Child labor is not a new issue in the agricultural, mining, and manufacturing sectors. Data released by UNICEF and the ILO in 2021 revealed that the number of child laborers worldwide had reached 160 million, marking the first halt in global progress toward eradicating child labor in 20 years. A significant portion of child laborers can be found in the cocoa industry, particularly in West Africa and Southeast Asia.
Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. The cultivation of cocoa in these regions dates back to the French colonial era, when cocoa and coffee plantations were major economic assets. During this period, child labor was widely used to support the industry. Even after the end of colonial rule, these countries remained highly dependent on cocoa production, making them vulnerable to labor exploitation. To maximize profits and meet production targets, cocoa producers have long relied on cheap labor, often at the expense of children’s rights. The issue of child labor in the cocoa sector gained international attention in the 1990s and early 2000s, leading to various initiatives aimed at addressing its root causes and improving conditions for child workers.
According to a report released by UNICEF in 2019, the number of children working in Ivory Coast’s agricultural sector reached 1.4 million in 2013. In 2020, NORC published a final report outlining the progress of child labor reduction based on surveys conducted between 2018 and 2019. The report stated that 790,000 children in Ivory Coast were still working as laborers, with 770,000 engaged in hazardous child labor—working in dangerous or unhealthy conditions that could lead to death, injury, or illness due to poor safety standards and work regulations. The persistence of child labor must be addressed by tackling its root causes or contributing factors.
First, poverty and economic inequality play a significant role. To escape poverty and achieve a decent livelihood, cocoa farmers must earn three times their current income (INKOTA, 2013). Due to their financial struggles, many farmers are unable to afford paid laborers for harvesting, leading to a reliance on free labor from their own children. This issue is further exacerbated by companies’ reluctance to pay farmers fair wages, as they believe that with decent wages, farmers would be able to hire paid laborers instead.
Second, the existence of cultural norms that encourage children to work in the fields to help their parents sustain child labor. The practice of child trafficking, which dates back to colonial times, has evolved into a norm where children’s involvement in the family’s economic survival is seen as acceptable. In certain communities, child labor is not only considered an economic contribution to the family but also a form of socialization and skill development within the community (Grier, 2004). This creates a more complex challenge for authorities, who must navigate deeply rooted social norms rather than simply addressing criminal entities (Collins, 2023).
Third, the complexity of cocoa supply chains and marketing networks (Voora et al., 2019). Cocoa farms are often located in remote areas, making monitoring and oversight difficult. After harvesting, cocoa beans are sold through intermediaries to local buyers. These local buyers then resell the beans to cooperatives or larger traders. Subsequently, the beans are sold to exporters, who ship them to processing facilities in Europe and North America. Importers purchase the processed beans and sell them to cocoa manufacturers. To meet market demands, manufacturers frequently source cocoa from multiple suppliers. The complexity of this supply chain makes it challenging to implement and enforce strict ethical procurement practices. The involvement of numerous actors at both domestic and global levels creates difficulties in ensuring transparent and extensive monitoring at every stage, often allowing certain parties to exploit the system.
Child slavery remains a difficult issue to resolve, despite the fact that such practices violate the fundamental rights of children as human beings. One of the primary human rights violations is the right of children to education. Working children lack access to proper education, as many parents force them to leave school or prevent them from attending altogether. In addition, their right to protection from exploitation is also violated. Child laborers are often exploited by their employers through extremely low wages, irregular working hours, and unsafe working conditions.
Related to these rights, this practice also leads to violations of the right to health. Hazardous and unsanitary conditions cause physical and mental harm to children, while employers or business owners fail to provide access to adequate medical care. Another fundamental right that is violated is the right to a decent standard of living. Poor working conditions and low wages force child laborers to live in extreme poverty, with no access to adequate clothing, food, shelter, or clean water.
