Tag Archives: cocoa

Slave Free Chocolate at Georgetown

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I just got back from doing a lecture at Georgetown U. as part of their Lecture Fund Series.  It went well and now that I have this speech and presentation, I am going on the road with it.  I also had a few meetings on capitol hill where I  met with Harkin’s office, Engel’s office and the head of Africa for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

     Both Harkin’s office and Engel’s office clearly explained that as far as legislation, the public needs to push for the “No Slavery Here” stamp. Continue reading →

Nestlé and the Cynical Use of Certification via Jeff Ballinger

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This is a blog by Jeff Ballinger.  As the Fair Trade movement is the best thing we have to date to count on, it’s not without its problems like everything else.  Here is the article:

Nestlé and the Cynical Use of Certification; “Fair Trade” for Some Tiny Percentage Gives Reputational Boost By Jeff Ballinger

Do we debate Fairtrade (Ft) labeling and marketing in the U.S.?  No, not so much – at least not compared to Britain, where it is something of a blood sport (some links below).  It may be somewhat unfair to lump Ft in with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but that’s the direction in which I’m presently leaning – especially since I started researching issues related to TransFair USA’s imminent launch of a pilot factory standard for clothes. 

Nestlé strategy with Kit Kat – the largest-selling candy bar in the UK – is to spend less than a million dollars annually for a Ft premium to cocoa growers so that all KK’s sold in the UK + Ireland get the Ft logo.  This amount is less than 2% of the advertising budget for Nescafe/UK and, indeed, should be viewed as part of that advertising spending. 

Cocoa strategy, then, closely follows Nestlé behavior vis a vis sourcing ethical coffee (0.2% of total purchases).  Why bother?  There’s an opinion from Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action here: “In evaluating Nestlé’s motives, we shouldn’t forget that the Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathé, has said that Nestlé should only support charities if it will benefit his shareholders and the reasoning here [Kit Kat] will be the same.”  Many other relevant views expressed here in 2007 BBC magazine story: How fair is Fairtrade?

For comments on a fine opinion piece in the Guardian 10 days ago, see Andrew Chambers’ “Not So Fair Trade.” Just yesterday, Prof. Daniel Jaffee (Washington State University) cleared up what he saw as a misrepresentation of his position – very interesting (& includes this insight: “If TNCs such as Nestlé and Dole are allowed to dabble in fair trade at token proportions of their overall volume – without being held to firm minimum percentage levels and being forced to raise those volumes steadily over time -fair trade runs the risk of serving to sanitize the image of corporations with poor human rights records, of becoming a “fair-washing” device…”)

Cocoa financing Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo

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This is an article that came out last year on Valentine’s Day about the hairy situation when Gbagbo was still in power.  If you remember there was an embargo on cocoa beans for a while.  If you are a corrupt leader in the first place with child labor issues right under your nose, I can’t imagine that a cocoa embargo would have a big effect unless you needed the money ASAP, which might be the case for Gbagbo  This article is from the Associate Press.

Critics: Chocolate financing Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo (AP) – Feb. 14, 2011

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Some of the cocoa in that Valentine’s Day chocolate probably came from a West African country where the man in power for a decade is still clinging to office. And activists say consumers might also think twice if they knew unpaid 5-year-olds helped produce it.

This year human rights advocates are harnessing the political crisis in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, to add momentum to an ongoing campaign to force the world’s chocolate makers to improve their labor practices.

Supporters of the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s election also have pushed for a cocoa ban in an effort to financially strangle incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who the U.N. says lost the November election.

“It’s clear that the taxes that come from cocoa go directly to keeping Gbagbo in power. That’s why we called for an export ban and it seems to be working,” said Patrick Achi, spokesman for internationally recognized winner Alassane Ouattara, who is now trying to run the country from a hotel.

Years of campaigning by “fair trade” consumers already have forced chocolate makers to sign onto to agreements to help clean up the cocoa supply chain. But little has changed in the decade since the U.S. Congress passed the Harkin-Engel Protocol to introduce a “no child slavery” label for chocolate marketed in the United States.

Some 1.8 million children aged 5 to 17 years work on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana, according to the fourth annual report produced by Tulane University under contract to the U.S. Department of Labor to monitor progress in the protocol.

