History, Background
A Commitment
After reports appeared that children were being harmed on cocoa farms in West Africa, the chocolate and cocoa industry began working with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY to develop an industry-wide solution.
The result: an agreement, known as the Harkin-Engel Protocol (and hereinafter referred to as the Protocol), which established a framework for efforts designed to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and forced adult labor from cocoa growing.
Certification was one of several key steps called for in the Protocol.
No “Roadmap”
The Protocol defined the “destination,” but not the map for getting there. No group had ever attempted to report on labor conditions across an entire agricultural sector in the developing world.
Most labor monitoring programs focused on labor practices in factories or at a finite number of work sites: in West Africa alone, there are more than two million cocoa farms, stretching across tens of thousands of square miles of rural geography.
(To learn more about the unique challenges associated with labor issues on cocoa farms, click here)
Recognizing the challenges, and a lack of experience in complex social issues, the industry worked with partners in developing a robust, credible model for certification, one that would make a positive, lasting impact in the lives of children and adults in the West African cocoa farming sector.
The active participation of partners was essential, bringing expertise, credibility, and the involvement of institutions best suited to address labor and related issues on cocoa farms.
Hundreds of experts, representing several dozen different organizations, worked together to develop the certification process. Government ministries in Ghana and the Ivory Coast participated, as did community leaders and experts on such important issues as child labor, migration, and agriculture. The path forward was complex and progress often slow.
What emerged from the effort was an approach along the following lines:
Goal |
Improve the lives of children and adults on cocoa farms – with a focus on cocoa farming labor practices |
Approach |
Collect information from cocoa farms on labor practices, related issues Use this information to direct resources, guide programs – to address problem issues |
Output |
Individual West African governments issue a certification report which provides a detailed review of labor issues in their cocoa farming sectors, and identifies required actions to address specific issues |
Credibility |
Employ independent verification to ensure transparency, credibility |
Outcome |
Continued progress in ensuring that cocoa is grown responsibly, without the worst forms of child labor or forced adult labor; a continued reduction in unacceptable labor practices |
At the same time, there was a shared recognition that certification must not over-promise, nor hurt the very people it sought to help. In particular, the organizations working on the design of a certification process for cocoa farming tackled a number of tough questions and widely held beliefs.
Those questions included the following:
Why can’t industry simply label or “certify” its products?
In West Africa, cocoa is grown on as many as two million small farms spread across rural, often remote areas of the region. From the farm, a complex process takes the beans to port. To be credible, a label certifying mass-market chocolate products as free of any labor abuses would require monitoring of every individual cocoa farm, 12 months of the year. To do so would be impossible.
Why can’t industry trace each cocoa bean – to a farm that grows cocoa responsibly?
The length and complexity of the cocoa supply chain in West Africa, including the large numbers of middle men involved in moving more than two million metric tons of cocoa from individual farms to port, makes credible traceability of every kilogram of cocoa produced in the region a physical impossibility. Further complicating this approach is the practice of combining beans from different farms – and entire villages – in the early stages of the supply chain.
Why can’t the industry simply “force” West African governments to ensure that the worst forms of child labor are not taking place on cocoa farms?
The activities of children on family cocoa farms in West Africa are often rooted in cultural practices and traditions at the village and family levels.
They also reflect the economic and social challenges faced by these countries and their rural communities. Lack of infrastructure and available investment funds, limited availability of schooling and meaningful vocational training, shortages of qualified teachers: these and other issues contribute to how children spend their time.
Industry recognized, early in the process, that improving conditions on cocoa farms would require a collaborative, longer-term approach. In particular, it would require working with West African nations and farming communities -- without putting their economic survival at risk.
Why can’t the industry simply stop children from working on cocoa farms?
Industry does not own West African cocoa farms, nor do companies have contracts with these farms. They cannot dictate working practices to farms over which they have no control.
As independent family farms, children often help out as members of their family. What was needed was an approach that could distinguish between appropriate child work and unacceptable child labor that either put the child at physical risk or, for example, limited the child’s ability to attend school.
Simply condemning a cocoa farm because a child might be helping out with farm-related activities was neither fair nor helpful.
Why shouldn’t there be a boycott or import restrictions on cocoa from these countries until this problem is solved?
Millions of small farming families depend upon cocoa for their livelihood, and the vast majority of cocoa farmers grow cocoa responsibly. Punishing the many for the actions of a few would economically devastate these farm families, and significantly worsen social and political conditions in West Africa.
Rather than imposing “simple solutions” that would trigger devastating consequences, industry embraced a longer-term approach to provide a clear picture of actual cocoa farming practices and progress in addressing labor concerns, where they exit. It is an approach designed to help West African farming families, not punish them.
Can industry monitor labor practices in certain cocoa growing areas – and designate these areas as free of child labor abuses?
This approach would create tremendous divisions among participating and non-participating farmers, leading to the impression that the former grew cocoa responsibly and the latter did not, with resulting serious economic consequences for farm families.
In 2007, work on certification for cocoa farming achieved several important milestones:
- The release of the first certification report, from the government of Ghana
- The release of the first certification report, from the government of the Cote d’Ivoire
- The development of a credible independent verification component – under the leadership of labor rights NGO Verité
In 2008, work on certification will:
- Cover an area representing 50 percent of national cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana
- Formalize independent verification of the certification process
- Direct and drive programs to address the issues raised in the certification reports
Timeline of certification:
Year |
Key Events |
2001 |
Industry signs “Protocol” in line with ILO Conventions 182 and 29: commits to developing a system of certification for cocoa farming in West Africa |
2002-2004 |
Industry representatives begin working with West African governments, labor experts, non-governmental organizations and cocoa farming community leaders to develop a blueprint for a sector-wide cocoa certification program An independent survey of several thousand West African cocoa farms highlights important issues that must be addressed Industry launches a number of programs to improve the well-being of cocoa farming communities and promote safe, responsible labor practices
|
2004 - 2005 |
In conjunction with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) WACAP program, a cocoa farm labor monitoring program takes place in selected communities of Ghana and Ivory Coast. The small scale activity involves collecting information on farm practices by the ILO through local NGOs and community groups The Ivory Coast government issues an official decree stating its commitment to addressing child labor issues and to the implementation of certification Industry sets a goal of having 50 percent of the cocoa sector in Ghana and the Ivory Coast covered by the certification process by July 2008 |
2006 |
The government of Ghana establishes a special program to address child labor issues in general and on cocoa farms specifically. The Ministry of Manpower together with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) takes the lead on certification-related activities. Pilot data collection process takes place in Ghana. Surveyors visit communities and farms in districts where more than 10 % of the country’s total cocoa is produced. Industry and partners announce “Healthy Communities,” significant expansion of efforts to improve conditions in cocoa farming communities. The effort will reach 150,000+ farming families in West Africa. |
2007 |
The first certification report is released by the Government of Ghana The first certification report is released by the government of the Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Verité, a labor rights NGO, begins work to develop a credible verification component for the certification process |