The Chocolate Sector of Côte d’Ivoire Essay

A significant portion of the Ivory Coast’s protected forests have been chopped down over the past few years to make room for illegal cocoa farms. (Doc D) [Ohio State University Professor W. Scott] McGraw and his fellow researchers surveyed 23 protected areas...All told, more than 74 percent of the supposedly protected forests the researchers surveyed had been taken over by cocoa farms. (Doc D) The Ivory Coast also underwent two civil wars between 2002 and 2011 which heavily affected the production of cocoa by about 247,000 metric tons. (Background Essay) The wars disrupted the planting of trees causing cocoa farmers to face less productivity to grow cocoa beans. Many of the cocoa trees are reaching the end of their productivity putting the productivity of cocoa beans at a slower rate. Even though the farmers are planting new trees, it takes three to five years for a cocoa tree to produce pods with the cocoa beans. (Background Essay) This deforestation along with hunting have heavily affected the Ivory Coast. Especially their agriculture and animals

The middle men who buy the cocoa from the farmers do not tell the farmers the current prices for cocoa, thus preventing the farmers from making a profit and enabling them to pay their workers. The chocolate companies buy the refined cocoa from these middle men, and sell finished chocolate products that were partially produced through slave labor. The consumers

With the increasing trend in healthy diet preference, the underlying drivers of change of competition in premium chocolate industry at the strongest level are the buyers’ preferences for differentiated, refined products, instead of standardized ordinary products that are no longer demanded. In addition, baby boomers - generation with their disposable income are spending a lot on high quality premium chocolates.

Numerous studies have been done on chocolate and their results have been in chocolate’s favour – although moderation is key.

This is because of the severe economic strife that the region experiences. More than 40% of the people living in the Ivory Coast region are below the poverty line (Little Change). Years of civil war and the decrease in cocoa bean prices from 2,600 USD per ton to 900 USD per ton between 1980 to 2000 have forced cocoa bean plantation owners to resort to child labor in order to stay afloat in their drowning economy (Ending Child Trafficking). Furthermore, the chocolate titans that purchase their cocoa beans from Ivory Coast farmers further exacerbate the problem. By encouraging developing nations to grow more cocoa, big chocolate companies drive down the price of cocoa beans and force farmers to use child labor as a means of cheap labor in order to keep their plantations (Slave Free Chocolate). Social justice workers must look towards biblical passages and Catholic social teachings in order to combat the physical abuse and harsh conditions that the child laborers

There are two distinct types of cocoa plants: Criollo and Forastero. The Criollo variety is the most sensitive of the cocoa plants, and any shifts in climate can have an adverse affect on its already low yield. In an attempt to blend the hardiness of the Forastero plant with the delicate flavors of the Criollo plant, the two were hybridized into a third plant, Trinitario, which accounted for 20% of all production in 2008, although it 's steadily developing a following. Regardless of the cocoa variety, the production cycle is the same. On average, cocoa trees take five years to reach maturity and bear fruit, at which time only a total of about 20 pods might be ready for harvest. As a rule of thumb, 10 pods produce 2.2 pounds of cocoa, so the average tree can produce only a little over four pounds of cocoa. Interestingly, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Indonesia account for more than 70% of the world 's cocoa production, and most of that production comes from small plantations.

Côte D’Ivoire is the #1 cocoa seller in the world. It is the most important thing in cote d’ivoire, but there have been many problems with the cocoa that has affected the economy, farmers, and chocolate lovers.Cocoa is not benefiting as much as what it needs.

In order to tackle all these issues in the cocoa sector, we should establish and run different codependent strategies simultaneously. I propose that in order to establish a better distribution of income, the governments of cocoa producing countries should establish a minimum sale price for cocoa. Additionally, they should establish penalties for corporations who buy cocoa that has been involved in child labor. To achieve this, it is essential to encourage and reward the formation of cocoa cooperatives, so farmers can increase their negotiation power as suppliers of raw material. This will help them sell their product at a better price and keep them from resorting to child labor in order to produce competitive cocoa. Lastly, an independent monitoring system must be created and managed by local

The Canadian market size for chocolates was US$167 million in 2006 and was expected to grow every year by 2%. Where

Close to half of the worlds chocolate is made from the highly prized top-quality cocoa

Chocolate has traditionally been associated with magical, medicinal, and mythical properties. In fact, in Latin, cacao trees are called Theobroma Cacao, or “food of the gods .”m

The market is said to be valued at 5.03 billion rands according to the insight survey. There are a few slow downs in the market due to prices and health. South Africa doest grow or produce its own cocoa but it imports from other west African countries that do specialize in the production of cocoa, this tends to increase the cost incurred by the buyer in south Africa, which in turn puts upward pressure in the prices of south africa. This doesn't help at all because already the South African economy is already decreasing the purchasing power of the consumers. South Africans are also turning into more health conscious individuals and are concerned about the things they eat, this has caused for them to decrease their consumption in chocolate as this could affect their health (diabetes, cholesterol, dental problems). Even with the decline in consumption, it is expected that within the next 5 years there will be an increase in market which will be consuming chocolate and this is all thanks to the growing middle class in South Africa, and the fact that South Africans now want to support more of the locally produced goods, which increases the demand in locally produced

Cote d’lvoire in West Africa is the world’s larger producer of cocoa beans. That beans of the cocoa fruits, which grow on cocoa trees, the production of it begins where the hot and humid climate is well for growing it. Moreover, growing cocoa is hard manual work and very labour intensive, as caring for and harvesting the beans requires close and continuous attention. Harvesting the cacao pods is still done by hand ripe pods are gathered every few weeks during the peak season. In fact, the high pods are cut with large knives attached to poles, taking care not to damage nearby flowers and buds. The pods are collected in large baskets, which workers carry on their heads, and piled up ready for

Cocoa trees are not easy to grow and require great care if you want the best highest quality yields. Cocoa trees grow on small farms in tropical environments, within 15-20 degrees of latitude from the equator. Cocoa is a delicate and sensitive crop, and farmers must protect trees from wind, sun, pests, and disease. Because of this they are only grown in certain parts of the world mainly Africa. Africa is a very poor continent and because of this many people will do whatever it takes to get whatever money they can, like work on a farm all day for less than two dollars per day. This can be avoided children don’t need to work on farms to help support their families, people don’t need to be abducted and forced to work on farms far from their homes and their families there are things we can do to stop this in the US. Currently in America there are little to no import laws on chocolate specifically just those for food in general and the only way to ensure that you get chocolate that was not gotten using any kind of slave or child labor is to make sure that it was imported through Fair Trade USA because they ensure that the chocolate is acquired through good means, so if they are made to be the main importer of chocolate then we can cut down the slave and child labor in Africa greatly.

0…Who would of though that a simple chocolate business in the late 1800s would impact the present? Chocolate, the world’s most adored sweet for centuries, later perfected by Milton S. Hershey in 1894. Discovering success was not easy for Hershey he worked long hours with little money. Although Hershey did not originally make and sell chocolate, he realized that chocolate held a promising future after watching a chocolate-making machine work. Milton S. Hershey grew very wealthy but was unselfish and used his money to give back to the world. The success of Hershey is contributed to Hershey’s endless efforts to perfecting the quality of chocolate.