The report says 40 percent of the 820,000 children working in cocoa in Ivory Coast are not enrolled in school, and only about 5 percent of the Ivorian children are paid for their work.

“These companies are getting incredible profits while often the farmers are getting really pennies,” said Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

Campaigns recently have begun targeting The Hershey Company because it is the only major chocolate producer in the world that hasn’t made a commitment to use certified cocoa, activists say. Hershey’s, though, says it is working to improve lives in local communities.

“Our focus is on-the-ground programs that promote sustainable livelihoods in West Africa,” said Hershey’s spokesman Kirk Saville. “Hershey’s support for cocoa communities goes back more than 50 years. We have helped to develop more productive agriculture practices, to build educational and community resources and to eliminate exploitative labor practices.”

But the Tulane University report on child labor in cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana found chocolate makers have reached less than 4 percent of cocoa-growing communities in Ivory Coast and less than 14 percent of communities in Ghana.

“The industry has invested far more in programs in Ghana, where the worst abuses are not quite as prevalent as in the Ivory Coast,” said Timothy Newman, campaigns director of the Washington D.C.-based International Labor Rights Forum.

Newman also said children from the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso also continue to be trafficked to Ivorian farms, where 40 percent of the world’s cocoa is produced.

Ivorian government statistics indicate that more than 37,000 children are forced to work, according to the U.N. International Labor Organization’s Alexandre Soho, senior program officer for Africa on the elimination of child labor.

The industry says it has spent more than $75 million to support implementation of a cocoa certification system. However, the Tulane study found partners on the ground received only $5.5 million between 2001 and 2009, and that those working in Ivory Coast received only $1.2 million from the industry.

Activists argue that the answer is simple: pay farmers more and they will be able to afford to send their kids to school instead of to work. Most children are put to work on small family plots, often wielding dangerous tools like machetes and using hazardous substances such as insecticides.

But critics say that a chocolate boycott only hurts the farmers and their families, who are trying to make a living even if the wages are not “fair trade” ones.

“The essential problem from the very beginning, was that the large chocolate companies were hiding behind the Harkin-Engel Protocol which is an entirely voluntary agreement with no enforcement mechanism. As a result, they have been able to continually drag their feet in taking responsibility for labor rights abuses in their own cocoa supply chains,” Newman said.

“Many of the initiatives developed under this process have never addressed the critical underlying issues that lead to egregious labor rights abuses like the low prices paid to cocoa farmers for their beans and the lack of negotiating power that small-scale farmers have in the global chocolate supply chain. Problems like these continue to fuel abuse.”

Associated Press writer Marco Chown Oved contributed to this report from Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

International Cocoa Initiative Statment in 2008

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Keep in mind that the missed milestones of 2005 were moved to 2008.  The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is the NGO that was created to re-mediate the situation.  Although they’ve done a lot of work and set up a structure, they only have received enough funding to date to reach about 4% of whom they needed to.  Given that they are dependent on big candy for most of the funding, they’ve been put in a tight spot.  Here is their official statement they gave in 2008.

