Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

The cacao bean is more commonly referred to as cocoa

Western African countries, mostly Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.

The farms of Western Africa supply cocoa to international giants such as:

Reporters have also documented cases where children and adults were locked in at night to prevent them from escaping.

In addition to the hazards of using machetes, children are also exposed to agricultural chemicals on cocoa farms in Western Africa.[18] Tropical regions such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast consistently deal with prolific insect populations and choose to spray the pods with large amounts of industrial chemicals. In Ghana, children as young as 10 spray the pods with these toxins without wearing protective clothing.

Cases often involve acts of physical violence, such as being whipped for working slowly or trying to escape.

  • A child’s workday typically begins at six in the morning
  • Some of the children use chainsaws to clear the forests.
  • Other children climb the cocoa trees to cut bean pods using a machete.
  • These large, heavy, dangerous knives are the standard tools for children on the cocoa farms, which violates international labor laws and a UN convention on eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

As the chocolate industry has grown over the years, so has the demand for cheap cocoa. On average, cocoa farmers earn less than $2 per day, an income below the poverty line.As a result, they often resort to the use of child labor to keep their prices competitive.

Other children are “sold” to traffickers or farm owners by their own relatives, who are unaware of the dangerous work environment and the lack of any provisions for an education.

The children of Western Africa are surrounded by intense poverty, and most begin working at a young age to help support their families.

Most of the children laboring on cocoa farms are between the ages of 12 and 16, but reporters have found children as young as 5. In addition, 40% of these children are girls, and some stay for a few months, while others end up working on the cocoa farms through adulthood

Some children end up on the cocoa farms because they need work and traffickers tell them that the job pays well.

A handful of organizations and journalists have exposed the widespread use of child labor, and in some cases slavery, on cocoa farms in Western Africa.

In 2004, the Ivorian First Lady’s entourage allegedly kidnapped and killed a journalist reporting on government corruption in its profitable cocoa industry.

In 2010, Ivorian government authorities detained three newspaper journalists after they published an article exposing government corruption in the cocoa sector.

2.3 million children work in the cocoa fields of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

Child Labor and Slavery in the Chocolate Industry

Marcela Echeverría

Carlos Boloña

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi