THE BITTER SIDE OF CHOCOLATE
By Eva Lawrence, Just Focus Coordinator
Whether you are a whitey, darkie, nutty or gooey on the inside what we all have in common is that we love chocolate. Oh chocolate, it is one of those rare pleasures that releases endorphins and keeps us coming back for more… well enough on that.
When you find out about where chocolate comes from and the unfair conditions that people experience to bring us that magic bar, it can leave a nasty bitter taste in your mouth.
Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean and is produced tropical countries. Most of the world’s cocoa is grown in West Africa – the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and the Cameroon. Almost half of the cocoa worldwide comes from the Ivory Coast.
Conditions for people working on cocoa farms are often terrible. Poverty is extreme, hours long and tasks unsafe. Child labour is common on cocoa farms, and these children often lack any chance of gaining an education as they are working from a young age.
In the Ivory Coast slavery is also occurring. Children and young men, many from neighbouring Mali are being sold or tricked into slavery. Child slaves are forced to work long hours, are underfed and of course, not paid. They are kept in inhuman conditions – often locked in at night so they can’t run away. Those that do try to escape are physically punished.
Chocolate in New Zealand
- Cadburys claim to source their cocoa from Ghana and Malaysia
- Whittakers claim to source their cocoa from Ghana
- Nestle source their cocoa from a number of countries including the Ivory Coast.
(Source: Oxfam)
Bitter Ingredients
Cocoa prices are unfair and unstable on the international market. A small number of multinational corporations control the market and exploit the need of poor farmers to have an income – once the crop is grown a low price is better that no price. Therefore exporters are competing for sales by offering the lowest prices. This means that farmers have few options other than paying their workers low wages.
Cocoa makes up a significant part of the income of some West African Countries. For the Ivory Coast for example, approximately one third of the national income comes from cocoa. Cash cropping has replaced the diverse and locally sustaining farming of the past. This means that the population is dependent on earning money from international markets to earn money to be able to buy food. Cash cropping, as well and removing the independence of communities, also creates vulnerability of economic collapse due to natural disasters, pests and crop disease.
Poverty, as always, is a huge factor in the unfair conditions. Most of the enslaved workers come from Mali, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Young people hoping for work in neighbouring countries have been easy prey for child traffickers.
The sweeter side - Fairtrade
There is a positive side to this story though. Fairtrade cooperatives have been set up for cocoa growing in a number of countries. With fairtrade, farms are guaranteed a fair price for their cocoa and the workers receive a fair wage. Fairtrade certification forbids the use of slave labour or children working if it interferes with their education or in dangerous conditions. Furthermore, money is paid to invest in developing the community and schools
Global Links
Chocolate, which is so associated with positive stuff here in Aotearoa New Zealand, is directly linked with a whole lot of very negative stuff in some poor countries. It is a clear illustration of the link between us all in this globalised world. As is the case in many trade situations, we in the west gain goods from the labour of those in developing countries The good thing about this link is that we can do something about it.
There is no need to give up your chocolate addiction, but there are a number of things you can do to make chocolate sweeter for everyone.
TAKE ACTION!
- Join the fair-trade chocolate campaign!
- Fairtrade Fortnight goes from April 29 to May 13 2006– Get involved
- Write to your favourite chocolate company and tell them you want them to use fair-trade cocoa
- Buy fair-trade chocolate – available from Trade Aid and some health food stores.
FIND OUT MORE
Oxfam
Fairtrade Association of Australia and New Zealand
Trade Aid
globalexchange
divinechocolate
fairtrade.org.uk
antislavery.org
This article was originally published in Jet magazine in the Focus column. All photos courtesy of Oxfam.
