chocolate and slavery essay

chocolate and slavery essay

The Dark Side of Chocolate: Unveiling the Connection between Chocolate and Slavery

1. Introduction

The current state of affairs demands tests of the industry’s solicitude for the well-being of cocoa producers and their dependents and needs to find the right balance between a sustainable solution to labor rights issues and improvement of livelihoods for those affected.

During a pivotal behind-the-scenes meeting with the chocolate industry, the Harkin-Engel Protocol was an international agreement that attempted to end the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in the production of cocoa. The industry agreed to this agreement between themselves and Congress with a goal of eradicating the said forms of labor by 2005. The protocol’s intentions were good; however, there has been little done to fulfill its goals. This has raised new concerns about how the implementation of the “no child labor” label would be executed. Measures taken by the US Congress have the potential to be very detrimental for the children and their dependents if there are no alternate solutions for the issues at hand. This adds to the existing public confusion and doubt about the industry’s commitment to the welfare of cocoa producers and their families.

Multiple US congressmen proposed legislation to implement a “no child labor” label on cocoa packaging in an attempt to eradicate the consumption and purchase of cocoa produced by children. If successful, this would only further the issues of current poverty-stricken cocoa producers and their dependents. The industry has ignored the allegations and continues to deny the existence of the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa trade.

The chocolate industry has recently been facing a new challenge. It all began in 1996 when a drop in cocoa prices had caused a crisis in the industry. In an attempt to relieve the situation, the Ghanaian and Ivorian cocoa producers raised cocoa production, stimulating the introduction of child labor on their family-operated farms. Later in 2000, reports showed instances of child trafficking, forced labor, and other child labor exploitation in the production of cocoa in these two countries. This led to an ongoing international concern for the high percentage of child labor and labor rights abuses involved in the production of the world’s most highly demanded sweet.

2. Historical Background: The Role of Slavery in Cocoa Production

Though many scholars acknowledge that slavery has always existed and still exists in the world, they also argue that a specific “slave-based” mode of production is a historically specific and not a universal form of human organization. The New World was the last region of the world to be transformed by the increasing demand for cheap labor, one of the few common threads that historians can assign to the development of the world economic system. The use of slaves was not only essential for the production of the primary product; it was vital for the development of the infrastructure, economy, and nations themselves. There are various prerequisites for the use of slave labor, one of them being the fact that the wages of the free and availability of indentured servants proved to be insufficient for the desired level of production, the second being the degree at which the product is a necessity and productive forces can and will be employed in order to meet its demand. This period of history and the vast effects and implications on today’s world were recently summarized by an Economic History of the Caribbean: “Slavery is a system of forced labor where people are treated as property and are forced to work. It was a legal institution in all of the 13 colonies and, until the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 abolished the institution, existed in the United States. Slavery was brought to the New World in 1493 when the first slaves were brought to the Island of Hispaniola. Slavery was practiced in many countries in the New World and was used to exploit a variety of peoples in a variety of ways. Slavery spread throughout the Caribbean, providing a workforce for the expanding cultivation of sugar and other crops. The sugar was grown on plantations and when work there was done, the land often became exhausted and new land was acquired. This ongoing expansion of sugar cultivation would shape the Caribbean landscape for years to come.” This is a bigger picture of a process that would link the developed nations of the world with the underdeveloped up until this present day. A process of extraction of raw materials from the periphery regions of the world and sale of these resources in the markets of the developed nations; a process of which today’s multinational corporations were the children of the old colonial trade links. This is the beginning of the historical link between chocolate and slave labor.

3. Modern-Day Slavery in the Chocolate Industry

Modern-day Slavery

According to Washington, modern-day slavery is defined as “the total control over a person involving the use of violence and force, with the intention of maintaining that person in a state of exploitation” (56). This definition is different from the traditional historical understanding of slavery. In many parts of the world today, slavery is often not seen or recognized by people, but the number of slaves and the percentage of people in slavery compared to the entire population is higher than ever before.

The chocolate industry is a clear example of a food product that relies heavily on the use of slavery. As Washington describes, forced child labor on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and other African nations is widespread and occurs on a continual basis. Western consumers don’t realize it, but the sweet taste of their favorite chocolate product is tainted with the bitter aftertaste of slavery.

