[Ghana] New child labour accusations for cocoa farms supplying Cadbury

Mondelēz International, the food giant that owns the Cadbury brand, has been hit by fresh allegations of employing child labour after an investigation obtained footage of children working with machetes on cocoa farms in its supply chain, The Guardian reports.

Children as young as 10 have allegedly been found working in Ghana, harvesting harvest cocoa pods to supply Mondelēz International. Campaigners say the farmers are being paid less than £2 a day and cannot afford to hire adult workers.

The Channel 4 Dispatches investigation was broadcast on March 4, the abuses it has exposed come more than two decades after the chocolate industry pledged to eliminate child labour.

Ayn Riggs - the founder of Slave Free Chocolate - which campaigns against child labour in cocoa farms, said, “It’s horrifying to see these children using these long machetes, which are sometimes half their height. Chocolate companies promised to clean this up over 20 years ago. They knew they were profiting from child labour and have shirked their promises.”

The Cadbury revelations come as millions of pounds are being spent on Easter chocolate. More than £300m is reportedly spent on Easter eggs and novelties each year, including more than 80 million boxed eggs. According to the market research firm Mintel, the UK chocolate market is worth £5.6bn. The sales include the around 330 million Cadbury Creme eggs which are eaten every year.

Mondelēz International made global profits of more than £3.3bn in 2021. It has a sustainability programme, Cocoa Life, the logo is marked on its products, including Cadbury Dairy Milk, and its website states, “No amount of child labour in the cocoa supply chain should be acceptable.”

Under the Cocoa Life programme, Mondelēz had, by the end of 2020, mapped about 167,800 cocoa farms that supply its businesses in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic and Brazil.

Two children with machetes were filmed by the documentary team weeding the plantations on one of the farms alleged to be supplying Mondelēz. Children were also filmed using sharp knives to open cocoa pods and swinging long sticks with blades tied to them to harvest the pods from the cocoa trees. None of these children had protective clothing. The daughter of one farmer, who claimed to be supplying Mondelēz, said she had cut her foot open while using a long machete.

Under Ghanaian law, it is illegal for children under 13 to work on cocoa farms. In addition, there is a ban on anyone under 18 being involved in hazardous labour.

Ghana is the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer after Côte d’Ivoire and, along with gold, the crop is one of its most valuable exports. A cocoa farmer will typically receive 7p from a milk chocolate bar costing £1 in the UK and 11p from a dark chocolate bar.

As a result, many live in extreme poverty while facing rising costs from the impacts of climate change, because of unpredictable weather patterns and changes in crop-threatening pests and diseases. Ninety per cent of the world’s cocoa beans are harvested on small, family farms with less than two hectares of land.

A study by the social research group NORC at the University of Chicago in 2020 found 1.56 million children were involved in the cocoa industry in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. NORC’s report found the prevalence rate of child labour in cocoa production among agricultural households in cocoa-growing areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana increased between 2008/09 and 2018/19. There was a 62 per cent increase in cocoa production in the two countries during this period.

Joanna Ewart-James - executive director of Freedom United, an organisation campaigning against child labour in the cocoa supply chain - said, “Child slavery and child labour have plagued the industry in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – which produce 60 per cent of the world’s cocoa – for decades. Cocoa farmers are not earning an income that enables them to recruit the labour they need.”

Cadbury was once one of Britain’s most beloved companies, it was controversially taken over by the US food firm Kraft Foods in January 2010. The American food giant changed its name to Mondelēz International in October 2012.

Mondelēz has said it considers that a wide range of measures is required to combat child labour. The company has been involved in research that shows increasing the price of cocoa will not on its own lift many farmers out of poverty because they are farming on small amounts of land.

A Mondelēz International spokesperson said, “We’re deeply concerned by the incidents documented in the Dispatches programme. We explicitly prohibit child labour in our operations and have been working relentlessly to take a stand against this, making significant efforts through our Cocoa Life programme to improve the protection of children in the communities where we source cocoa, including in Ghana.

“The welfare of the children and families featured is our primary concern and we commit to investigating further so we can provide any support needed. As part of our Cocoa Life programme, we have child labour monitoring and remediation systems in place in Ghana, which means community members and NGO partners are trained to provide assistance to vulnerable children, and once identified, we can help to address any cases of child labour.” 

The company said it had requested additional information from the Dispatches team in order to investigate.

