Child Labour in Chocolate Industry

Duha Abufarha

1301-005

Children in most areas of the world enjoy the taste of chocolate. Unfortunately, this is
not the case for African children who are forced to work in cocoa farms with terrible
working conditions. Many ethical concerns have been linked to major chocolate
companies. This paper will examine this issue and will illustrate the connection between
it and Neoliberalism, world system theory as well as Communist Manifesto.

Cocoa crops grow in tropical countries such as West Africa, Indonesia and Latin
America (Franzen & Mulder, 2007). 70% of total cocoa production is produced in West
African countries (Wessel & Wessel, 2015). The data shows that the cocoa industry in
Africa has great exposure to labour rights issues includes forced and child labour.
Children between age 11 and 16 are forced to work in bad work conditions, often for 12
hours a day, seven days a week, without receiving payment or an education (“The Dark
Side of Chocolate,” 2010).

According to World system theory, we have a “global division of labour” where core
countries such as America and European countries exploit other “peripheral” countries
and use their resources to their advantage (Reifer, 2006). They claim that they want to
develop them, while, in fact, they are taking their resources. Slavery, forced labour,
illegal child labour, and a great deal of deceit can all be seen in the history of the cocoa
industry (Hinch, 2019). Governments and the cocoa and chocolate companies drove
our attention away from those violations (2019). Core countries only care about their
own profits regardless of the method that they will use or the place that they will have it
from.

Unfortunately, Our neoliberal ideology encourages this type of situation. We are doing
this for our own advantage to enjoy the taste of chocolate cheaply. One essential
component of neoliberalism is the extreme devaluation of labour. For working 12 hours
a day, those children are being paid incredibly low wages ranging from $135 to 189 a
year (Schrage, 2005). Besides that, working conditions for African children are
extremely hazardous. They undergo dangerous tasks, such as lifting heavy loads, using
sharp instruments, or being exposed to agrochemicals, both of which are known as
WFCL (worst forms of child labour) practices (Bertrand, 2015).

Our greedy capitalist world led to very ugly consequences. Children in Africa are sent
from a young age to work in cocoa farms in order to get money for their families.
Capitalism is changing the meaning of the family as Marx & Engels said: “all the family
ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple
articles of commerce and instruments of labour” (1848). Additionally, The main goal for
Bourgeoisies according to Marx & Engels is to gain as much surplus value as possible
and keeping the prices of their products as cheap as possible simultaneously in order to
compete strongly in the market. This would only be achieved by using cheap labour and
 making them work for long hours and with wages less than the value of the
accumulative labour. Planters of cocoa beans claimed that the reason they use child
labour is that the price of cocoa beans is so cheap that they can't afford not to
(Yusnaidi, 2018). The big chocolate industries have the power of deciding the cocoa
price (2018). Those children are paid extremely low wages between $135 to 189 a year
for working 12 hour days (Schrage, 2005)! In Capitalism, "Labor is a commodity, like
any other, and its price is therefore determined by exactly the same laws that apply to
other commodities” (Engels, 1847). Labor price will be “the lowest, the minimum,
required for the maintenance of life” (1847). 

In conclusion, While enjoying chocolate, it is important to be cautious about the origins

of cocoa supply. Forced child labour continues to exist in West Africa, where children
are forced to work in dangerous, unjust, and inhumane conditions.

Annotated bibliography

Bertrand, W., & de Buhr, E. (2015). Trade, development and child labor: Regulation and law in
the case of child labor in the cocoa industry. Law and Development Review, 8(2), 503-
521. doi: http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.mtroyal.ca/10.1515/ldr-2015-0019

The article discusses the Harkin-Engel Protocol that was designed to counter
child labour in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana's cocoa industries.  The authors of this
paper were first assigned by the US Department of Labor in 2006 to monitor the
Harkin- Engel Protocol implementation on behalf of the US Congress. The
authors' familiarity with private sector voluntary arrangements for promoting
social reform in developed countries is discussed in this article. This essay
focuses on specific concerns around the role of legislation and law in this phase.

Engels, F. (1847). The principles of communism. (1st ed.). xhglc Publicaciones Editoriales.

Franzen, M. & Mulder, B., M. (2007)Ecological, economic and social perspectives on cocoa
production worldwide. Biodivers Conserv ,16, 3835–3849.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9183-5

Cocoa planting shows a positive impact on biodiversity. However, there have

been opposing goals to improve cocoa production. This article summarises
cocoa literature and focuses on some trade-off that is a result of the opposing
goals. In addition, this article gives two main recommendations when putting
strategies to reduce the negative consequences of these trade-offs. First is to
focus on farm diversification. The second is determining the most powerful
economic incentives for keeping cocoa production in the shade.

Hinch, R. (2019). Chocolate, Slavery, Forced Labour, Child Labour, and the State. A
Handbook of Food Crime: Immoral and Illegal Practices in the Food Industry and What
 to Do About Them, 77-92. https://books.google.ca/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=mWSzDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA77&ots=60oxE9YdYc&sig=EM8z21vK
7mBeflrHz7eTjN7q1bE#v=onepage&q&f=false\

Reifer, T. (2006) World-systems analysis. Cambridge dictionary of sociology. Cambridge

University Press.

Schrage, E. J., & Ewing, A. P. (2005). The cocoa industry and child labour. Journal of
Corporate Citizenship, (18), 99-112. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.18.99?seq=1

In 2000, the child labour issue in  Côte d’Ivoirehas become surfaced in media
reports. The international cocoa industry cooperates with other stakeholders. In
order to remove child labour in cocoa production. The international cocoa
industry started to acknowledge the problem and taking action to solve it. This
experience led participants in the industry to establish labour standards based on
international law. This issue shows also how customer brand pressure, strategic
government interference, and regional concentration make collaborative action
easier.

The dark side of chocolate. (2010). Alternatives Journal, 36(1), 5.

http://libproxy.mtroyal.ca/login?url=https://www-proquest-
com.libproxy.mtroyal.ca/scholarly-journals/dark-side-chocolate/docview/218761749/se-
2?accountid=1343

A group of children has been rescued recently from child labor in a cocoa factory
in Africa. The US Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)  has identified
numerous products that have been manufactured by child labor. A protocol has
been signed in the US to create "no child slavery" labels for chocolate sold in the
US. However, the protocol was ineffective, and the eliminating of unethical
practices depends on people boycotting products from those factories.

Wessel, M., & Quist-Wessel, P. F. (2015). Cocoa production in West Africa, a review and
analysis of recent developments. NJAS-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 74, 1-7.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1573521415000160

This article study the cocoa production conditions in West African countries and
the most common limitations and options for increasing yields, particularly in
Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. A high prevalence of pests and diseases, the age of
cocoa farms, and a lack of fertilizers are the main causes of poor yield. Large-
scale restoration and replanting projects are launched by the governments of
Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, which provide farmers with better planting materials,
plant conservation chemicals, and fertilizers. Increasing cocoa prices, better
management, including pest and disease control, and to some extent fertilizer
use, are thought to offer the potential for increased cocoa production in the short
term.
Yusnaidi, Y. (2018). Case study of the ethical issues of child labor in chocolate business in the
West Africa regions. Jurnal Bisnis dan Kajian Strategi Manajemen (JBKSM). Vol 2, No
2. https://doi.org/10.35308/jbkan.v2i2.979

The paper discusses the unethical practice of child labour in cocoa factories in
Africa. Child labour has increased rapidly due to several reasons which are:
poverty, lack of education, cultural issues, and political matters. Child labour
must get terminated. Those factories should be held responsible, as well as the
parents of the child labourers.