The practice of child labor not only infringes on children’s fundamental rights in education, health, protection from exploitation, and decent living conditions but also intersects with gender equality issues. Many child laborers experience physical, emotional, and even sexual violence in their workplaces, preventing them from dreaming of a better future and leaving them resigned to their current circumstances.
According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), these human rights violations breach several key articles. Article 6 guarantees the right to decent work, Article 7 ensures fair and favorable working conditions, and Article 10 protects families, mothers, and children, emphasizing that children and adolescents should be shielded from economic and social exploitation. The final and most crucial provision is Article 13, which upholds the right to education. Child laborers are deprived of their fundamental right to primary and secondary education, further perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exploitation.
The issue of child labor in the cocoa industry has driven many actors, especially the public, to put an end to this practice. Human rights are an unending struggle that should be inherently granted to every individual from birth without hardship. This is in line with the thoughts of the protest school, which states that human rights are a never-ending struggle to correct injustices and articulate legitimate claims on behalf of the poor, the underprivileged, and the oppressed (Dembour, 2010). Human rights are seen as a tool to fight against the status quo. Based on this perspective, it can be said that the resolution of child labor practices must be fought for by all elements of society, including the state, non-state actors such as multinational corporations, and international organizations.
This struggle has been manifested through various demonstrations and public protests carried out by NGOs, consumer groups, and activists to gain sympathy and support for child laborers in the cocoa industry. These actions are usually carried out on important occasions such as World Day Against Child Labour, which falls on June 12. One example of such a movement is the Global March Against Child Labor, which organizes marches, demonstrations, and other events to promote the fight against child labor. Another action is the establishment of an organization called Anti-Slavery International, which aims to raise awareness about the existence of forced labor and child labor in the cocoa industry.
In the specific case of child labor in the cocoa industry, several advocacy actions, movements, and organizations have emerged to voice the urgency of ending child labor. One of these organizations is the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which is dedicated to eradicating child labor in the cocoa industry. This organization works from the level of cocoa farming communities to raise awareness and introduce child protection, improve education, and support more sustainable livelihoods for every family. The vision of ICI is to develop high-quality, dignified, and responsibly managed cocoa farming communities where human rights are protected and respected by eliminating child labor and forced labor (International Cocoa Initiative, 2002).
Another organization is the World Cocoa Foundation (WFC), which focuses on three key areas: increasing farmers’ incomes, combating child labor, and preventing deforestation. This nonprofit organization advocates for the importance of collaboration among all actors in the industry to strengthen sustainable growth and transform the cocoa sector (World Cocoa Foundation, 2000). WFC has actively participated in efforts to eliminate child labor through initiatives such as CocoaAction.
In addition to these organizations, there are also several consumer advocacy groups and campaigns that focus on raising awareness about child labor in the cocoa industry and encouraging ethical consumption. One example of such a movement is Make Chocolate Fair!, a campaign by INKOTA-Netzwerk in Europe. This campaign aims to improve the living conditions of cocoa-farming families and calls for an end to the exploitation of child laborers. Through this campaign, INKOTA seeks to engage cocoa companies, cocoa processors, and governments in continuously improving the quality of life for every cocoa-farming family (INKOTA, 2013).
Another campaign is called Slave Free Chocolate, a coalition that aims to put an end to child slavery and all forms of child labor in the cocoa industry (Slave Free Chocolate). On its website, this campaign provides information about companies that are still suspected of practicing child labor. Slave Free Chocolate offers various actions that can be taken to eliminate child slavery, including sponsoring social media advertisements, distributing postcards in public places, and engaging in reverse trick-or-treating by distributing educational materials.
With the increasing issue of child labor on the international stage, the government of Ivory Coast has undertaken various efforts to prevent its expansion, starting with the eradication of human trafficking practices. The government has established three rescue centers as rehabilitation facilities in the heart of the cocoa-producing region (Collins, 2023). Through the National Committee for Monitoring Actions to Combat Trafficking, Exploitation, and Child Labor (CNS), the government provides assistance to children in need and those experiencing trauma. Additionally, the government has formed an elite military unit to track individuals who force children to work by setting up roadblocks on highways leading north from Soubre (Collins, 2023). These soldiers are also responsible for conducting routine raids on cocoa plantations across the region to track down human traffickers.
