Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Country Office)
104-668: The World Cocoa Foundation is a non-profit membership organization with more than 90 member companies striving to make the cocoa supply chain more sustainable. WCF and its members are criticized for doing too little to end child labor , deforestation and extreme poverty , with their efforts dismissed as greenwashing and “a remarkable failure”. WCF's membership includes chocolate manufacturers such as Mondelez International , Nestlé , The Hershey Company and Mars, Inc. cocoa producers and suppliers such as Barry Callebaut and Cargill , shipping companies and ports and retailers such as Starbucks . The World Cocoa Foundation had its roots as
208-800: A 1995 initiative of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) called the International Cocoa Research and Education Foundation, which was later renamed the World Cocoa Foundation on August 14, 2000. The CMA itself was later dissolved in 2008 and became part of the National Confectioners Association . The 2022 Cocoa Barometer noted the lack of diversity in WCF’s board. “Of the sixteen board members of
312-484: A 2009 snowball sampling study, the majority of those with childhood cocoa labour experience were trafficked (75% from Burkina Faso and 63% from Mali). The majority of those who were trafficked had no interaction with police, and only 0.5% had any contact from institutions that provided social services. Burkina Faso and Togo are rated at Tier 2 in part due to trafficking for cocoa production. By 2020, West African nations Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were upgraded to Tier 2 in
416-655: A consortium of nonprofits, the average farmer in Ghana in the 2013–14 growing season made just 84¢ per day, and farmers in Ivory Coast a mere 50¢. That puts them well below the World Bank's new $ 1.90 per day standard for extreme poverty, even if you factor in the 13% rise in the price of cocoa last year. Sona Ebai, the former secretary general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries, said that eradicating child labour
520-440: A deadline at all? If your friend agrees to meet you for dinner at 7, then pushes it to 7.30, then 8, and then finally says ‘be there in 20, years not minutes,’ it kinda feels like they never had any intention of getting dinner in the first place.” From 2001 to 2012, the World Cocoa Foundation administered projects to improve farmer income supported in part by funding from United States Agency for International Development . In 2009
624-494: A former slave: "The beatings were a part of my life" and "when you didn't hurry, you were beaten." A small observational study, published in 2005 and financed by USAID, examines the many health hazards of cocoa production in western Ghana. In 2006, a study showed many children working on small farms in Côte d'Ivoire, often on family farms. Over 11,000 people working on small Ivorian cocoa farms were surveyed. A report funded by
728-514: A number of countries that had achieved a substantial level of prosperity, including South Korea, Turkey, and Costa Rica . USAID also closes missions when requested by host countries for political reasons. In September 2012, the U.S. closed USAID/Russia at that country's request. Its mission in Moscow had been in operation for two decades. On May 1, 2013, the president of Bolivia , Evo Morales , asked USAID to close its mission, which had worked in
832-860: A position paper on child labour on West African Cocoa Farms, and launched a website on its Regional Cocoa Initiative. A major report released in 2015 by the Payson Center for International Development of Tulane University, funded by the United States Department of Labor, reported a 51% increase in the number of child workers (1.4 million) in the cocoa industry in 2013–14, compared to 2008–09. The report estimated that over 1.4 million children ages 5 years old to 11 years old were working in agriculture in cocoa-growing areas, approximately 800,000 of them engaged in hazardous work, including working with agricultural chemicals, carrying heavy loads, and working with sharp tools. A study of
936-507: A review of the Cocoa & Forests Initiative's first five years, Reuters concluded that it had done too little to stop cocoa from destroying forests. It cited a "lack of sufficient finance, limited traceability, and failure of companies to collaborate at a landscape level" as key issues. Child labour in cocoa production Child labour is a recurring issue in cocoa production . Ivory Coast and Ghana , together produce nearly 60% of
1040-485: A specialized "Agriculture" office), development of microfinance industries, streamlining of Customs administrations (to accelerate the growth of exporting industries), and modernization of government regulatory frameworks for the industry in various sectors (telecommunications, agriculture, and so forth). In USAID's early years and some larger programs, Economic Growth offices have financed economic infrastructure like roads and electrical power plants. Economic Growth assistance
1144-474: A sustainable basis for USAID's socioeconomic development objective in the long term. USAID (United States Agency for International Development) has recently initiated the HEARTH (Health, Ecosystems and Agriculture for Resilient, Thriving Societies) program, which operates in 10 countries with 15 activities aimed at promoting conservation of threatened landscapes and enhancing community well-being by partnering with
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#17327657742791248-414: A system of direct trade from developing countries to counteract this unfair system. One solution for fair labour practices is for farmers to become part of an agricultural cooperative . Cooperatives pay farmers a fair price for their cocoa so farmers have enough money for food, clothes, and school fees. One of the main tenets of fair trade is that farmers receive a fair price, but this does not mean that
1352-541: A “criminal tragedy”, child labor in cocoa production is seen as widespread and has not been reduced significantly over decades. A 2019 Washington Post investigation noted that “Mars, Nestlé and Hershey pledged nearly two decades ago to stop using cocoa harvested by children. Yet much of the chocolate you buy still starts with child labor.” The piece reported on children from Burkina Faso working in appalling conditions to harvest cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire . A 2020 report by NORC at
1456-549: Is contracted or procured by USAID and provided in-kind to recipients. For technical advisory services, USAID draws on experts from the private sector, mainly from the assisted country's own pool of expertise, as well as from specialized U.S. government agencies. Many host-government leaders have drawn on USAID's technical assistance for the development of IT systems and computer hardware procurement to strengthen their institutions. To build indigenous expertise and leadership, USAID finances scholarships to U.S. universities and assists in
1560-611: Is estimated that more than 1.8 million children in West Africa are involved in growing cocoa. A 2013–14 survey commissioned by the Department of Labor and conducted by Tulane University found that an estimated 1.4 million children aged 5 years old to 11 years old worked in agriculture in cocoa-growing areas, while approximately 800,000 of them were engaged in hazardous work, including working with sharp tools and agricultural chemicals and carrying heavy loads. According to
1664-719: Is headed by an administrator . The current administrator, Samantha Power, was sworn in on May 3, 2021. Under the Biden administration, the administrator became a regular attendee of the National Security Council. USAID/Washington helps define overall federal civilian foreign assistance policy and budgets, working with the State Department, Congress, and other U.S. government agencies. It is organized into "Bureaus" covering geographical areas, development subject areas, and administrative functions. Each bureau
1768-447: Is headed by an assistant administrator appointed by the president. (Some tasks similar to those of USAID's Bureaus are performed by what are termed "Independent Offices".) Independent oversight of USAID activities is provided by its Office of Inspector General, U.S. Agency for International Development , which conducts criminal and civil investigations, financial and performance audits, reviews, and inspections of USAID activities around
1872-438: Is instructed: "To the maximum extent feasible, [to] provide [ESF] assistance ... consistent with the policy directions, purposes, and programs of [development assistance]." Also, when U.S. troops are in the field, USAID can supplement the " Civil Affairs " programs that the U.S. military conducts to win the friendship of local populations. In these circumstances, USAID may be directed by specially appointed diplomatic officials of
1976-807: Is now provided in the form of non-reimbursable grants. In recent years, the United States has increased its emphasis on financial rather than technical assistance. In 2004, the Bush Administration created the Millennium Challenge Corporation as a new foreign aid agency that is mainly restricted to providing financial assistance. In 2009, the Obama administration initiated a major realignment of USAID's own programs to emphasize financial assistance, referring to it as "government-to-government" or "G2G" assistance. USAID
2080-466: Is organized around country development programs managed by resident USAID offices in developing countries ("USAID missions"), supported by USAID's global headquarters in Washington, DC. USAID plans its work in each country around an individual country development program managed by a resident office called a "mission". The USAID mission and its U.S. staff are guests in the country, with a status that
2184-504: Is required. ) In 2008, USAID launched the "Development Leadership Initiative" to reverse the decline in USAID's Foreign service officer staffing, which had fallen to a total of about 1,200 worldwide. Although USAID's goal was to double the number of Foreign service officers to about 2,400 in 2012, actual recruitment net of attrition reached only 820 by the end of 2012. USAID's 2016 total of 1,850 Foreign service officers compared with 13,000 in
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#17327657742792288-439: Is the lead federal coordinator for international disaster assistance. After 1945, many newly independent countries needed assistance to relieve the chronic deprivation afflicting their low-income populations. USAID and its predecessor agencies have continuously provided poverty relief in many forms, including assistance to public health and education services targeted at the poorest. USAID has also helped manage food aid provided by
2392-527: Is thus quite diverse in terms of the range of sectors where it may work. It corresponds to USAID's socioeconomic development objective and is the source of sustainable poverty reduction. Economic Growth offices also occasionally manage assistance to poverty relief projects, such as to government programs that provide "cash transfer" payments to low-income families. Some USAID missions have specialized technical offices for areas like counter-narcotics assistance or assistance in conflict zones. Disaster assistance on
2496-997: Is usually defined by a "framework bilateral agreement" between the government of the United States and the host government. Framework bilaterals give the mission and its U.S. staff privileges similar to (but not necessarily the same as) those accorded to the U.S. embassy and diplomats by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. USAID missions work in over fifty countries, consulting with their governments and non-governmental organizations to identify programs that will receive USAID's assistance. As part of this process, USAID missions conduct socio-economic analysis, discuss projects with host-country leaders, design assistance to those projects, award contracts and grants, administer assistance (including evaluation and reporting), and manage flows of funds. As countries develop and need less assistance, USAID shrinks and ultimately closes its resident missions. USAID has closed missions in
2600-640: The Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency . USAID's special ability to administer programs in low-income countries supports these and other U.S. government agencies' international work on global concerns. Among these global interests, environmental issues attract high attention. USAID assists projects that conserve and protect threatened land, water, forests, and wildlife. USAID also assists projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to build resilience to
2704-644: The Commission for Relief in Belgium headed by Herbert Hoover prevented starvation in Belgium after the German invasion. After 1945, the European Recovery Program championed by Secretary of State George Marshall (the " Marshall Plan ") helped rebuild war-torn Western Europe. USAID manages relief efforts after wars and natural disasters through its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which
