Is Child Labor-Free Cocoa Possible?
Children and Chocolate. When you pair the two in the U.S., the child is usually enjoying a sweet, tasty chocolate bar. When you pair the two in Ghana or Cote d’Ivoire or any other cocoa producing country, it can mean a child working in a cocoa field- hardly an endearing image. But, is it that cut and dry? The definition of child labor carries with it a lot of complexity. When you consider that the cocoa that goes into your chocolate bar could come from small-scale cocoa farms, run by families, does that picture change? Can we compare the child that grows up on a family farm in America, who is responsible for certain chores on the farm and learns their parent’s work, to the child working in the cocoa field?
The answer is probably, “it depends on the circumstances”. But, with an industry as infamous for child slavery, trafficking, and forced labor as the cocoa industry how can an external auditing system, like Fair Trade, make that call?
A very troubling documentary from the BBC program, Panorama, reported that in September 2009, Kuapa Kokoo, the Fair Trade cocoa co-operative in Ghana which supplies Divine Chocolate, suspended seven out of 33 of their cocoa farming communities after they were found to be using the worst forms of child labor. After taking steps to address these cases, their Fair Trade certification was re-instated.
Fair Trade advocates claim that this proves the system is working. That, unlike non-certified cocoa which cannot be tracked to a particular farm, the Fair Trade system audits the supply chain, giving us access to the farmer and their methods of production. The Fair Trade Labeling Organization does prohibit child labor. However, they require the members of these producer organizations to be small-scale farmers. They explain, “The majority of the members of the organization must be smallholders (small-scale farmers) who don’t depend on hired workers all the time, but run their farm mainly by using their own and their family’s labour.”
I know, on the surface this all seems reasonable. If the children are your family, it’s ok, if they’re not, it’s not ok. But can third party verification systems really check everyone’s birth records? Can they be expected to police for child labor?
What I find more promising is Kuapa Kokoo’s recently ratified Policy on Child Labor. The policy lists some specific actions the cooperative is taking to address the child labor issue among its members; such as, internal control systems to monitor and promote compliance with Fair Trade standards; training and community action planning; a child labor awareness campaign; and a remediation team and rehabilitation program for identified victims.
At a recent Kid’s Camp at Kuapa Kokoo, run in partnership with the NGO Trading Visions, the children at the camp helped define what acceptable work is and what is unacceptable. The following definitions are taken from Tom Allen’s “Report from a child labour workshop in Ghana.”
- “Child work” is work that is limited to a few hours a day, and supervised by responsible adults. It includes doing household chores, learning your parent’s trade, and working at school under the supervision of teachers (e.g. cleaning and sweeping, or tending the school garden).
- “Child labor” is excessive work, unsupervised work, and work that interferes with education and development or exploits the child.
Rather than focusing on just enforcement, Kuapa Kokoo is attempting to change the culture of their community. It’s important to remember that when the inspectors are away and whether they’re your parent or not, if an adult gives a child work to do, it is expected that they obey. What this type of child labor policy can do is lay out for the adults exactly what ways a child may benefit from attending school and having limited work on the farm, and what are the negative consequences they will face within their own community for choosing to use exploitative child labor.
This community effort to address local child labor seems like the key piece to have in addition to pressure from consumers and cocoa buyers. While I still don’t believe the Fair Trade system can guarantee there is no child labor involved in Fair Trade chocolate, Fair Trade cooperatives do have a more direct connection to consumers and buyers, and are therefore more likely to address this issue in a responsible manner.
But as the “big” cocoa industry players like Hershey, Nestle and World’s Finest try to find ways to certify that their chocolate is child labor free in accordance with the Harken-Engel protocol we’re once again dealing with the question of how outsiders can distinguish between child labor and child work in the first place. And who will bear the responsibility to do the policing; governments, corporations, exporters? Even with clear standards, is it possible to know what is happening on the farms that we have no connection to?
Tags: child labor, Chocolate
Everything here is amazing, really love the work!!!
