A sweet treat leaves a sour taste

I think it would be fair to say that most people love chocolate.
But many do not know the sickening truth behind cocoa production...

The leading countries for the cocoa bean industry are in West Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire alone, there are more than half a million cocoa farms.

This country along with Ghana provides 

about 60 - 80% of cocoa beans in the 

world industry.

Cocoa beans

However, on each farm, it is estimated that there are around 12-15 thousand children working as slaves in dreadful conditions. But how did they get there?
Although child slavery is illegal in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, a study shows that each year 200,000 children are trafficked
in these countries.

Slave traffickers look for boys who are by themselves and take them in, only to sell them to Cocoa farmers who need cheap workers. Sometimes they look for families with boys in them and collaborate with a family member to force the job of a cocoa bean picker on a poor child.

Often, a child slave is paid nothing for their work. The money instead goes to those involved in trafficking the child and the boss of the farm on which the child works. 
These children cannot get to school.
These poor children not only are not paid but also are often not fed properly. 
It seems almost impossible to escape from this exploitative trade.

So what can be done?
Please let others know the truth of what is behind the chocolate industry. Buying Fair Trade chocolate brands such as: Green & Blacks (which is also organic), Cadbury Milk Chocolate (please note: only the plain dairy milk is Fair trade) and Whittakers Creamy Milk Block. Buying Fair Trade and not supporting child slave labour may force farmers to change the way they act.  


Thank you to all the websites which provided helpful information and pictures for this article.