2808-712: The National Security Council . USAID has missions in over 100 countries, primarily in Africa , Asia , Latin America , the Middle East , and Eastern Europe . USAID's decentralized network of resident field missions is drawn on to manage U.S. government programs in low-income countries for a range of purposes. Some of the U.S. government's earliest foreign aid programs provided relief in crises created by war. In 1915, U.S. government assistance through
2912-475: The U.S. Department of Agriculture . Also, USAID provides funding to NGOs to supplement private donations in relieving chronic poverty. Technical cooperation between nations is essential for addressing a range of cross-border concerns like communicable diseases, environmental issues, trade and investment cooperation, safety standards for traded products, money laundering, and so forth. The United States has specialized federal agencies dealing with such areas, such as
3016-454: The U.S. Department of Labor issued a report on labour conditions around the world in which a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor mentioned five countries where the cocoa industry used child labour, and two countries where the cocoa industry used child labour and forced labour. News reports as recently as 2018, indicate that "most child slaves on cocoa farms (Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana) come from Mali and Burkina Faso, two of
3120-878: The United States Department of State estimated there were 15,000 child slaves in cocoa, cotton, and coffee farms in Côte d'Ivoire, and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association acknowledged that children were used in the cocoa harvest of cocoa. Malian migrants have long worked on cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire, but in 2000 cocoa prices had dropped to a 10-year low and some farmers stopped paying their employees. The Malian counsel had to rescue boys who had not been paid for five years and who were beaten if they tried to run away. Malian officials believed that 15,000 children, some as young as 11 years old, were working in Côte d'Ivoire in 2001. These children were often from poor families or
3224-626: The cocoa industry began in the late 19th century and in Côte d'Ivoire it began in the early 20th century. Ghana became the largest cocoa producer in the world in 1910. By 1980 Côte d'Ivoire overtook Ghana as the biggest producer. In both countries, the majority of farms are small and family-owned. Family members, including children, are often expected to work on the farms. In the 2018–2019 growing year (which runs October through September), 4.78 hundred thousand tonnes of cocoa beans were produced. African nations produced 2.45 million tonnes (69%), Asia and Oceania 0.61 million tonnes (17%) and
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3328-630: The largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms. Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act on September 4, 1961, which reorganized U.S. foreign assistance programs and mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic aid. USAID was subsequently established by the executive order of President John F. Kennedy , who sought to unite several existing foreign assistance organizations and programs under one agency. USAID became
3432-533: The "world's largest cocoa and chocolate companies" working through CocoaAction "to coordinate their cocoa sustainability efforts" starting with Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana . An assessment in 2020 by KPMG said CocoaAction “did not fully reach its targets and realize its vision.” It had a goal of getting 300,000 farmers to adopt all components of the Productivity Package by 2020 but only 1,165 farmers ended up doing so, representing less than one percent of
3536-459: The 2020 US State Department 's TIP Report in part for their respective progress to curb child labour abuses in the cocoa sector. In 2001, due to pressure applied by the US Congress and potential US and United Kingdom boycotts , the chocolate manufacturers promised to start eliminating forced child labour. In 2012, Ferrero promised that they will end cocoa slavery by 2020. In 2018,
3640-829: The 4,935 local staff of USAID's field missions. Host-country staff normally work under one-year contracts that are renewed annually. Formerly, host-country staff could be recruited as "direct hires" in career positions and at present many host-country staff continue working with USAID missions for full careers on a series of one-year contracts. In USAID's management approach, local staff may fill highly responsible, professional roles in program design and management. U.S. citizens can apply to become USAID Foreign service officers by competing for specific job openings based on academic qualifications and experience in development programs. Within five years of recruitment, most Foreign service officers receive tenure for an additional 20+ years of employment before mandatory retirement. Some are promoted to
3744-543: The Americas 0.48 million tonnes (14%). Two African nations, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, produce more than half of the world's cocoa, with 1.23 and 0.73 million tonnes respectively (35% and 21%, respectively). Different metrics are used for chocolate consumption. The Netherlands has the highest monetary amount of cocoa bean imports (US$ 2.1 billion); it is also one of the main ports into Europe. The US has highest amount of cocoa powder imports ($ 220 million);
3848-797: The Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to address child labour practices in the cocoa industry. The International Cocoa Initiative involving major cocoa manufacturers established the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System intended to monitor thousands of farms in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire for child labour conditions. Despite these efforts, goals to reduce child labour in West Africa by 70% before 2020 are slowed by persistent poverty, absence of schools, expansion of cocoa farmland, and increased demand for coco. In April 2018,
3952-500: The Cocoa Barometer 2018 report on the $ 100-billion industry, said this about the child labour situation: "Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sectorwide objective of the elimination of child labour, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labour by 2020". A report later that year by New Food Economy stated that the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems implemented by
4056-458: The ICI are members, reported in 2020 that hazardous child labour had been reduced by one-third in communities where company programs such as Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems were in place; that Governments’ actions on education have led to almost all children now attending school in Ghana, with 4 out 5 in Côte d’Ivoire; and that a more than 60 percent increase in total cocoa production over
