Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farms Quiz

Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farms

• Easter is a commercial blitz for the chocolate industry, but it's fueled by child labor in the cocoa fields of western Africa.
• Children as young as 10 are forced to work on cocoa bean farms in West Africa, where Ghana's biggest cash crop is cocoa beans.
• Ghana, formerly known as Gold Coast, was once the center of West Africa's slave trade, and child labor is still prevalent in its cocoa industry.
• Children work long hours in harsh conditions, with some forced into labor by their parents due to poverty.
• The government struggles to deal with child trafficking and abusive labor conditions in the cocoa industry.
• The cocoa farmers in Ghana, even the wealthiest, make less than $500 per year, living in poor conditions without basic amenities.
• The big chocolate companies claim to be working on improving conditions for children working on cocoa farms, but only Cadbury has promised to use fair trade cocoa in one of its candy bars.
• Child trafficking is prevalent, with children being bought and sold for labor on cocoa farms, and some working in other industries, like gold sifting.
• The Ghanaian government is under pressure to eliminate child labor from cocoa farms due to the high consumption of chocolate in the West.
• Fairtrade practices are being encouraged, with Fairtrade cocoa ensuring fair prices for farmers, no child labor, and profits going back into the community.
• Fairtrade efforts have led to improvements in communities, providing clean water and better nutrition, but child labor remains endemic in a country burdened by poverty.
• Fairtrade certification standards ensure no forced labor, control over child labor, and fair prices for labor, aiming to prevent child slavery and labor in the cocoa industry.