London, 1-2 April 2008     ICI Conference Recommendations    “Sharing Lessons Learned – Developing Ways Forward”    Introduction     The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) hosted child labour experts from across the globe at an event at the London School of Economics. The conference, “Sharing Lessons Learned – Developing Ways Forward”, focused on efforts to eliminate child labour in agriculture with a particular reference to the cocoa sectors of Ghana and the Cote d’Ivoire. The participants included senior Government representatives of Ghana and the Cote d’Ivoire, the cocoa trade, the chocolate industry, members of international agencies, civil society from producer and consumer countries, as well as internationally acknowledged experts on child labour.   The first day of discussion focused on lessons learned from the programmes underway and the efforts in different commodity producing countries, while the second day challenged the conference participants to set the agenda for future direction. After two days of intense discussion a number of themes emerged which, while not necessarily reflecting a consensus of all present, were the product of thorough debate, strongly support and, most importantly, recognised as critical to future success. On the morning after the full conference deliberations, a working group of participants, representing governments, industry, local and international NGOs, reviewed the conference outputs. Drawing on these outputs, this group identified the need for a compelling vision, along with key themes and concrete recommendations, for consideration by all those with an interest in the elimination of child labour and the sustainable future of the cocoa supply chain within Ghana and the Cote d’Ivoire.  Outlined below are the key findings.     A Vision for cocoa   The elimination of child labour and the future of sustainable cocoa growing in Ghana and the Cote d’Ivoire must be based on thriving cocoa growing communities. This challenges us to work towards conditions that will support healthy, appealing and economically viable communities where children are safe and in school. Promoting the profitability of cocoa farms, using improved tools and methods, is the best way to ensure a sustainable supply of quality cocoa while at the same time encouraging investment in the farm, the family, the community and the future of their children.    ICI Conference Recommendations, 1-2 April 2008 Page 1 of 4 The conference participants recognise and agree these conditions are not widely met in the two countries at this time. To achieve this vision will require the leadership of these producer governments and effective collaboration with the cocoa industry, international agencies, civil society and other development partners over the long term to achieve this vision. The approach must ensure that children inform and influence their own future and that child labour is not displaced to other sectors.     Themes for action     Bearing in mind the many experiences and lessons learned to date, this conference suggests that there are compelling reasons for all parties to commit to a vision of thriving cocoa communities. The conference deliberations produced the following key themes that should be given serious consideration for individual and/or collective action.    • The governments of cocoa producing countries are central to providing the overall leadership and coordination of efforts for the development of cocoa regions. This places upon them the responsibility for providing appropriate plans, mechanisms for engagement and cooperation, appropriate data collection and transparent reporting, while remaining open to effective collaboration with others.  • The cocoa industry including local buyers, transporters and processors, manufacturers of cocoa based products, with the related trade and retail sector, bear a key part of the shared responsibility for the future of the cocoa supply chain. The industry should support the evolution of an efficient, transparent and sustainable cocoa supply chain that significantly contributes to the needs for a decent living for farmers and their families and actively supports efforts towards the elimination of child and forced labour. • Effective progress towards this vision can only be made by drawing on the expertise of the international development agencies and the unique role of civil society. In partnership with governments these organizations are vital to ensure that improvements in infrastructure and farm profitability are matched with social development. Civil society can ensure a real voice for farmers, communities and especially women and children in their own progress. • Underlying all development efforts and in particular the efforts to eliminate child labour, must be substantial investment in quality accessible education for all. Recognising that many positive lessons have been learned, there are innovative and cost effective solutions that need to be extended in support of the formal education system, to reach those children who are out of school and illiterate adults. The vision of thriving cocoa communities requires immediate action to improve education in the producing areas.     Concrete steps forward     To build on the energetic engagement at the conference and the themes recommended above, concrete action is needed. This conference did not aim to be prescriptive but encourages all, including those not represented, to consider these outputs, learn from the lessons shared and put into action those recommendations that fall within their field of responsibility and influence. The conference encouraged the proposal of actionable items which can stimulate both engagement and common commitment.  The actions below are in no way exhaustive but are drawn from those conference outputs where there was significant agreement and energy to move forward in the short to medium term. Those actions which are considered urgent are indicated.     ICI Conference Recommendations, 1-2 April 2008 Page 2 of 4 Producer government leadership & coordination:     • Urgent: Disseminate widely National Action Plans and ensure a regular national coordination mechanism that allows all partners to contribute to these plans, share information and build on lessons learned.  • Urgent: Engage fully with civil society as unique partners of government to support the national action plans especially at community level. • Urgent: Extend the regular cocoa sector studies envisioned under the “child labour certification” system currently being implemented, to drive effective policy, remediation and corrective action. • Urgent: Complete and disseminate the national lists of hazardous activities in compliance with ILO convention 182. Dissemination must be in forms that are easy to access by all. • Integrate the broader development needs in the cocoa sector, including specifically those of children, into national development plans and secure relevant concrete support from international agencies and development partners. • Establish a fully operating system of response and safe rehabilitation for identified cases of trafficking and exploitation.     Evolution of the supply chain:     • Urgent: Undertake a comprehensive review of the current knowledge that can support the development of a sustainable cocoa sector and ensure that this is widely disseminated. • Urgent: Increase the investment in relevant extension-services to ensure that smallholder cocoa farming is properly supported, including access to market information. • Urgent: Promote the organisation of cocoa farmers for collective action to enable them to work together for their common self interest and ensure a fair price.  • Develop and apply improved technology, methods and tools to raise productivity, improve quality and create proven replicable models for the future of profitable cocoa farming. • Improve the efficiency and transparency of the cocoa supply chain ensuring that the farmers are fully represented in such changes.     The role of international agencies and civil society:     • Urgent: Local civil society shall ensure that they effectively coordinate with national governments in their efforts to reach out to communities, promote equitable development with an emphasis on women and children. • Urgent: Actively incorporate key international agencies, including but not limited to ICCO, UNICEF, ILO, IOM, UNDP, World Bank into the national coordination structures. Their support of the efforts of Governments should be sought to promote broad development in the cocoa sector. • Urgent: Improve the identification and safe rehabilitation of trafficked and exploited children, with international agencies and civil society playing an active role under the leadership of government. • Increase significantly the outreach of programmes that foster and build-on the capacity of local civil society. These programmes must seek to create community level capacity to lead their own development and ensure that the child is at the centre of their development efforts. ICI Conference Recommendations, 1-2 April 2008 Page 3 of 4 • Incorporate lessons learned into existing programmes for effective action to create awareness of and combat child and forced labour. New programmes translate into concrete support of national action plans.     Investment in quality accessible education for all:      • Urgent: Incorporate the lessons learned in the provision of accessible quality education for all into the national action plans for development efforts in the cocoa regions. Lessons learned must specifically include the efforts needed to ensure all girls attend school. • Urgent: Develop appropriate education support programmes to ensure basic education can be provided in cocoa growing areas including those which are remote. • Expand significantly programmes that can effectively reach children who have dropped out of school, who have never attended school or who would better benefit from “life skills” based education. All such programmes should as much as possible aim to reintegrate children into and support the formal education system. • Launch innovative projects to provide appropriate and meaningful approaches to vocational education. Projects must aim to provide older children with real choices for a livelihood in their community or the means to eventually seek work beyond their community without making them vulnerable to exploitation.       ICI will produce a full conference report which will contain specific recommendations in all these thematic areas and further add to the areas of action for consideration.     

