http://www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
1. The Issue
There is a surprising association between chocolate and child labor in
the Cote d'Ivoire. Young boys whose ages range from 12 to 16 have been
sold into slave labor and are forced to work in cocoa farms in order
to harvest the beans, from which chocolate is made, under inhumane
conditions and extreme abuse. This West African country is the leading
exporter of cocoa beans to the world market. Thus, the existence of
slave labor is relevant to the entire international economic
community. Through trade relations, many actors are inevitably
implicated in this problem, whether it is the Ivorian government, the
farmers, the American or European chocolate manufacturers, or
consumers who unknowingly buy chocolate. Discussions have arisen
regarding how to respond to the problem. Issues mentioned include
causes of slave labor relating to the economic system and to the
country's dependence on an unstable export crop. There are also
debates concerning the appropriate response from the chocolate
industry, government officials, and consumers concerning whether there
should be boycotting, establishment of government legislation to put
"made by slaves" labels on products, or whether some type of
international cooperation is needed to ensure improved working
conditions. The complexity of the problem makes finding an effective
solution a challenging task.
2. Description
Slavery and the Link to Chocolate
Slave traders are trafficking boys ranging from the age of 12 to 16
from their home countries and are selling them to cocoa farmers in
Cote d'Ivoire. They work on small farms across the country, harvesting
the cocoa beans day and night, under inhumane conditions. Most of the
boys come from neighboring Mali, where agents hang around bus stations
looking for children that are alone or are begging for food. They lure
the kids to travel to Cote d'Ivoire with them, and then the
traffickers sell the children to farmers in need of cheap labor
(Raghavan, "Lured...").
The horrendous conditions under which children must toil on the cocoa
farms of the Cote d'Ivoire are even more jarring when the facts are
juxtaposed with the idea that much of this cocoa will ultimately end
up producing something that most people associate with happiness and
pleasure: chocolate. The connection serves to illustrate that the
existence of misery in one part of the world and joy in another part
are no longer divorced as nations are connected together in a
globalized web of trade. Thus, the pleasure that people from various
nations around the world are deriving from these chocolate confections
could possibly be at the expense of child slaves in Africa. The
problem of child slavery then is not simply a faraway abstraction with
no immediate implications for anybody else except those who are
directly affected, but rather it is an issue that everybody around the
world should be concerned about and demand action to eradicate.
Although news of child labor abuse in Cote d'Ivoire has only recently
garnered public attention, these situations did not arise suddenly.
Many interlocking factors have contributed to both creating and
perpetuating conditions that have led to this form of modern slavery.
In order to better understand the situation, this case study will
explore the different aspects of Ivorian child labor and the cocoa
trade. The case study will begin by providing an overall review of the
problem. Afterwards, the case will examine some of the causes and
effects of the situation, as well as efforts developed as a response
to the abuse.
Human Trafficking and Slavery in General
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