Child Exploitation In Cocoa Industry

Child exploitation in cocoa industry

We know that there are children working in crops in Ivory Coast areas where cocoa is acquired. It is impossible for a company that acquires cocoa in the area can certify that it has annulled the danger of having children working in its supply chain, but Nestle is increasingly exposed to social pressure decides to face the problem.

‘Child labor in our supply chain goes against all our principles’ José López, Executive Vice President of Nestlé Operations

The International Cocoa Initiative helps to have control at all levels that belong to the sowing, cultivation and collection process of cocoa.

Nestlé buys an agricultural cooperative in Ivory Coast. Whereby their farmers must obtain training to improve production and to prevent child labor.

What still remains as a question is, if it is your social conscience or its advertising benefit since in recent decades issues such as exploitation are taken, and plans are created that help eliminate or prevention, but powerful companies because they do it and If they do they are sure to clean their image in this way they will get a benefit. Before its publicized products grand.

In the official statement of the Nestlé page, data is collected on whether the children of the farmers work, and if this is the case we proceed to inform, whether it is child labor or non -harmful work that they do not obstruct in their schooling.

Community connection people are responsible for educating communities the risk to which children are exposed in crops, the next step in the supply chain is with the suppliers who help gather agents who collect data from whether there are children working in the community.

Fair Labour Association externally verifies a selection of cooperatives that notify the system and publicly communicate the results or to be able to implement it at all levels of the chain. The International Cocoa initiative provides the system through direct payments to farmers and a cocoa quality premium.

This approach is different since the research on the circumstances of the agricultural communities and the argument in which child labor takes place pretends to be eradicated totally but it is also explained that it is still long process and that little by little it has been controlling through of strategies at each chain link.

The direct way Nestlé found to eradicate child labor was to extract the information from the copy of the birth certificate of a child so that he can go to school, provide children with school and uniform material and make sure that communities agricultural have schools at their disposal, for this they were built or rehabilitated.

Demand adults to form groups to carry out dangerous tasks in crops and thus not expose children since a job prevents children from enjoying their childhood and what is worse does not allow the child to develop their capacity intellectual and physical, so child labor must be punished and carried out as a punishment of the law, to whom they are complicit in these abuses and that they still are the ones who benefit from this.