2008 Joint Statement for Harkin and Engel about the Protocol

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This is a great piece to get an understadning of where things stood 7 years after the initiation of the protocol.

Joint Statement from U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, Representative Eliot Engel and the Chocolate and Cocoa Industry on the Implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol

Protocol Drives Number of Achievements; Industry Outlines Next Steps

 

WASHINGTON, DC, USA (June 16, 2008) – In September 2001, industry representatives signed an agreement, today known as the “Harkin-Engel Protocol,” developed in partnership with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY).  The agreement laid out a series of steps aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor from cocoa growing in West Africa.  An unprecedented effort, the Protocol marked the first time that an entire industry stepped forward and worked with governments, civil society and other stakeholders to address the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in its supply chain.

The development of a system of public certification is a key part of the Harkin-Engel Protocol. In an agreement made in 2005, the industry committed that by July 1, 2008, a public certification system would be in place that would cover 50% of the cocoa farming sector of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.  In fact, the data collection element of the certification process covering an area that produces at least 50% of the cocoa farming output in each country has been completed, and reports detailing the preliminary results of these surveys by the respective governments are expected to be released by July 1.  However, independent verification, which is critical to establishing the validity of the results of the government conducted surveys, partially funded by the industry, will not be fully completed until the end of the year.   This robust verification process, which is underway, will improve data collection to ensure accurate reporting of the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor and strengthen remediation efforts.

This certification process has been developed as a cooperative effort between the North American and European chocolate and cocoa industry together with their international affiliates and the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.  These surveys, as part of the certification process, will eventually be representative of the entire cocoa sector, reporting the incidence of child and adult labor practices that are unacceptable.  This is not the same as product certification, whereby internationally recognized certifying organizations attest that particular products and their specific raw materials are produced according to labor practices that are confirmed by third party auditors.