4160-636: The ILO. Mixing and applying chemicals can be hazardous due to pesticide contamination, especially because no protective clothing is worn during application. Clearing vegetation and harvesting pods can be hazardous because these tasks are often done using machetes, which can cause lacerations . This skill is part of normal development in children 15 to 17 years old, but is a higher risk in younger children. Many have wounds on their legs where they have cut themselves. A survey conducted by U.S. Department of Labour indicates that in 2005, 92 percent of children between
4264-544: The International Cocoa Initiative and its partners has been useful, but "they are currently reaching less than 20 percent of the over two million children impacted". According to the 2018 edition of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial report examining the economics of cocoa that's published by a consortium of nonprofits, the current farmer income is $ .78. Class action lawsuits in the US against companies in
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4368-537: The International Cocoa Initiative investigated the prevalence of child labour in the cocoa industry. It found 7,319 children identified as involved in one or more hazardous tasks. In the 2000s, some chocolate producers began to engage in fair trade initiatives, to address concerns about the marginalization of cocoa labourers in developing countries. Traditionally, Africa and other developing countries received low prices for their exported commodities such as cocoa, which caused poverty to abound. Fairtrade seeks to establish
4472-675: The International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, and declared 5 September to be "Labour Day". A 2000 BBC documentary described child slavery on commercial cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire. The documentary featured Kevin Bales, renowned author and professor, who later became the founding board member of the International Cocoa Initiative, a Geneva-based nonprofit funded by major chocolate makers that focuses on addressing child labour in cocoa production in West Africa. In 2001,
4576-603: The NORC study, methodological differences between the 2018/9 survey and earlier ones, together with errors in the administration of the 2013/4 survey have made it challenging to document changes in the number of children engaged in child labour over the past five years. A major study of the issue, published in Fortune magazine in the U.S. in March 2016, concluded that approximately 2.1 million children in West Africa "still do
4680-620: The Senior Foreign Service with extended tenure, subject to the Foreign Service's mandatory retirement age of 65. (This recruitment system differs from the State Department's use of the "Foreign Service Officer Test" to identify potential U.S. diplomats. Individuals who pass the test become candidates for the State Department's selection process, which emphasizes personal qualities in thirteen dimensions such as "Composure" and "Resourcefulness". No specific education level
4784-657: The State Department, as has been done in Afghanistan and Pakistan during operations against al-Qaeda. U.S. commercial interests are served by U.S. law's requirement that most goods and services financed by USAID must be sourced from U.S. vendors. To help low-income nations achieve self-sustaining socioeconomic development, USAID assists them in improving the management of their own resources. USAID's assistance for socioeconomic development mainly provides technical advice, training, scholarships, commodities, and financial assistance. Through grants and contracts, USAID mobilizes
4888-431: The State Department. While USAID can have as little presence in a country as a single person assigned to the U.S. Embassy, a full USAID mission in a larger country may have twenty or more USAID Foreign service officers and a hundred or more professional and administrative employees from the country itself. The USAID mission's staff is divided into specialized offices in three groups: (1) assistance management offices; (2)
4992-625: The U.S. Department of Labor concluded that "Industry and the Governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana have taken steps to investigate the problem and are implementing projects that address issues identified in the Protocol." In 2008, in a report featuring responses from Cargill and Hershey 's, Fortune magazine reported that "little progress has been made", and in June 2009, the OECD released
5096-771: The U.S., while assistance to the country's universities and professional education institutions may be provided by Economic Growth and Health offices. The Education office's emphasis on school access for the poor majority of the population corresponds to USAID's poverty relief objective, as well as to the socioeconomic development objective in the long term. Examples of projects assisted by environmental offices are projects for tropical forest conservation, protection of indigenous people's lands, regulation of marine fishing industries, pollution control, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and helping communities adapt to climate change. Environment assistance corresponds to USAID's objective of technical cooperation on global issues, as well as laying
5200-421: The US has a large amount of cocoa complementary products. The UK has the highest amount of retail chocolate ($ 1.3 billion) and is one of the biggest chocolate consumption per capita markets. Because of the delicate nature of the cocoa tree species, cocoa trees are treated with pesticides and fungicides . Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year and occurs over a period of several months to
5304-612: The University of Chicago concluded that the prevalence of child labor in cocoa production had increased in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The Washington Post said the “findings represent a remarkable failure by leading chocolate companies to fulfill a long-standing promise to eradicate the practice from their supply chains.” Commenting on the response to the findings by WCF President Richard Scobey, the Washington Post noted he “identified no industry failures. Instead, he suggested that