Source: The Guardian

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

Mondelēz International, the food giant that owns the Cadbury brand, has been hit by fresh allegations of employing child labour after an investigation obtained footage of children working with machetes on cocoa farms in its supply chain, The Guardian reports.

Children as young as 10 have allegedly been found working in Ghana, harvesting harvest cocoa pods to supply Mondelēz International. Campaigners say the farmers are being paid less than £2 a day and cannot afford to hire adult workers.

The Channel 4 Dispatches investigation was broadcast on March 4, the abuses it has exposed come more than two decades after the chocolate industry pledged to eliminate child labour.

Ayn Riggs - the founder of Slave Free Chocolate - which campaigns against child labour in cocoa farms, said, “It’s horrifying to see these children using these long machetes, which are sometimes half their height. Chocolate companies promised to clean this up over 20 years ago. They knew they were profiting from child labour and have shirked their promises.”

The Cadbury revelations come as millions of pounds are being spent on Easter chocolate. More than £300m is reportedly spent on Easter eggs and novelties each year, including more than 80 million boxed eggs. According to the market research firm Mintel, the UK chocolate market is worth £5.6bn. The sales include the around 330 million Cadbury Creme eggs which are eaten every year.

Mondelēz International made global profits of more than £3.3bn in 2021. It has a sustainability programme, Cocoa Life, the logo is marked on its products, including Cadbury Dairy Milk, and its website states, “No amount of child labour in the cocoa supply chain should be acceptable.”

Under the Cocoa Life programme, Mondelēz had, by the end of 2020, mapped about 167,800 cocoa farms that supply its businesses in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic and Brazil.

Two children with machetes were filmed by the documentary team weeding the plantations on one of the farms alleged to be supplying Mondelēz. Children were also filmed using sharp knives to open cocoa pods and swinging long sticks with blades tied to them to harvest the pods from the cocoa trees. None of these children had protective clothing. The daughter of one farmer, who claimed to be supplying Mondelēz, said she had cut her foot open while using a long machete.

Under Ghanaian law, it is illegal for children under 13 to work on cocoa farms. In addition, there is a ban on anyone under 18 being involved in hazardous labour.

Ghana is the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer after Côte d’Ivoire and, along with gold, the crop is one of its most valuable exports. A cocoa farmer will typically receive 7p from a milk chocolate bar costing £1 in the UK and 11p from a dark chocolate bar.

As a result, many live in extreme poverty while facing rising costs from the impacts of climate change, because of unpredictable weather patterns and changes in crop-threatening pests and diseases. Ninety per cent of the world’s cocoa beans are harvested on small, family farms with less than two hectares of land.

A study by the social research group NORC at the University of Chicago in 2020 found 1.56 million children were involved in the cocoa industry in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. NORC’s report found the prevalence rate of child labour in cocoa production among agricultural households in cocoa-growing areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana increased between 2008/09 and 2018/19. There was a 62 per cent increase in cocoa production in the two countries during this period.

Joanna Ewart-James - executive director of Freedom United, an organisation campaigning against child labour in the cocoa supply chain - said, “Child slavery and child labour have plagued the industry in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – which produce 60 per cent of the world’s cocoa – for decades. Cocoa farmers are not earning an income that enables them to recruit the labour they need.”

Cadbury was once one of Britain’s most beloved companies, it was controversially taken over by the US food firm Kraft Foods in January 2010. The American food giant changed its name to Mondelēz International in October 2012.

Mondelēz has said it considers that a wide range of measures is required to combat child labour. The company has been involved in research that shows increasing the price of cocoa will not on its own lift many farmers out of poverty because they are farming on small amounts of land.

A Mondelēz International spokesperson said, “We’re deeply concerned by the incidents documented in the Dispatches programme. We explicitly prohibit child labour in our operations and have been working relentlessly to take a stand against this, making significant efforts through our Cocoa Life programme to improve the protection of children in the communities where we source cocoa, including in Ghana.

“The welfare of the children and families featured is our primary concern and we commit to investigating further so we can provide any support needed. As part of our Cocoa Life programme, we have child labour monitoring and remediation systems in place in Ghana, which means community members and NGO partners are trained to provide assistance to vulnerable children, and once identified, we can help to address any cases of child labour.” 

The company said it had requested additional information from the Dispatches team in order to investigate.

Source: The Guardian

(Links and quotes via original reporting)