encouraging sustainable, responsible cocoa growing

Remediation/Response

To help children, families and communities in the cocoa farming sector, certification must do more than simply “report” on the issues: it must drive change.

Remediation efforts are essential to certification, driving ongoing improvement in the lives of children and adults on cocoa farms. These efforts do so by addressing problems identified in the data collection process.

Through data collection and reporting, certification identifies important issues involving cocoa farming labor practices and the well-being of children and families who live in cocoa farming communities.

The data collection (and subsequent analysis) enables West African governments, communities, labor experts, donor groups, industry and other stakeholders to better focus their efforts and address these issues.

In rare cases, response efforts will address immediate needs – such as children at risk or being exploited under unacceptable labor practices. In most cases, however, these programs will need to address the underlying issues related to child labor — such as school attendance or the overall well-being of the cocoa farming community.

The goal: to improve the well-being of children and adults in cocoa farming communities, both immediately and on a long-term, permanent basis.

Remediation and response efforts are led by a number of different international and local organizations.  The International Cocoa Initiative, a foundation supported by individual chocolate/cocoa companies, plays a leading role in tackling labor issues.  The World Cocoa Foundation also plays an important role, focusing on farmer incomes and the well-being of the farm community.

Specific remediation efforts include:

• Ongoing work to sensitize community leaders, family members and/or farm caretakers to the worst forms of child labor and hazardous work
• Building community awareness of the importance of school attendance for children; expanding access to quality, relevant education
• Training and empowerment of cocoa farming families to identify specific community needs and achieve solutions
• Helping cocoa farming families earn more for their crop, through improved productivity, group selling and other activities
• Identification of resources for rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of children and adults found to be in unacceptable labor situations

These efforts are already underway in West Africa and are making a difference now, improving farm family incomes, boosting education and engaging community leaders in ensuring that cocoa is farmed responsibly.

To learn more about how remediation efforts are addressing the specific issues raised in the 2007 Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana cocoa certification reports, click here.

To lean more about these and other programs visit:
www.cocoainitiative.org
www.worldcocoafoundation.org

 

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