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#17327657742795408-451: The World Cocoa Foundation launched the Cocoa & Forests Initiative with support from The Prince of Wales. The Cocoa & Forests Initiative joins the governments of Ghana , Cote d'Ivoire and Colombia , and thirty-five chocolate and cocoa manufacturers such as founding members The Hershey Company , Nestle and Mondelez International . Two cornerstones of this initiative are farm mapping and tree distribution to increase canopy. While
5512-500: The World Cocoa Foundation reported progress had been made in the first four years of this initiative, environmentalist Mighty Earth reported room for improvement. Said Glenn Hurowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth: “Chocolate companies like Nestlé, Hershey’s, Mondelez and Mars need to stop making empty promises and start working together with governments in the CFI to establish an open and effective joint deforestation monitoring mechanism this year”. In
5616-576: The World Cocoa Foundation was selected to administer a $ 23 million grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at increasing farming household incomes through improved farmer crop productivity, better cocoa quality and crop diversification. In 2014, a follow-on grant of $ 8.9 million by the Gates Foundation was also aimed at improving the livelihoods of West African farmers. The CocoaAction initiative began in June 2014 and ended in 2019. It
5720-500: The World Cocoa Foundation, not one is from West Africa. None are black.” The WCF's vision “is to be a catalyst for a thriving, healthy and equitable cocoa sector that is collaborating to improve farmer income, reverse deforestation, and combat child labor”. Investments by the chocolate and cocoa industry into these sustainability initiatives are estimated in one analysis at 0.5% of the turnover of cocoa and chocolate companies. Characterizing this as “not much”, this analysis estimates that
5824-490: The ages of 5 and 15 are involved in heavy load carrying work in the cocoa industry, which can cause open wounds. Transport of the wet beans can also be hazardous due to long transport distances and heavy loads; hernias and physical injuries can occur. The International Cocoa Initiative upholds the International Conventions that promote child rights and that outlaw child labour practices, as well as
5928-493: The basis for socio-economic development. USAID's Education offices mainly assist the national school system, emphasizing broadening the coverage of quality basic education to reach the entire population. Examples of projects often assisted by Education offices are projects for curriculum development, teacher training, and provision of improved textbooks and materials. Larger programs have included school construction. Education offices often manage scholarship programs for training in
6032-553: The cocoa industry have not achieved much success. In 2015, lawsuits against Mars, Nestlé, and Hershey's alleged that their products' packaging failed to disclose that production may involve child slave labour. All were dismissed in 2016, although the plaintiffs filed an appeal. Nestlé's website, as paraphrased by Mother Jones magazine, states: The company has built or renovated 42 schools in cocoa-growing communities and has helped support families so they can afford to keep their kids in school rather than sending them off to work and
6136-497: The cocoa supply chain, Tackling Child Labour, with additional specifics as to their "approach to addressing this significant, complex and sensitive challenge". In a press statement accompanying the release of the NORC report Kareem Kysia, Director of Vulnerable Populations Research at NORC and a lead author of the report, stated, As the overall production of cocoa increased dramatically, cocoa farming spread into areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana where infrastructure to monitor child labour
6240-543: The communities with the highest quality of education score, child labour prevalence stood at 10%, or 66% lower than in the communities with the lowest quality of education score. To combat child slavery in cocoa production, in 2001 US Representative Eliot Engel introduced a legislative amendment to fund the development of a "no child slavery " label for chocolate products sold in the United States. Senator Tom Harkin proposed an addition to an agriculture bill to label qualified chocolate and cocoa products as "slave free". It
6344-419: The companies' voluntary participation would be the addition of a "slave free" label. The 2005 deadline was not met, and all parties agreed to a three-year extension of the Protocol. This extension allowed the cocoa industry more time to implement the Protocol including creating a certification system to address the worst forms of child labour for half of the growing areas in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. By 2008,
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#17327657742796448-401: The company has implemented a monitoring system, it says, to identify at-risk children and report the findings back to the company and its suppliers. When alerted to instances of child trafficking or slavery, "we report it to appropriate authorities immediately". The company said it had spent $ 5.5 million on the problem in 2016. Nestlé had also published a report in 2017 on child labour in
6552-448: The country for 49 years. The closure was completed on September 20, 2013. USAID missions are led by mission directors and are staffed both by USAID Foreign Service officers and by development professionals from the country itself, with the host-country professionals forming the majority of the staff. The length of a Foreign service officer's "tour" in most countries is four years, to provide enough time to develop in-depth knowledge about
6656-434: The country. (Shorter tours of one or two years are usual in countries of exceptional hardship or danger.) The mission director is a member of the U.S. Embassy's "Country Team" under the direction of the U.S. ambassador. As a USAID mission works in an unclassified environment with relative frequent public interaction, most missions were initially located in independent offices in the business districts of capital cities. Since
6760-528: The dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa". The report was doubtful as to whether the situation can be improved significantly. In 2001, the report A Taste of Slavery: How Your Chocolate May be Tainted won a George Polk Award . In it were claims that traffickers promised paid work, housing, and education to children who were forced to labour and undergo severe abuse, that some children were held forcibly on farms and worked up to 100 hours per week, and that attempted escapees were beaten. It quoted
