Child Exploitation & Chocolate

Issues > Child Exploitation & Chocolate

About 70 per cent of the cocoa beans used to make the worlds chocolate comes from West Africa. Since 2000, the chocolate industry has been under scrutiny for using cocoa beans from West Africa as many cocoa farms in this area use child labour. The Ivory Coast has an estimated 300,000 children working in dangerous conditions; more than half are under 14 years old. The work includes spraying pesticides, using machetes and carrying heavy loads. The children have no access to education or healthcare. Physical abuse is also common. 1

The international chocolate industry has been aware of this for over 10 years, but has only recently made some significant progress. Cadbury now has Fairtrade certification on its Dairy Milk branding, while Mars and Nestlé have some products certified under the UTZ and Rainforest Alliance schemes (both called "Fairtrade light" by critics, as they offer producers no minimum or guaranteed price for their crop). These changes are positive but greater corporate responsibility is required to end child exploitation.