"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty." (Look up James 5:1-6 in the bible to see the rest)Recently I've been learning about where the cocoa comes from that is used to make the chocolate we eat. 67% of the worlds cocoa is produced in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, it's also produced in some other countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Dominican Republic and Bolivia.
Unfortunately, from what i've been learning, the people who produce cocoa don't get nearly as much enjoyment out of it as we do when we eat chocolate. Here's some things you need to know:
- 80% of the production (from cocoa to chocolate bar) is done by the farmers, not chocolate companies, but,
- The average income for households in West Africe producing cocoa= US$30-108 per year
- the farmers get about 1-7cents per chocolate bar sold
- about 284,000 children are working on cocoa farms in West Africa, mostly in the Ivory Coast (which produces 43% of the world's cocoa from 600,000 farms)
- There is also a big problem of forced labour
- Six chocolate companies control 80%of the chocolate market
- After some big publicity in the U.S. in 2001 of the problem of child labour on cocoa farms, susequent public outcry and then being pushed by the U.S Govt, the chocolate industry agreed to take voluntary steps to ends child labour
- However, there has been little progress and nothing done to ensure fair prices are paid by companies for cocoa produced.
The chocolate doesn't taste quite as good anymore....
There is some good news. We can buy chocolate made from cocoa that is produced and sold fairly. Look for the FAIRTRADE label to be sure that the people farming the cocoa were paid a fair price and that the workers had fair conditions. In addition to this, a premium is paid to communities to support social, economic and environmental development.
Two companies sell Fairtrade chocolate in Australia (that I know of), they are Cocolo and Green & Blacks. Both of these are also organic and so are available in organic shops.
You can buy these at Oxfam Shops (although the Hobart one is about to close down), City Organics in Criterion St (Hobart CBD), All Organic Shop (north hobart). Coles are trialling the sale of Cocolo in some NSW & Victoria stores so hopefully this goes well and will eventually in up in Tassie. (We're working on it!)
If you are a coffee drinker, then look out for Fairtrade certified coffee, identifiable by the FAIRTRADE label above. Fairtrade coffee is more widely available than chocolate but sales and availability of Fairtrade products are rapidly increasing.
More info:
Fair Trade Association of Australia and New ZealandInfo about the campaign for fairer chocolateReport by Anti-slavery International - The Cocoa Industry in West Africa: A history of explotation".CocoloGreen & BlacksFairtrade standards for Cocoa, for small farmers organisations (includes how fairtrade prices are calculated p.5)