6864-400: The elimination of child labour by supporting the acceleration and scale-up of child-centred community development and of responsible supply chain management throughout the cocoa sector. The chocolate makers were to create programs in West Africa to make Africans aware of the consequences of child labour, keeping their children from an education, and child trafficking. The primary incentive for
6968-609: The environmental and social problems in cocoa production would persist until companies paid farmers substantially more for their cocoa beans. "We've got new data that shows you cannot have sustainable cocoa without higher prices for farmers. It's just not going to work," Antonie Fountain, director of the VOICE Network, told Reuters. WCF President Chris Vincent said cocoa prices were outside WCF’s mandate: “Antitrust laws mean companies cannot discuss pricing together. So, we are clear that we are not part of that price debate.” In 2018,
7072-454: The eradication of communicable diseases, strengthening of public health systems focusing on maternal-child health including family planning services, HIV-AIDS monitoring, delivery of medical supplies including contraceptives and HIV vaccines, and coordination of Demographic and Health Surveys. This assistance is primarily targeted to the poor majority of the population and corresponds to USAID's poverty relief objective, as well as strengthening
7176-427: The first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary focus was long-term socioeconomic development. USAID's programs are authorized by Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act , which Congress supplements through directions in annual funding appropriation acts and other legislation. As an official component of U.S. foreign policy, USAID operates subject to the guidance of the president , secretary of state , and
7280-701: The goals for reducing child labor may have been too lofty.” WCF board member companies have pledged their chocolate is free of child labor but media investigations have repeatedly found child labor in their supply chains. An investigation in 2022 by Britain’s Channel 4 Dispatches found children as young as 10 working on farms in Ghana supplying the Cadbury’s brand of Mondelēz International. The investigation went to an address on Mondelēz’s Cocoa Life website in 2022 and discovered child laborers harvesting cocoa without protective clothing. Last Week Tonight host John Oliver joked: “I don’t know what statement Mondelēz could release in
7384-462: The industry decreases and cocoa farmers who produce raw products get very little in the chain. To keep the cost of cocoa low, cocoa farmers seek the cheapest labour to make a profit. In Africa, a cocoa labourer can only make less than 2 dollars per day, which is below the poverty line. Child labourers between the ages 12 to 15 in the cocoa industry work as much as an adult labourer, but they are paid less than adults. Children in cocoa growing areas face
7488-513: The industry had collected data from over half of the areas, as required, but they did not have proper independent verification. In June 2008, the Protocol was extended until the end of 2010. At that time, the industry was required to have full certifications with independent verifications. The European Union passed a resolution in 2012 to fully implement the Harkin–Engel Protocol and fight child labour in cocoa production. The resolution
7592-480: The issue, published in Fortune magazine in the U.S. in March 2016, concluded that approximately 2.1 million children in West Africa "still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa". The report suggested that it would be a persistent challenge to improve the situation: According to the 2015 edition of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial report examining the economics of cocoa that's published by
7696-567: The judicial sector and civil society organizations that monitor government performance. Democracy assistance received its greatest impetus at the time of the creation of the successor states to the USSR starting in about 1990, corresponding both to USAID's objective of supporting U.S. bilateral interests and to USAID's socioeconomic development objective. Examples of projects often assisted by Economic Growth offices are projects for improvements in agricultural techniques and marketing (the mission may have
7800-470: The larger amount of money paid for fair trade cocoa goes directly to the farmers. The effectiveness of fair trade has been questioned. In a 2014 article, The Economist stated that workers on fair trade farms have a lower standard of living than on similar farms outside the fair trade system. 2019 research from the International Cocoa Initiative found a strong correlation between higher quality education and lower prevalence of child labour. ICI found that in
7904-603: The mission director's and the Program office; and (3) the contracting, financial management, and facilities offices. Called "technical" offices by USAID staff, these offices design and manage the technical and financial assistance that USAID provides to their local counterparts' projects. The technical offices that are frequently found in USAID missions include Health and Family Planning, Education, Environment, Democracy, and Economic Growth. Examples of projects assisted by missions' Health and Family Planning offices are projects for
8008-1045: The opportunity to attend school; by obliging them to leave school prematurely; or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work." Not all work that children do is child labour. Work done that is not detrimental to children's health, development or schooling is beneficial because it allows children to develop skills, gain experience and prepare them for future positions; these are not considered child labour or abuse. The forms of child labour related to cocoa production includes parents putting their children to work and keeping them out of school to reduce labour cost on family farms. Most children who work on cocoa farms do so within their family structure. However, this does not mean they are not exposed to hazards, and, beyond these situations, illegal and exploitative practices also exist. Studies suggest that in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire's cocoa sector roughly 1% of children in child labour could be in, or at risk of, forced labour. The United Nations declared 2021 as
8112-586: The passage of the Foreign Affairs Agencies Consolidation Act in 1998 and the bombings of U.S. Embassy chanceries in east Africa in the same year, missions have gradually been moved into U.S. Embassy chancery compounds. The country programs are supported by USAID's headquarters in Washington, D.C., "USAID/Washington", where about half of USAID's Foreign Service officers work on rotation from foreign assignments, alongside USAID's Civil Service staff and top leadership. USAID
