A few years ago I was asked to do some research about child’s slavery in cocoa farms. I was overwhelmed by what I found. I had a quick look at the updated statistics – these studies are being done regularly to monitor the situation. Things have changed a little bit since then. For worse.
It is all public knowledge, just not very frequently talked about. We say “it is what it is” and decide for ourselves. After all, we are just a drop in the ocean of everyone doing what is convenient, because that is the way our world is set up for us. There is the tyranny of small steps, but let’s not fool ourselves that a single individual’s actions are going to matter much. It is the legal framework and corporate setups that shape what is convenient or cost efficient for common citizens. I may have something very specific in mind, but I will leave that for another time. Maybe it is allright after all?
The world’s chocolate market is worth over $100 billion, of which only 6% goes to cocoa producers.
Over 40 million people depend on cocoa to survive. Roughly two-thirds of the world’s cocoa supply comes from Ghana and Ivory Coast, whose equatorial climates support its production. Cocoa is the number one source of income in Ghana, and it does benefit the local communities. It is also harvested by the people living on the verge of poverty, involving child labour and slavery. In 2018 est. 2.1 million children were working in cocoa plantations in West Africa alone. Approx. 12,000 children in Ivory Coast are slaves.
10-year olds are forced to work 80 hour weeks in hazardous conditions: spraying chemicals, hauling heavy loads over long distances, igniting massive fires to burn fields, using long, sharp machetes to break open the cocoa pods. Some of them are used as slaves to pay off their family’s debts or being stolen from their parents, under fed and beaten when they try to escape. In some countries children working on a farm are merely just transitioning into the family business.
Overproduction crisis and fair trade
Some contributors to this mess are labour shortages and low wages. Roughly 90% of the world’s cacao comes from small farms of no more than five hectares each. It is then purchased by the middle men who sell it as a commodity to processors around the world. As a commodity, it is not uncommon to see its price fluctuate, further enhanced by the speculators. Good harvest at the beginning of the 2016/17 season caused the cocoa prices to drop by $1000 per ton, which was ca. 30% of its price in 2015. Farmers desperate to cover their spending needs worked towards increasing the harvest on a massive scale, leading to the structural oversupply and a classical overproduction crisis, like the one in the 1930s.
There have been a few initiatives directed at addressing the issue, such as the Harkin-Engel Protocol, or the Fairtrade certification and the likes. The idea behind fairtrade was to organise producers in cooperatives, eliminate the intermediary and benefit from higher end-product prices. It was well intended and many companies joined the movement. It only made things worse.
What we are seeing is a classic oversupply crisis, on a global scale.
Unlimited quantity price guarantees are a direct cause of oversupply. Fairtrade attracted more growers than the global market demands. Consolidation of the confectionery industry together with market volatility decreased the influence of cacao farmers. Only a fraction of the cocoa certified is sold at a fair price, while the rest is sold at the global market. Obtaining the certificate as well as audit (on demonstrational farms only) are an additional cost covered by the farmers. Increasing costs of production and low cocoa prices create ongoing pressure to increase production which leads to deforestation, wildlife destruction, soils and water contamination. Estimated 90% of the original national parks of West Africa are gone.
Too many farmers produce a small amount of cocoa. Too many of them depend on their crop and are pressured to increase production. Too many buyers are willing to pay the lowest price possible. And the farmers are agreeing to that, driven by necessity.
In June 2019 Ghana and Ivory Coast suspended the sale of cocoa beans to the open market for the 2020/2021 season. Their agreement with the stakeholders in the cocoa industry has been reached, and as a result traders, processors and manufacturers have accepted a $2,600 floor price for a tonne of cocoa. For the first time in history the sellers determined the price of the commodity.
This did not do much. LATAM countries stepped in to fill that hole and increased their own production, at the expense of their local communities and ecosystems. That is when the cacao ceremonies came to existence (no such thing until now), with claims that they only work with a rare variety of “traditional” cacao found only in the LATAM (with their own controversies).This has, again, proven how helpless and futile actions of any developing country are.
“People love to hear good news about their bad habits.” – John A. McDougall
It is not the first time when cacao is portrayed as something with extraordinary health benefits. People like hearing good news about their bad habits. Not long ago there was a scam about chocolate’s fat burning benefits, later exposed as false. Our overall well being (and metabolic rate) benefits from a decrease in our stress levels, often achieved by having a little bit of candy, that is probably all.
No substance is going to save us. No spirits are going to take away our problems or enlighten us. It is still all down to agency – taking ownership of our own lives. Even though it did not start with us, chances are it may end with us. As long as we stop playing the victims in hope for something from the outside to heal us. We mean well and we look for any means available. We all just want to be happy.
Can we take ownership of what happens on our planet?
All revolutions and upheavals in human history happened against the rules upkeeping the past frameworks and existing laws. You did not change the world by being cynical, and I believe taking a directed approach can make a difference. I do not have all the answers, but this is a conversation. One of the many worth having.