The certification process being implemented will help governments, industry, and the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), to focus their efforts toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in the cocoa supply chain. Ideally, over time, subsequent surveys will indicate an improvement in the status of child and adult labor practices.

Since its signing, the Protocol has been a positive and important catalyst for change, driving a number of important achievements.  

Today, both the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are working toward implementing detailed national plans of action, focused on child labor issues across all sectors of their economies, with dedicated senior level officials assigned to lead these ongoing efforts.  Both countries have invested in the implementation of certification, and will publicly post the results of their surveys.  In addition, each country has committed resources to address issues that are identified through the data collection / reporting process.  These efforts are to be acknowledged and applauded.

“I had a chance to see, first hand, the progress that is being made in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire during a trip in January,” said Senator Tom Harkin.  “After that trip and meeting children who have already been affected by our work, I am more dedicated than ever to seeing through the commitments made by the industry and the national governments under the Protocol.  I am hopeful that the industry will redouble its efforts to increase its contributions to the ICI to effectively deal with remediation needs.”

Representative Eliot Engel added, “Since 2001, I have been firmly committed to working with the cocoa industry and the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to do everything we can to work in partnership to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor. My trip to West Africa in January reaffirmed my commitment to this crucial process.”

 

“The certification process currently being undertaken is delivering an assessment of cocoa labor practices across ever-larger areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana,” said Larry Graham, President of the National Confectioners Association (NCA).  “Today, the ICI foundation is actively engaging communities to address labor issues and help children. And we have an ongoing, action-oriented partnership between industry, civil society and these governments, a partnership that will continue to drive change in the years ahead.”

The International Cocoa Initiative

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) was established in 2002, as called for under the Protocol.  A partnership among NGOs, trade unions, cocoa processors and major chocolate brands, the ICI is a unique initiative that combats the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in cocoa farming.  To date, industry and individual companies have provided nearly $10 million in financial support for the ICI and its programs since its formation and will continue to support the foundation in the future. 

 

In 2008, the ICI is working in 104 communities in Côte d’Ivoire and 119 communities in Ghana. In 2006 – 2007 it organized 23 training sessions in Ghana and 17 in Côte d’Ivoire for government officials, local police, NGOs and media to sensitize participants with respect to child and adult labor practices.

 

“During my recent trip to Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, I was impressed by the work being done by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI). The ICI is not only sensitizing communities about the hazards of child and forced adult labor, but is also working to promote the important role of quality education in childhood development,” said Representative Engel.

 

“But if we are to make real progress in eliminating the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor in the cocoa industry, I believe that the ICI must now substantially scale up its efforts in both Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. I look forward to working with all of the stakeholders to ensure that ICI efforts are deepened over the next year.”

 

 

Future Commitment:

 

Going forward, the chocolate and cocoa industry will continue to support efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor on cocoa farms and to help cocoa farmers, their families and communities by continuing to work with the national governments to ensure that the certification process, including remediation and verification are fully implemented.   

 

“As an industry, we see this effort as a long-term commitment, one that reflects a shared responsibility for the cocoa farmers and their families at the start of our supply chain,” said David Zimmer, Secretary General of Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit & Confectionery Industries of the EU (CAOBISCO).  “It is not a commitment that expires with any one date but rather is an essential, ongoing part of how we conduct business.   While we focus on near-term milestones, they are in fact part of a longer, sustained effort that reflects our corporate citizenship in this and other areas.”

 

In the next 2-3 years, this long-term commitment will include the following:  

 

Industry will work with the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to have a sector-wide independently verified certification process fully in place across each country’s cocoa-growing sector by the end of 2010.   

Industry will work closely with and assist the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana as they target and coordinate remediation efforts, based on the results from the certification data reports.  

Companies will deepen their support for the ICI as the foundation expands to additional communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana; further strengthens government capacity at the national level, and educates key stakeholders in the cocoa supply chain on safe, responsible labor practices.  

“Looking ahead, there is still much work to do and our commitment will remain firm,” remarked Bill Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), an industry-supported organization that plays a leadership role in improving economic and social conditions for cocoa farming families.  “We will build upon the achievements within the Protocol framework, as well as upon our ongoing support for the economic and social development of cocoa farming communities, to make a better life for children and adults on cocoa farms.”