8216-474: The past 10 years did not bring a similar surge in child labour. According to the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard seven of the major chocolate companies are 'leading the industry' on child labour and a further seventeen companies are 'starting to implement good policies'. Companies who claimed to be addressing child labour were asked to provide evidence for this and were scored according to whether their reports were external or internal, whether just numbers or actual impact
8320-623: The plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment , negligent supervision , and intentional infliction of emotional distress . In June 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit unanimously found that state product labeling laws did not require Nestlé, Mars Inc., or the Hershey Company to disclose on chocolate wrappers if the ingredients used were produced by forced child labor. In Ghana,
8424-642: The poorest nations on Earth. The children, some as young as ten, are sent by their families or trafficked by agents with the promise of money. They are made to work long hours for little or no money." In 2021, several companies were named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former children from Mali who alleged that the companies aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Cote d’Ivoire . The suit accused Barry Callebaut , Cargill , The Hershey Company , Mars , Mondelez , Nestlé , and Olam International , of knowingly engaging in forced labour , and
8528-507: The private sector to align business goals with development objectives. Through HEARTH, USAID implements One Health principles to achieve sustainable benefits for both people and the environment through projects focused on livelihoods, well-being, conservation, biodiversity, and governance. Examples of projects assisted by Democracy offices are projects for the country's political institutions, including elections, political parties, legislatures, and human rights organizations. Counterparts include
8632-690: The private sector. And there, you really need leadership." Reported in 2018, a three-year pilot program – conducted by Nestlé through the International Cocoa Initiative with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Côte d'Ivoire – observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming. A separate sub-study conducted by NORC and commissioned by the World Cocoa Foundation in 2019, provides detailed results which demonstrate that hazardous child labour has been reduced by one-third in communities where company programs are in place. The US Department of Labor formed
8736-615: The realities of rural poverty (scarcity of land, food insecurity, lack of education infrastructure, access to potable water, poor health services, etc.). The regular practice of children working on cocoa farms is often a natural way of life for cocoa farmers who, for a variety of reasons, want to train their children and at the same time use them to reduce labour costs on the family's farm. The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as work that "is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of
8840-936: The relevant supporting national laws. Not all work done by children is classified as child labour. For instance, children carrying out light, non-hazardous tasks on the family farm for a limited period of time, under supervision, and without compromising their schooling, is considered as acceptable child work. This type of work is often necessary for the welfare of many families in West African rural societies. It also contributes to children's development, providing them with skills and experience that help them prepare for their adult farming life. By contrast, activities such as carrying heavy loads or using chemicals are considered as "unacceptable forms of child labour", because they are physically dangerous for children. Child trafficking and any work undertaken by children in bonded labour are extreme and criminal forms of child exploitation. In 2019,
8944-413: The risks associated with global climate change . U.S. environmental regulation laws require that programs sponsored by USAID should be both economically and environmentally sustainable . To support U.S. geopolitical interests, Congress appropriates exceptional financial assistance to allies, largely in the form of "Economic Support Funds" (ESF). USAID is called on to administer the bulk (90%) of ESF and
9048-602: The same period cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana increased 62 percent while the prevalence of child labour in cocoa production among all agricultural households increased 14 percentage points. Attention on this subject has focused on West Africa , which collectively supplies 69% of the world's cocoa, and Côte d'Ivoire, supplying 35%, in particular. The 2016 Global Estimates of Child Labour indicate that one-fifth of all African children are involved in child labour. Nine percent of African children are in hazardous work. It
9152-506: The slums and were sold for "just a few dollars" to work in other countries. Parents were told the children would find work and send money home, but once the children left home, they often worked in conditions resembling slavery. In other cases, children begging for food were lured from bus stations and sold as slaves. In 2002, Côte d'Ivoire had 12,000 children with no relatives nearby, which suggested they were trafficked , likely from neighboring Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo . According to
9256-672: The strengthening of developing countries' own universities. Local universities' programs in developmentally important sectors are assisted directly and through USAID support for forming partnerships with U.S. universities. The various forms of technical assistance are frequently coordinated as capacity-building packages for the development of local institutions. Financial assistance supplies cash to developing country organizations to supplement their budgets. USAID also provides financial assistance to local and international NGOs who in turn give technical assistance in developing countries. Although USAID formerly provided loans, all financial assistance
9360-533: The target. The target of 1,200 communities reached with the Community Development Package was surpassed; but this figure only relates to the execution of the needs assessment, and not to actual full implementation. KPMG noted that “the overall strategy and objectives of CocoaAction were designed with minimal input from external stakeholders” and that “the origin country governments were not sufficiently involved and therefore no local ownership
