Essay on Public Policy on Child Labor in the Cocoa Industry

Child labor in the chocolate industry is an issue that effects children in impoverished countries in West Africa, but should be taken care of together by society. The article, Child Labor and Slavery, goes into further detail about the child labor and slavery involved in the industry and how children are forced into these immoral practices. The awful reality is that “hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents or outright stolen and then shipped to Ivory Coast, where they are enslaved on cocoa farms” (Gregory, 1). The children in West Africa are generally surrounded by severe poverty, which leads to children working at a young age to help support their family. Many of the children laboring on cocoa farms are between

“This is the main reason why targeted boycotts of the products of child labor turn out to be counterproductive (at least in the short term): they focus, in a limited geographical area, only on the effects of child labor—its products—but typically fail to investigate the structural reasons for the occurrence of child labor—namely, poverty.”

Child labor is a serious problem that affects children from third-world countries all over the world. These children are exploited by multinational corporations ,for their cheap labor all over the world. People, then buy products that come at a cheaper price, from these multinational corporations.These children are often overworked and treated unfairly. People need to stop buying items from countries that endorse child labor.

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).

Child labor is a sigsignificant problem in developing. Countries across the globe(Dilascia,tracey m).one of the most oftern -cited examples of child labor abuse occurs in manufacturing industries(Dilacia, tracey m).one of the most frequently proposed solutions to the child labor problem is the imposition of economic(Dilacia tracey m ). Many international organizations as well a number of European counties oppose placing on countries that permit child labor( Dilacia tracey m).ultimately ,the problem of child labor will not truly be solved until the poverty( Dilacia tracey m).It is estimated that a staggering million child across the world are exploited child laborers(zoltan, melania barto ).while the u.s. often speaks against child labor and has federal and state laws punishing those who illegally exploited children in this country(zoltan, melania barton). In order to prevent child labor,the u.s. must impose economic santions on countries that continue to exploit children(zoltan ,melanina barton).For instance ,the worst forms of child labor convention 182, enacted in 1999 , was designed to prohibit the worst forms of child labor.( zoltan.

Many of the products that are used and consumed in the United States are made in other countries. One of the main reasons for multinational corporations to produce goods in countries other than the United States is the cost of production. It is far cheaper to produce goods such as blue jeans, paper goods, and plastic toys to name a few. In recent years the conditions in sweatshops in China, Japan, and elsewhere have garnered public outcry from Countries like the U.S. and most of Europe. The main contention, child labor in dangerous and horrid conditions. However one often overlooked example of child labor in sweatshop-like conditions exists were many people never thought. The chocolate we eat. “From 2013 to 2014 more than 1.1 million children in the Ivory Coast were engaged in the most common Worst Forms of Child Labor as recognized by the United Nations… up from 791,181 children from 2008 to 2009” (Berman, 2015). The benefactors of this child labor are huge multinational enterprises such as Nestle, Mars Inc., and The Hershey Co.

Chocolate is beneficial to some parts of cote D’ivoire by helping farmers and the ecomy. The bad things due to child labor and harming the environment implies that chocolate making must be stopped. It’s not safety for the community’s environment nor

The United States consumes “2.8 billion pounds of chocolate each year, or over 11 pounds per person. Americans eat an average of 22 pounds of candy each year”(The Chocolate Store). Because the United States consumes an exuberant amount of chocolate, the nation poses an insurmountable influence on the processes of the chocolate industry. Fair Trade strives to ensure the safety of workers in the chocolate industry, allow workers to make liveable profits and most importantly, This corporation ensures that no child labor was used in the process of harvesting the cocoa. Not only does Fair Trade aid in helping cocoa farmers achieve a higher quality of life, but the majority of Fair Trade efforts improve education for children while keeping them out of the plantations and in the classroom. Fair Trade premiums provide money to families who desperately need birth certificates for their children because “if a family does not obtain a birth certificate within the child’s first few months of life, it can be very expensive and burdensome to obtain one” and many schools require birth certificates to enroll (Huffington Post). Fair Trade premiums also allow for more schools to be built in areas abundant with cocoa plantations (Huffington Post). Even though Fair Trade certified chocolate is more expensive than uncertified products, basic human rights have no dollar amount. The extra money paid for Fair Trade certified chocolate goes to aiding children in breaking free from a cycle poverty, which would otherwise be endless. The few more coins spent on Fair Trade chocolate provides hope to those bound in slavery to the world’s

