Fair Trade: Chocolate and Slavery

January 26, 2009 hmuller370

Many people do not realize in this day and age that slavery still exists around the world. But the children in the Ivory Coast and throughout West Africa have been experiencing it for years. The Ivory Coast is the top producer and exporter of cacao beans (used to make chocolate) in the world, with many European countries and the United States bringing high demands to import them. However, a declining economy has driven cacao plantation owners to buy slave children that are trafficked by slave traders.

There are an estimated 15,000 enslaved children being forced to work in the Ivory Coast alone. In extreme poverty, children from Mali are often targeted by slave traders and are given a false hope of working for honest wages at cocoa plants that they would later bring back to help sustain the life of their families. Instead, they are taken to places like the Ivory Coast where cacao plantations are numerous and are bought as slaves from the traders, where they will work without pay.

In many cases the conditions are inconceivable. These children, often boys ages 12-16, are forced to work over 12 hours a day as slaves harvesting cocoa beans and are beaten when they falter due to the heavy loads. The little food the slave children receive would not be considered edible by the standards of people in the US or any other developed country. After work hours, they are confined to a small room, with no bathroom/area, in which they share with almost 20 other people, locked in to prevent escape from the cacao farm. Chocolate and Slavery has more details on these occurances of slave trade from Mali to the Ivory Coast.

The cacao trade has had horrible effects on the children who are lured into slavery and the plantation owners themselves have also suffered unfair prices. To decrease these effects, the Fair Trade organization has created a direct trade route between the cacao farmers and the buyers. Cacao plantations that are Fair Trade Certified receive fair prices for harvests, have access to credit, and are inspected to be sure that prohibition of slavery and standards are kept. Fair Trade has helped the situation in West Africa, as well as around the world where other products are unfairly traded. Retail locations in the U.S. are active in selling Fair Trade products, such as Safeway, Tully’s, and many whole-foods stores. 

We can all help to reduce child slavery and unfair wages worldwide by supporting Fair Trade products instead of those products with ambiguous origins. Also, buying organic chocolate and other products will have less of an impact on the environment and personal health since the cacao beans are shade grown (do not contribute to deforestation) and are not sprayed with pesticides. Fair Trade and organic products often coincide and both are routinely inspected in order to maintain their certification, so one can feel good about buying these products versus those that harm personal and worldwide health and the environment. Facts About Chocolate might further convince you to support organic and Fair Trade products.

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2 Comments Add your own

• 1. trashology  |  January 29, 2009 at 5:54 am

  Crazy to think about all the suffering that goes into making goods we consider luxuries, like chocolate, gold, and diamonds. How can we justify slavery for a savory morsel?

  Reply

• 2. Kevin Wang  |  August 10, 2009 at 5:00 pm

  Hi Heidi,
  I have been reading your blogs and I am truly inspired by them. I am also wondering if I could repost some of your blogs up on my news blog. Please email me back, and we can talk more about it. I’m at kevin.wang@hmlty.com

  Thanks Heidi.

  Reply

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