9464-682: The technical resources of the private sector, other U.S. government agencies, universities, and NGOs to participate in this assistance. Programs of the various types above frequently reinforce one another. For example, the Foreign Assistance Act requires USAID to use funds appropriated for geopolitical purposes ("Economic Support Funds") to support socioeconomic development to the maximum extent possible. USAID delivers both technical assistance and financial assistance. Technical assistance includes technical advice, training, scholarships, construction, and commodities. Technical assistance
9568-559: The wake of that other than maybe ‘Honestly, did not think anyone would actually check’”. A CBS television news investigation in 2023 found children as young as five years old working in the Ghana supply chain of Mars to harvest cocoa for brands such as Snickers and M&Ms. The industry has set and missed deadlines to end child labor in cocoa production in 2005, 2008, 2010 and in 2020. The repeated failures to meet their own deadlines have prompted widespread derision. On Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver said: “At that point, why bother setting
9672-476: The whole year. Pods are harvested at multiple times during the harvest season because they do not all ripen at once. Pod ripening is judged by pod color, and ripe pods are harvested from the trunk and branches of the cocoa tree with a curved knife on a long pole. The pods are opened and wet beans are removed. Wet beans are transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried. Many of these tasks could be hazardous when performed by children, according to
9776-517: The world's cocoa each year. During the 2018/19 cocoa-growing season, research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in these two countries and found that 1.48 million children are engaged in hazardous work on cocoa farms including working with sharp tools and agricultural chemicals and carrying heavy loads. That number of children is significant, representing 43 percent of all children living in agricultural households in cocoa growing areas. During
9880-486: The world. USAID's staffing reported to Congress in June 2016 totaled 10,235, including both field missions "overseas" (7,176) and the Washington DC headquarters (3,059). Of this total, 1,850 were USAID Foreign service officers who spend their careers mostly residing overseas (1,586 overseas in June 2016) and partly on rotation in Washington DC (264). The Foreign service officers stationed overseas worked alongside
9984-628: The “pay of the CEO and management teams of the major cocoa manufacturing companies is the same (or higher) than the total investments made to support cocoa farmers.” In combatting child labor, one estimate sees chocolate and cocoa companies investing 0.1 percent of one year’s worth of sales. WCF announced an initiative, called Children First, at its 2019 Partnership Meeting in Berlin, Germany that would “eliminate all forms of child labor by 2025”. The initiative has yet to be launched. Described by one activist as
10088-534: Was a commitment by industry groups to develop and implement voluntary standards to certify cocoa produced without the "worst forms of child labor", and was witnessed by the heads of major chocolate companies, the Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire, and others concerned with child labour. As another result of the Protocol, the International Cocoa Initiative was created to improve the lives of children in cocoa-growing communities, safeguarding their rights and contributing to
10192-565: Was a voluntary cocoa sustainability initiative to improve farmer incomes led by a number of the world's leading cocoa and chocolate companies. The World Cocoa Foundation acted to align the individual sustainability efforts of those companies. By 2019 there were 9 companies participating in CocoaAction: Barry Callebaut , Blommer Chocolate Company , Cargill , Ferrero , The Hershey Company , Mars, Inc. , Mondelez International , Nestlé and Olam International . These are
10296-402: Was an immense task and that the chocolate companies' newfound commitment to expanding the investments in cocoa communities are not sufficient: "Best-case scenario, we're only doing 10% of what's needed. Getting that other 90% won't be easy. ... I think child labour cannot be just the responsibility of industry to solve. I think it's the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, humane society,
10400-665: Was approved in the House of Representatives by a vote of 291–115, but before it went to the Senate the chocolate makers hired former senators George Mitchell and Bob Dole to lobby against it, and it did not go to a vote. Instead, the chocolate manufacturers reached agreement with the Congressmen to create the Harkin–Engel Protocol to remove child forced labour from the industry by July 2005. The voluntary agreement
10504-604: Was criticized by the International Labor Rights Forum for having no legally binding measures and two major chocolate manufacturers claimed they were addressing the problem. The industry's pledge to reduce child labour in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana by 70%, as per the Framework of Action in 2010, had not been met as of late 2015; the deadline was again extended, to 2020. The World Cocoa Foundation, of which all major chocolate manufacturers, buyers and
10608-445: Was established”. It also noted that CocoaAction suffered because “the strength of facilitation by WCF and level of company participation faded over time”. In 2018, WCF launched CocoaAction Brasil acting in a capacity similar to its role in West Africa sustainability efforts. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, complaining about falling prices and the impact on farmer income, boycotted the 2022 WCF Partnership Meeting. The 2022 Cocoa Barometer said
10712-400: Was measured, and how recently the study was undertaken. United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance . With a budget of over $ 50 billion, USAID is one of
10816-405: Was weak and awareness of laws regulating it was low. Interventions to stem hazardous child labour in the cocoa sector should target new, emerging areas of production and focus on efforts to reduce exposure to the component parts of hazardous child labour. Income from the cocoa industry for small cocoa farmers is not stable because when the market price of cocoa is low, the price paid to each link in
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