‘Third World’ nations need the investments of transnational corporations and the jobs they provide, otherwise hundreds will die and millions will be worse off. Sweatshops exploit human beings and that fact must be rectified. The poisoning and abusing (verbally, physically, and sexually) must be stopped. Perhaps it would be unreasonable to expect wages to increase and compensations paid, but the fact still stands that corporations must be held accountable for the abuse of the their workers. It is becoming more and more expected of corporations to turn their tide towards a more morally sound future, with the rise of liberal and educated young adult consumers. It is never denied that sweatshop owners must be reigned in and conditions improved, but there is never a shortage of controversy over how this reformation should be done and to what

America is unknowingly supporting child slave labor by buying chocolate from the Hershey, Mars, and Nestle companies. In an effort to keep the prices of chocolate low, these big brands get their cacao needed to make America’s favorite dessert from child slavers on the Ivory Coast, thus promoting the slavers to keep routinely working and beating the child laborers. The chocolate industry is expected to experience a growth in demand of 30% by 2020. This would be a total of 4.5 million tons of chocolate in less than 4 years! Now, this should sound like good news for Ivory Coast cacao farmers and businesses alike, but in actuality it will result in the disregard for the livelihoods of more than five million small-scale family farmers who grow ninety percent of the world's cocoa mean that the industry may simply be unable to provide sufficient supply to meet the

Some of the world’s largest chocolate giants, and very familiar, almost comforting names, such as Hershey, Mars, and Nestle are heavily dependent on West African Cocoa Farmers. When we ignorantly purchase chocolates from these companies, we sentence millions of children to a life of misery.[PAUSE-MORE OPTIMISTIC] In choosing companies who produce fair trade chocolate, such as, Cadbury, we can improve the lifestyles of entire communities.

Citizens of the United States would be surprised at the number of children that work inside of the United States. However, even more shocking would be the instances of United States based companies hiring children to work in sweatshops in other countries. For instance, the well-known Hershey’s Chocolate Company uses cocoa harvested in West Africa by children (ViewMixed). Philip Morris, the owner of Marlboro, a company that majors in manufacturing cigarettes, confessed that over 70 children worked on tobacco farms where they buy their tobacco. Even Microsoft had their issues, as their suppliers in China were

In the United States, child labor and sweatshops are illegal, and society frowns upon any business that exploits children in the production of goods. Though most would say that they would not support a company that uses child labor to produce its goods, almost everyone has, in fact, knowingly or unknowingly, supported these businesses in one way or another. Children are involved in the production of many of the everyday goods we import from overseas, including the manufacturing of clothes, shoes, toys, and sporting equipment, the farming of cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, and bananas, and the mining of coal, diamonds, and gold (The U.S. Dept. of Labor). Often, we are blinded to this fact.

the child labour in Bolivia appears as a "evil necessity" that would be a way of overcoming the extreme poverty in the country. By means of the work, the children manage to satisfy his needs and those of his families and even help buying their school supplies. It would be necessary, in agreement with the Government, to create a legal frame to regulate and to protect these children who have remained invisible and victims of the exploitation and of the abuse. In addition, the child labour, would allow to the child to construct a social conscience.

It is true that growing cocoa helps Côte d'Ivoire in some ways, such as benefiting the country’s economy. The amount of chocolate being consumed all over the world is tremendously high. Document A shows that each year, the average person in the United States eats approximately 95 chocolate bars per year and the average person in Switzerland eats around 19.8 pounds of chocolate per year. Because countries are eating so much chocolate, Côte d'Ivoire is making more money from the chocolate industry. Compared to the United States total GDP in 2014, Côte d'Ivoire may not seem as wealthy, but keep