I think the last question in this article is the key to this issue. “Having connections” is the key to justice issues. In a relationship-centered system, there is knowledge of the reality of a situation, and there is more likely to be a respect for the dignity of every person involved. This includes the necessity of an understanding on the part of all that certain actions (such as “child labor”) are unjust and the necessity of finding solutions to unjust situations at the most immediate level possible — subsidiarity.
Our best guidelines for bringing about social justice are found in the tradition of our Catholic Social Teaching. The dignity of the human person, seeking the common good in community, and solidarity are all major parts of the Fair Trade movement. We all have a right to make a decent living for ourselves, but with it comes the responsibility to not do so at the cost of the good of others — especially children. Fair Trade methods are the most respectful way to enforce child labor free business because of their reliance on relationships.
This discussion about child labor-free cocoa is good. While there is no system that is perfect, I believe that it is most important to educate, educate, educate – the farmer and we, the consumer, to raise awareness about the negative effects of child labor. Comparing the American farmer to the farmer in Africa is complicated because of CULTURAL NORMS, i.e., in the U.S. we are required by law to send our kids to school. Is that the case in other parts of the world? Again, their idea of school may be different than ours. I am not sure that we require kids to “clean, sweep, or tend the school garden.” Also, the issue of authority – in many countries youth do what they are told with no questions. Are kids aware enough to know that they are being expoited? It looks as though Kuapa Kokoo listened to concerns and made changes that met with Fair Trade standards. In reference to Nestle,and others, do countries abroad have the regulatory capacity that we have to oversee these issues? All corporations should have folks on the ground to assure that standards are met. Are there industry standards like in any other industry to assure that kids are not being exploited? Even though we do not live in a perfect world, could there be some kind of consortium of representatives from government, corporations, and exporters to work together. It seems like reps from such a consortium could make unscheduled visits to the farms. Corporations are ultimately responsible for how their product is made, marketed and sold, so they should bear most of the burden to make sure children are not “slave labor.”
There is much to think about regarding this issue. First, there is the serious problem of child exploitation. This leads to the discussion of social norms and definitions of child labor. Then there is also the question of “the letter of the law” and “the spirit of the law” as well as the question of policing.
It sounds as though Kuapa Kokoo has been addressing the problem with policy, monitoring, and education. I would venture a non-professional guess that changing a culture requires patience and a willingness to listen carefully to the concerns of those involved. The article states, “This community effort to address local child labor seems like the key piece to have in addition to pressure from consumers and cocoa buyers.” This last component is where we non-Africans-and-non-cocoa-farmers come in. However, we, too, need to listen at least as much as we denounce child labor; most of us cocoa/chocolate consumers have never lived the poverty that today’s cocoa farmers live.
Finally, there is the big question of what to do about the bigger companies getting a “child labor free” certification. I am afraid I’ve become skeptical about the motives of such companies whose bottom line is profit rather than what is best for all people concerned. This is where the letter of the law and the minimum monitoring would come into play. Perhaps our biggest task, as American consumers, is to begin the difficult task of changing aspects of our own culture, which certainly abhors child labor, but which often rewards ruthless capitalism. We need to prioritize for ourselves first, and eventually for our society, the value of ethical business practice that puts people ahead of profit. To that end, all monitoring entities could play a role: “governments, corporations, exporters,” as well as consumer advocacy groups and individual consumers.
These are important issues, which raise difficult questions about relative cultural values, human rights, and social justice. How to balance the right of children to both education and play, the right of families to labor productively together and of parents to guide children’s activities, and the right of consumers to have reliable information about products? A benefit of the Fair Trade world is that these questions are acknowledged, discussed, and addressed, albeit imperfectly, as we slowly progress toward economic justice.
The issue of child labor is often an issue of economics for the family. Children are considered to be necessary wage-earners when there is not enough income from the parents to support the family. When we can address the issue of poverty adequately then children will have the “luxury” of being in school instead of at work.
Thank you for your intelligent work!