Dbq Essay On The Ivory Coast

Africa, like many other continents, was a very tremendous and a very diverse civilization that is very complicated to introduce due to all its wonderful but also diverse features and beliefs. From the differences between its society and language to its religion and politics, Africa always had the reputation that its empires, cities, and kingdoms never progressed in the developments and achievements for their civilization. Many people believed that the Europeans were actually the cause of Africa’s achievements and advanced developments for their civilizations. However, this is further than the whole truth. Before the arrival of the Europeans between the 15th and 16th century, African kingdoms, empires, and cities had many achievements and accomplishments

This combined with the cultural and geographical distances (Freidberg, 2003, p. 33) has resulted in “homogenisation of the supply chain” in Africa (Freidberg, 2003, p. 34). The major vegetable suppliers are primarily large white-run farms. The author calls them “Benign dictators” (Freidberg, 2003, p. 33). These companies do not only have capacity to supply large quantities of vegetables but are also culturally similar to the supermarket buyers.

Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French’s empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain’s colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.

208). The international market had an increasing need for reliable and homogenous product, resulting in nearly identical practices on farms throughout the country (Losch, 2002, p. 208). When Côte d’Ivoire became independent, it resulted in a dramatic spike in production that would help make the country become a market leader (Losch, 2002, p. 208). By the 1980s, the cocoa sector had been received the local government’s blessing and gained a reputation for quality mass production (Losch, 2002, p. 210). This reputation was well-merited; Côte d’Ivoire has supplied almost 50 percent of internationally traded cocoa since the 1970s and continues to do so to this day (Losch, 2002, p. 206).

WH9 Kaulike Jansen Africa DBQ January 6, 2016 Before the Europeans arrived to the empires, kingdoms, and cities of Africa, the African civilization flourished in many achievements with Art, political status, trade, and culture. The Africa we know today is not like the Africa we knew before the Europeans arrived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Africa traders have used their skills to trade with other lands. Beautiful cities were built with an advanced political structure like the city of Kilwa. They even maintained a thriving culture.

The European invasion of the Ivory Coast started in the early 19th century when a group of French traders created establishments in the country. They obtained territorial concessions from local tribes. By doing this, they spread French influence throughout the nation to other cultural groups that existed during the time. During the late 1800s, other European explorers ventured throughout the Ivory Coast in an attempt to create treaties with local chiefs. By the year 1893, France colonized the Ivory Coast as their own. (14)

Ghana was not only self-sufficient from its trading economy, but also from its harvesting of crops and livestock. The land consisted of several species of millet, rice, and cotton. Being a zone that was introduced to iron very early on, their agricultural sector flourished. Consequently, handicraft industries such as cotton cloth production sprang as they took advantage of the nation’s huge surpluses. Additionally, livestock was plentiful in the open savannah of western Africa.

As mentioned earlier, 70% of cocoa beans come from plantations in western African countries. However, most workers on these plantations are child slaves who are abused, not paid, and confined to grueling labor for years and years. Many of these unfortunate children aren’t over the age of sixteen yet they are forced to work from dusk till dawn. To add to this, there are a great amount of dangerous throughout the plantation. These include exposure to toxic, agricultural chemicals on the cocoa beans, being forced to use dangerous machetes in work, and being crushed by hundred pound bags of packed cocoa beans. The conditions that they live in are no better either. From sleeping on planks of wood as a bed to being fed the bare minimum of the cheapest food, most of these children don’t even receive basic education. One of the worst parts of this tragedy is that chocolate companies know what is happening yet they continue to receive cocoa from child slaves, and then they sell the public this deplorable

Africa is a continent that is rich and diverse in terms of culture and traditions. The continent is also considered to be the agricultural hub in the world. Due to this, most of African culture is ultimately intertwined with the foodstuffs that the land has to offer. In general, most of the inhabitants of Africa live within the rural areas and rely on subsistent farming to meet their day to day food needs. Fast food restaurants and supermarkets where processed and packaged food is sold are usually frowned upon and considered a waste of money and resources (AIG, 2011).

The economy of the Ivory Coast functions primarily on agricultural exports, representing nearly a third of the gross domestic product. The primary exports of the nation are cocoa beans, coffee, cotton, palm oil, and bananas. The economy is currently severely threatened by the violent state of the nation, which discourages foreign traders thereby limiting exportation. An additional 20% of the GDP is comprised by industrial services, including food and beverage manufacturing, wood products, oil refining, automotive assembly, and textile production. The labor force accounts for the remainder of the economy, with over 60% of the population providing physical labor to support the large agricultural industries.

The article explores how the Sulawesian people went from producing the food they needed to survive to planting cacao as a cash crop which they sold to survive (Li, 2014). After reading her article and listening to her lecture, I found that I had a greater appreciation and understanding for the production and availability of the food that I consume.

The Ivory Coast is on the west coast of africa and was a French colony. When the Spanish started colonizing latin america they were introduced to the world of chocolate. (background essay) When the Spanish brought this sweet treat back, Europe fell in love with it. The French colonized the western coast of Africa and started to grow the chocolate there because it was closer to Europe. Although chocolate is good for the Ivory Coast's economy it has severe negative side effects to the land and people around the area. The production of chocolate is ruining the environment, causing illegal and dangerous child labor, and the workers are not getting paid well enough for the work they do.

The Republic of Mali is one of Africa's largest countries, measuring about twice the size of Texas; yet its population is proportionally small compared to its territory, numbering to approximately 16 million and ranking 67th out of global countries (1). A landlocked country of West Africa, Mali's borders include Algeria, Senegal, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Mali's main natural resources consist of gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, and hydropower; the list includes iron ore, lithium, manganese, and zinc, but not all these latter resources are exploited (1). Despite this, Mali's economy primarily depends on profits from agriculture and fishing, both industries that rely on the country's two largest rivers, the Niger and the Sénégal (14). The flooding of these rivers provides soil for agriculture; the rivers work as Mali's main means of transporting goods as well.

There are a lot of problems in Africa today but one of the more serious ones is Child labor and trafficking. African child traffickers put the future of Africa at risk by taking them out of school to work on cocoa farms (DocumFeed). Children from the ages of 11-16 are the main targets because that is when these kids start to feel the need to help their parents make a living and they are easier for the child traffickers to lure over the Ivory Coast. Most kids who get forced into child labor in africa are forced to work in the cocoa plant (DocumFeed). Theirs jobs range from chopping the plant and harvesting the seed to carrying heavy sacks to transport them to chocolate factories like nestle (CNN). Since the Ivory coast is responsible for 70% of the worlds cacao this means that many of the main brand chocolate is made with some sort of child labor (DocumFeed).

Cocoa agroforests in particular, can create forest-like habitats, harboring tropical biodiversity in degrading lands . It is claimed that to date, biological diversity in cocoa production has been poorly studied, especially in the context of ecoagriculture, which is referred to as “land-use systems managed for both agricultural production and wild biodiversity conservation” . Ecoagriculture can be considered the future of landscape management as it helps to preserve species and increase the productivity of the land while enabling the rural poor.