The Ivory Coast provides 43% of the world’s cocoa beans and in the late 90s, it was estimated that over 100,000 tons of cocoa beans per year were harvested by forced child labor in the Ivory Coast. This amounts to just over 10% of the Ivory Coast’s annual cocoa bean harvest. These numbers are not decreasing, as UNICEF has reported that over 200,000 children are working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, with over half these children engaging in hazardous forms of labor and many experiencing exposure to chemicals harmful to their health.

The reason for this forced child labor links back to a system of globalization that promotes a race to the bottom in production costs and the exploitation of weaker countries in the quest for profits. Cocoa bean farming is an industry that has been passed down through generations in these poor African societies and families are often too poor to hire outside labor. However, with the fall of the price of cocoa, farmers have resorted to using cheap labor, which often means children, or enslaving workers on cocoa farms. These people are often promised pay and steady work, but find that their working conditions are deplorable and end up having their pay withheld or taken because they are bonded laborers.

Bonded labor is another form of modern-day slavery that is a prominent issue in the chocolate industry. Usually, bonded labor occurs out of desperation and a debt that a person is unlikely to ever pay off. The creditor then uses the labor of the person to repay the debt and often the terms of employment are ill-defined and the wages are lower than the value of the work to keep the person in perpetual service to the creditor. This has occurred largely in the cocoa bean farming industry and as recently as 2009, a study conducted by a British University found that some cocoa workers in the Ivory Coast were still, in fact, slaves, in that they were forced to do their job and were not free to leave at any time.

4. Ethical Consumerism: Taking Action against Chocolate Slavery

Likewise, labeling is transparent so consumers can make an informed choice. Many are unaware that since 2000, the US and EU have accused the Ivory Coast government of time and again frustrating United Nations sanctions against neighboring rebels by providing them with arms and supplies in exchange for the rebels providing them with abundant, cheap cocoa beans. The Ivory Coast represents 43% of the world’s cocoa bean supply, and it is thought that government and rebel involvement in the cocoa trade has prolonged the conflict. In 2004, the Harkin-Engel Protocol suggested creating a “cocoa certification system” which would ensure that cocoa was harvested without the worst forms of child labor; however, progress has been slow. By choosing fair trade products, consumers can ensure that their chocolate is not a product of child labor or slavery.

First, ethically-minded consumers must make an effort to purchase chocolate that is made from fairly traded cacao beans. Fair trade is both a system of exchange that emphasizes fair price and a social movement that promotes better trading conditions and advocates for the rights of marginalized producers and workers in developing countries. Fair trade certification now ensures that there is absolutely no child labor used in the production of the goods and guarantees minimal price and long-term contracts so the producer groups can make investments in their communities.

5. Conclusion: Promoting a Slave-Free Chocolate Industry

In order for such labeling systems to be successful, they require the support of NGOs, governments, and the legislative enforcement of the cocoa industry. What is clearly needed is a greater degree of regulation imposed from governments and the industry itself with the intention of empowering cocoa farmers and allowing them to escape poverty through their own efforts.

The Fair Trade Labeling system is one such program that has been designed to act as an independent consumer market mechanism and monitoring system focused on the protection of the rights of marginalized producers. High levels of consumer concern for the social implications of cocoa farming have resulted in a high level of consumer support for these systems. However, it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of such schemes, and it is questionable whether they are able to affect the practices of the larger chocolate companies.

Exposure of the cocoa industry has led to the establishment of various organizations and labeling systems aimed at improving the conditions for cocoa farmers and eradicating the worst forms of child labor. These systems are intended to encourage the sale of chocolate products that have been manufactured under ethical conditions and provide cocoa farmers with a fair living wage.

In recent years, slave labor in the chocolate industry has received increasing media and consumer attention. It is essential that this awareness be continued and transformed into consumer action and industry responsibility.

It is clear that slavery is still very much a part of the modern chocolate industry. The Harkin Engel Protocol represents a positive step for this industry, but still needs lots of improvements to eradicate all forms of slavery. Awareness projects, increased consumer responsibility, and the use of certifications are all means of reducing the reliance on slave labor in the cocoa industry.