Modern-Day Slavery

Typically, chocolate consumption and production are not associated with unethical practices. Holidays and celebrations are usually events that require it, but the reality of how this sweet treat is produced is, well, not so sweet. The supply of chocolate is possible through the exploitation of children laborers. This form of labor can be very cruel and unfair to the children and is considered the equivalent to modern day slavery.

Child slaves working unmanageable hours for an unproportionable wage is what is going on behind the scenes of the chocolate industry. Much of this problem is in Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa farms. The care and treatment of the Ivory Coast child laborers is brutal, described as having “little to eat, slept in bunkhouses that were locked during the night, and were frequently beaten.”12 This type of treatment is not the price that should be paid so that we can indulge. Due to Côte d’Ivoire being reliant on their child workers to stay productive, the scale of this crisis is very big.

The size of the problem is a result of a discrete system working through out West Africa and Cote d’Ivoire. In fact, it is “estimated that more than 800,000 children in Cote d’Ivoire and nearly 1 million children in Ghana have worked on cocoa-related activities in the past twelve months.”13 This system swiftly entices children to work on these farms but makes it nearly impossible to leave. The age of most of these laborers is “between 12 and 14” and the type of work they do “is considered acceptable so long as it doesn’t exceed 14 hours.”14 This causes children to lose out on opportunities like education that could equip them with tools for life. Although, it is thought that some of the child laborers have some agency, but the situation of their farm makes them forced to choose the poor conditions and unfair wages. “Their ability to make a real choice is considerably constrained by the household dynamics of which they are a part. As a result, their rights (including their rights as workers) are considerably undermined.”15

Child laborers working in cacao farms is an exploit that must be stopped. Children are not equipped to stop this without any of our help. Next time you have a piece of chocolate just imagine what was sacrificed for it and how you can help this situation change.