A Bittersweet Truth
by Jackie Kundla
November 2008
Many people today think that child slave labor no longer exists; unfortunately it is still apart of our world and economy. Big businesses such as Nestle Chocolate, Nike, and Gap are notorious for the use of child labor. Would someone really want to enjoy a piece of chocolate or purchase an article of clothing that an innocent child worked on for more laborious hours than an average middle-class US citizen and got paid less than minimum wage?! I would hope not, but for anyone who is in denial, here is some proof of the most recent evidence that child slave labor most definitely exists.
Millions of Americans enjoy a delicious chocolate bar at least once a day. It may be delicious and it may be a scapegoat for our everyday problems but there is a surprising association between chocolate and child labor in Cote d’Ivoire. Cote d’Ivoire is located in West Africa and is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocoa, supplying 46% of the world cocoa production. West Africa, collectively supplies nearly 80% of the world’s cocoa.
Cocoa is a dried and fully fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. The cacao tree is native to the Americans. It may have originated in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America where today, examples of wild cacao still can be found. Cacao trees will grow in a limited geographical zone, of approximately 20 degrees to the north and south of the Equator.
Nearly 70 % of the world crop is grown in West Africa. The West African County of Cote d’Ivoire is the leading exporter of cocoa beans to the world market. Therefore, the existence of slave labor is relevant to the entire international community.
The conditions are horrendous and are even more jarring when the facts are juxtaposed with the idea that much of this cocoa will ultimately end up producing something that most people associate with happiness and pleasure: chocolate. It’s outrageous to know that something that is so pleasurable in one country is derived from the expense of child slave labor. It has become an issue that everybody around the world should be concerned about and demand action to eradicate.
Young boys whose ages range from 12-16 are the main target. They are being taken from their home countries to be sold to the cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire. They work on small farms across the country, harvesting the cocoa beans day and night, under inhumane conditions. Most of the boys come from neighboring Mali, where agents hang around bus stations looking for children that are alone or begging for food.
Although news of child labor abuse in Cote d’Ivoire has only recently gained public attention, these situations did not arise suddenly. Many interlocking factors have contributed to both creating and perpetuating conditions that have led to this form of modern slavery. And the production of chocolate isn’t the only antagonist, Nike is as well.
It has been discovered that Nike has sweat shops all over the world. During the 1970’s Nike shoes were primarily produced in South Korea and Taiwan, with a few factories located in the United States. Ironically, in 1984 $5.2 billion dollar Nike Corp. closed its last factory that existed in the US and transferred it to Asia. Nowadays, many of Nike’s factories are located in Vietnam, Indonesia, and China where they can get away with the unprotected labor laws and cheap work. Along with Nike, comes the notorious GAP
Unfortunately, the ever popular clothing store, The GAP, is infamous for their use of child slave labor and has been for many years now. A freelance journalist caught horrific footage of a 10 year old child being demanded to embroider an article of clothing for The GAP kids clothing line. The child is quoted saying that they are to finish the work and are not allowed to leave until their families debts are paid off. In an effort to suppress the evidence, GAP is quoted, “At Gap, we firmly believe that under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments, these allegations are deeply upsetting and we take this situation very seriously. All of our suppliers and their sub-contractors are required to guarantee that they will not use child labor to produce garments. It is clear that one of our vendors violated this agreement, and full investigation is underway.”
It’s deplorable that such events have been apparent throughout history and are still prominent in today’s society. I find it hard to comprehend how outrageously popular stores and companies can resort to such inhumane behavior. It seems as though our country is focused on issues that are less important. Corporations have more than enough money to provide workers with fair wages and fair work hours without losing any business.
Sources Used:
www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_and_slavery –
www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-47346785.html - 33k
michael-niemann.com/blog/2008/01/ - 30k