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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Slavery + Chocolate
Chocolate in the United States is something that is enjoyed by many as a reward, a dessert, and a hobby but no one would ever guess that it is produced through the child trafficking, labor and slavery. Recently, a group of CNN reporters went to the Ivory Coast to investigate the cocoa industry following several reports of the exploitation back in 2001. Ever since, lawmakers have been trying to get it to change. After a lot of pushing, the Harkin-Engel protocol was developed and signed by major companies in the cocoa industry committing to bring an immediate end to child labor within the chocolate industry. UNICEF, a major non-profit organization, estimates that half million children within the Ivory Coast are within the ruthless cycle of child labor of the cocoa industry, many of who have tasted chocolate. Many of the children stuck in child labor are there due to family needs, having to help provide for their siblings. Others just know to work. Without schooling, many of these children find that life is just this way. They don't know about regulations, protocols, or even the idea of how to escape. The cocoa industry is just one of the many industries that exploit child labor in order to maximize profits. Now with this story out there and the protocol in place, hopefully change will happen. What are your thoughts on this? How does this affect the economy of the Ivory Coast and our own economy?
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7 comments:
I think that because chocolate is a scarce treat that everyone loves, and because there is such a high demand for chocolate, the companies exploiting child labor to produce chocolate will not make an effort to change their ways unless the government puts some regulations on using child labor from other countries. If the government were to enforce rules and regulations on exploiting child labor from other countries to make goods for the US, the price of chocolate would be significantly higher and could seriously decrease chocolate sales which would effect chocolate companies and therefore people's jobs.
Child labor in Ivory Coast has been an ongoing problem. Personally, I think that this type of child labor isn't supposed to exist, not only is it explicitly barred by law--the official working age in the country is 18. And being such a humanitarian nation I think that our initial reaction is to further intervene and put a halt to this. But when we intervene it typically never ends nicely, we take things too far. Many think a potential way to end the child labor is to stop buying the chocolate, but obviously that wouldn't work, it'd hurt our economy and theirs. We could also impose Fair Trade laws, unfortunately though, Ivorian farmers and their children cannot or aren't ready to accept the terms of fair trade; even with fair trade there's also still a chance that chocolate companies will still rely on child labor. In addition, sadly, most locals see anti-child labor campaigns as intimidation, threatening and as cultural imperialism. Overall, it's an extremely hard issue to fix-UNICEF says that 87% of labor used in cocoa farming came from family units. Even the President of the Ivory Coast worked on a farm with his parents as a child, and the severe poverty levels exacerbates the need for child labor. Thus, I think the best idea might be to address systemic problems of high tax rates, poverty, governmental bribes and the culture of the Ivory Coast to eliminate the child labor.
Child labor in the Ivory Coast seems to be an ongoing problem. I am completely against child labor, not only because it is flat out wrong but because it is explicitly barred by law-the official working age in the country is 18. Seeing that we are such a humanitarian nation we can further intervene, but seeing how we usually take things to far and the end result isn't always optimal it might not be the best solution. Many see the problem to be rather simple to fix-boycott. However this would hurt our economy and theirs. It is also going to be an incredibly hard problem to solve given that according to UNICEF 87% of labor used in the chocolate industry came from families; even the President of the Ivory Coast worked on a farm as a child. Ivorian farmers also can't or are not ready to accept terms of fair trade that impose Fair Trade laws. Anyway though, even with fair trade they can still rely on child labor. A lot of other locals see anti-child labor campaigns as threatening and intimidating rather than a good thing. Furthermore, they see it as cultural imperialism. I think that the big step in order to eliminate child labor is for the government and advocates to address the problems of high tax rates on the cocoa, poverty, governmental bribes, and the culture of the Ivory Coast. Out of all of those factors though, the first and foremost should be poverty. I think it's ultimately poverty, not the parent farmer that denies their children their rights to an education.
I think that the only way we can ever reform child labor is if enough people agree that humanitarian efforts outweigh the economy. Currently, I think that many people feel sympathetic to the plight of child laborers but are too comfortable with their wealth to actively seek for change. If child labor was banned and enforced, then the price of many goods would skyrocket, which very few people want. Though I am against child labor, I think that the real question is where will the line be drawn to protect child labor while keeping the costs of goods are a reasonable level.
The plant that produces cacoa is native only to Mexico, Central and South America. Its unfortunate that we are unable to harvest the seeds used to make chocolate in the United States, which would lessen our dependence on foreign chocolate as well as the foreign, unregulated labor that produces it. Its just so sad that a beloved American treat is linked to something as tragic as child labor.
While I do agree that child labor is something which we should work towards removing as a long term goal, I agree with Kimi that we should not approach this problem from a flatly economic, third-world perspective. The true root of the problem of child labor is in poverty. Without solving poverty and raising the standard of living in areas with high rates of child labor, any kind of law which essentially boycotts or taxes on child-manufactured goods is only exacerbating the problem of poverty.
In parts of the world such as the Ivory Coast, child labor is necessary for the livelihood of the family. Where child labor is rampant, poverty is rampant as well. Thus, the wages that children bring home help support the family. I remember reading one study on child labor in Bangladesh that showed that, out of survey participants, 33 percent of the child workers contributed 21-30 percent of the family income. Moreover, another 25 percent of child laborers contributed 31-50 percent of the family income. (Rahman, Mohammad Mafizuur, Rasheda Khanam and Nur Uddin Absar. "Child Labor in Bangladesh: A Critical Appraisal of Harkin's Bill and the MOU-Type Schooling Program." Journal of Economic Issues (1999)) Banning child labor in areas such as Bangladesh and the Ivory Coast would plunge families which depend on child labor further into destitution.
Moreover, while education is valued highly in America, in many poverty stricken areas, children and their parents don't value education highly. Where educational infrastructure is lacking and climbing the educational ladder doesn't yield many better job opportunities, parents and children see little incentive in gain an education.
While it is easy to state that child labor is bad, the solution to child labor is a more more complex than just the boycotting of child produced goods.
I would like to commend the previous speaker for his eloquent and incisive speech.
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