products. Commit to buying only Fair Trade and Slave Free chocolate. That’s the biggest step. This other knol will teach you what you need to know about doing that. Please email sethyboy@gmail.com with any questions, or to get involved in what we will be doing in the future! We plan to take education about modern day slavery in the cocoa industry on the road at some point, and we are researching and brainstorming ways to ask the chocolate companies, and the US government to put an end to this. If you email us, you can be on our update list for future action!The Numbers
The following graph shows the share of countries in total cocoa bean production (2005/06 crop year):
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/market.htm
The following graph shows the world production of cocoa beans in thousands of tonnes:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/market.htm
The following graph shows the share of the main cocoa consuming countries in 2004/05:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/market.htm
The following graph shows the leadings companies for the production of industrial and specialty chocolate in 2003:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/companies.htm
The following graph shows the leadings companies for consumer chocolate in 2003:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/companies.htm
The following graph shows the leadings companies for the manufacturing of industrial and consumer chocolate in 2003:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/companies.htm
Research Resources used
June 2003 article “Chocolate and Slavery” - http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htmFeb. 2008 Fortune magazine article “Chocolate’s Bitter-Sweet Economy” - http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/
Oct. 2002 article “Oxfam slates chocolate price rises” - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_2002_Oct_10/ai_93348026
Wikipedia articles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_cocoa, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa
Statistics: http://international-tariffs.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_cocoa_chocolate_exporters and http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_wor_tra_imp_cho_coc_pre-trade-imports-chocolate-cocoa-preparations
Article “The taste of Slavery: How your chocolate may be tainted” - http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/atasteofslavery.html
Info on the big companies:
Cadbury - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury_products
Hershey’s - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersheys, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_manufactured_by_The_Hershey_Company
Nestle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nestl%C3%A9_brands
http://www.organicconsumers.org/fair-trade/cocoa072005.cfm
Other articles:
http://truevisiontv.com/slavery/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Chocolate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1272522.stm
http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/info-center/document-research-center/documents/Nkamleu2006.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6517695.stm
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=279060&ts=2006-12-18%2020:00:00.0
Brazil:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Brazil.html
The Numbers:
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/market.htm
http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/cocoa/companies.htm
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