To address the root causes related to cultural and social norms, the government has established 3,000 village committees to raise awareness among rural communities. Alongside CNS and other organizations, the government utilizes regular sessions to promote an understanding of the prohibition of child labor in cocoa fields, even if children are merely assisting their families. In terms of legislation, the government has supported the Harkin-Engel Protocol initiative—also known as the Cocoa Protocol—and has enacted stricter child labor laws (Bertrand & de Buhr, 2015). This protocol, signed in 2001 by key stakeholders in the cocoa industry, including CMA, WCF, ILO, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, the government of Ivory Coast, and civil society representatives, sets crucial standards for eliminating child labor. The main points of this protocol include the eradication of child labor, public monitoring and reporting on compliance with established standards to track progress and ensure accountability, certification to verify that cocoa production does not involve child labor in any form, and an emphasis on providing alternatives for children rescued from child labor, such as access to education and support services.
Not only governments but also multinational chocolate companies are urged to take immediate action. This pressure intensified following a lawsuit filed in 2021 by eight former child laborers. They accused Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey’s, and Mondelez of “knowingly profiting” from illegal child labor (Collins, 2023). The plaintiffs alleged that they were recruited in Mali through deception and fraud, then trafficked across borders to cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, where they were forced to work for several years. As a result of this lawsuit, several companies such as Hershey, Nestlé, Mondelez, and Mars faced boycotts after being exposed for engaging in child labor practices. In response, each company issued public statements and long-term plans to end all human rights violations, particularly those involving children.
Hershey, through its spokesperson, stated that the company understands and agrees with concerns regarding the heartbreaking issue of child labor and forced labor. Hershey claims to have a zero-tolerance policy for such violations within its supply chain. The company had actually launched the Cocoa For Good strategy in 2018 and invested $500 million in programs aimed at eliminating child labor, improving child nutrition, increasing farmers’ incomes, and protecting the environment (Collins, 2023). Hershey also announced plans to achieve 100% traceable cocoa sourcing in Ivory Coast and Ghana by 2025. Similarly, Nestlé stated that the lawsuit does not advance the shared goal of eradicating child labor in the cocoa industry, emphasizing that child labor is unacceptable and goes against the company’s mission. Since 2009, Nestlé has established the Nestlé Cocoa Plan in Ivory Coast, built on three key pillars: better farming, better lives, and better cocoa. In January 2022, the company launched an accelerator program to bridge the living income gap for farming families and reduce the risk of child labor. By 2023, the program had reached 10 countries, covering nearly 160,000 cocoa-farming families, with a goal of achieving 100% participation by 2025 (Nestlé, 2021).
Unlike the previous two companies, Mars did not comment on the possibility of pending lawsuits. However, in 2018, Mars launched the Cocoa for Generations strategy (Mars, 2019). This strategy focuses on two main pillars: Responsible Cocoa Today, which commits to ensuring 100% responsible cocoa sourcing by 2025 while collaborating with certification programs to prevent child labor and maintain environmental standards; and Sustainable Cocoa Tomorrow, which aims to develop sustainable cocoa farming, improve farmers’ quality of life, and provide agricultural training to enhance farming practices and diversify farmers’ income sources. Alongside Mars, Mondelez also refrained from commenting on the lawsuit. However, since 2012, Mondelez has implemented the Cocoa Life program, a $1 billion investment to promote more sustainable cocoa sourcing in major cocoa-producing countries (Cocoa Life, 2019). Mars shares the same vision as other companies, targeting 100% responsibly sourced cocoa. Their primary mission is to accelerate the transformation of cocoa production while uplifting cocoa-farming communities.
