There is a link between the production and marketing of chocolate, slave labour and the debt burden of poor countries.
Many of us love chocolate. You and I might even know a chocoholic or two! Do you ever wonder where chocolate comes from before it melts so wonderfully in your mouth?
Cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, is produced for chocolate lovers while those who grow it often working under difficult conditions, go hungry.
The six largest cocoa producing nations are the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil and Cameroon. The Cote d'Ivoire is the world's leading producer with 43 percent of the world's crop, grown mainly on small holdings. Cocoa represents 90 percent of Cote d'Ivoire's foreign exchange earnings.
Except for Brazil, the cocoa producing nations are among the countries identified by the UN as the poorest in the world.
Under the World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Country scheme (HIPC), Cote d'Ivoire is yet to qualify for some cancellation of its decades' old international debt. In order for HIPC countries to reach the "decision" point for this debt relief, they have to meet the standards imposed by the International Monetary Fund. However, these standards are conditional on changes which are often more in the interests of the lenders than the people of the indebted country.
Because cocoa farmers need cheap labour, boys and young men are being lured to Cote d'Ivoire from countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso with promises of work. Once on the farms, they are often not paid for their work or are forced into slavery. The young boys are kept on the farms through violence and threats of violence, or through the threat of folk spells working in hot, dangerous conditions. Many children do not attend school because they are required to work on the cocoa farms. The debt repayments continue taking money away from education, health and infrastructure programs.
In Australia children, families, schools and community groups interested in projects are targeted by chocolate manufacturers. Chocolate companies offer to help them raise funds and in turn sell a lot of chocolate. Who is helping whom?
Today in Australia, major religious festivals like Christmas and St Valentine's Day have become marketing opportunities. At Easter, when Christians focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, marketers promote chocolate. Every year, Australians consume about 200 million Easter eggs.
Before we start munching our way through the varieties of chocolate on sale in the stores for Easter, I would urge you to find out more about the chocolate situation and take action for justice as a Lenten practice in fasting.
We need to create an awareness of the need for responsible production of the food we buy, especially chocolate which brings us such pleasure and causes such pain to workers in the industry.
Article by Anne Lanyon.
Related links
- Read more JPIC Articles on Trade, Debt and Aid
Shop
Comments (0)