For the past five years, we’ve been on a mission to help Canadians better understand the need for more ethically certified chocolate to end up on our shelves. The Cocoa Barometer revealed both the successes and the challenges that farmers and the cocoa industry continue to face. We’ve compiled the top 5 findings from the report, below
1. West African cocoa farmers continue to face high rates of extreme poverty.
In Cote d’Ivoire, the average cocoa farmer would need to earn four times their current income just to reach the global poverty line of $2 a day. Because they lack a reasonable means to achieve their livelihood, unjust labour practices – including child labour – remain prevalent.
2. There is an increasing concentration of power.
An unfair distribution of power in the cocoa supply chain is one of the leading reasons farmers continue to live in extreme poverty. For example, six of the largest chocolate companies control 40% of the cocoa buying market. This concentration of power in the industry favours cocoa buyers and traders, leaving farmers in a weak position with little ability to voice their needs.
3. Ethically certified cocoa is on the rise.
One positive trend is that global sales of ethically certified chocolate is on the rise – from 2% in 2009 to nearly 16% in 2015. However, continued improvement in certification is needed in order to benefit all those involved in the cocoa supply chain. For farmers, there is a growing desire for a higher premium paid by certification bodies like Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ, as well as desire for companies to buy more certified cocoa. For the certifying bodies, questions remain around the quality of farm audits in addressing labour rights issues.
4. Progress on issues of child labour and trafficking is mixed.
As the world’s largest cocoa providers, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have taken steps to address issues of child labour and child trafficking. Their governments have collaborated with trade unions, civil society and global chocolate companies, prioritizing open discussion in order to find solutions to keeping children safe.
However, at the community level, families and community leaders need greater clarity around what is considered safe and unsafe work for children. In both countries, child labour is illegal. But children do work, and where they occasionally help out on the farm in jobs appropriate to their age and continue to go to school, that work is legal. In order to end the worst forms of child labour, communities and families need to understand the differences between what is safe and what would endanger the health, safety or moral development of a child.
5. We’re all responsible for creating change.
Governments, companies, as well as consumers share a responsibility – everyone involved in the cocoa supply chain needs to address the extreme poverty faced by cocoa farmers. If we expect to increase farmers’ productivity and protect their livelihood, this must be coupled with an increase in the price of cocoa. This could mean chocolate becomes more expensive.
Next steps
There’s still a lot of work to be done to reduce child labour within the cocoa industry. It starts with governments, companies and civil society working together to achieve the international goals of sourcing 100% ethically certified cocoa by 2020 and reducing the worst forms of child labour by 70% in the same timeframe. As conscious consumers, this could mean paying more for our chocolate in order to improve the lives of cocoa farmers around the world. But it’s a fair price to pay for chocolate that feels as good as it tastes.