two weeks ago on monday, i hopped on a bus at 7.30 in the morning with a bunch of other VGenners from around NSW. stopping off a the "W-gong", we wandered the streets in abrasively bright orange tees, imploring anyone who would stop and listen to sign 'the petition'. meanwhile, one of our number sang and played guitar to attract some attention, and we coerced french tourists to blacken their hands with paint and put their imprint up on a canvas.
why?
284 000 kids exploited in west african cocoa plantations is why.
big chocolate companies continually refusing the keep their promises is why.
our complicity in perpetuating the problem by sustaining the demand for cheap chocolate is why.
refusing to accept the unacceptable any longer is why.
75% of the world's cocoa, the primary ingredient in chocolate, comes from ghana and the ivory coast. harvesting cocoa is intensive, back-breaking work and cocoa prices have been declining in recent years. to keep costs down, farmers traditionally use their children and other family members to help. in the worst cases children as young as six are being forced to work 80-100 hours a week, enduring beatings and malnutrition.
criminal networks have been caught moving children across regions and international borders to work on cocoa farms. World Vision even learned of one trafficker who smuggled children into the ivory coast by faking a convoy of ambulances containing healthy children who were bandaged to fool authorities.
today there are hundreds of thousands of children working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. some of these cocoa children routinely carry heavy loads, and work with fire, chemicals and knives, with little or no protection.
there's no chance of going to school for many of them.
the Ivorian government has blamed the international cocoa industry for keeping prices too low to provide decent livelihoods for farmers. the global price, determined by cocoa exchanges in London and New York, has plummeted in recent years, putting intense pressure on farmers to increase their yields. meanwhile chocolate manufacturers and exporters have continued to make massive profits.
in September 2001, members of the chocolate industry signed a voluntary protocol known as the "Harkin-Engle Protocol" after the two U.S. Congressmen that initiated the industry reform. the protocol aimed to establish credible standards of public certification that ensured cocoa production was free of forced labour and the worst forms of child labour in the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
the first steps was to survey farms representing half of the cocoa production in Ghana and the Ivory Coast and certify they were free of the worst forms of child labour. these survey results were then to be independently verified. this process was to be completed by July 2005. the industry failed to meet that deadline.
the deadline was then extended to july 2008.
they failed to meet that, also.
so world vision implored the CMA (confectionary manufacturers of australasia) to commit to a detailed, fully-costed and time-bound 10 year action plan that would see exploitation eradicated from their production lines.
it would only cost 1% of their annual revenue. $US14 million per year, for the next 10 years, towards the following 5 causes:
- Fair Pricing: Acknowledge and address the inadequacy in the price of cocoa paid to farmers and commit to achieving a fairer trade price for cocoa. A fair and stable price for farmers is a critical component and root cause of the exploitative labour problem.
- Community Wellbeing: Commit to supporting a range of community services and the establishment of fund schemes managed by cocoa growing communities. Investment will be made to improve future productivity, to promote best agricultural practices and inputs, and to achieve social and economic development within communities.
- Improved Community Services: Undertake a coordinated plan of action that addresses and invests in areas of community vulnerability that limit cocoa growing communities’ capacity to develop. This includes provision of early childhood development programs; education for children, adults and migrants; water, roads and electricity; and preventative HIV programs that align with national development strategies and the Millennium Development Goals.
- Sustainable Production: Ensure that sustainable production and higher returns translate to fair pricing for farmers, while enabling and supporting their government’s ability to provide essential community services and support broader community social development goals.
- Informed Consumers: Ensure that all Australian chocolate manufacturers who are members of the CMA participate in ethical certification schemes that fall under the ISEAL Alliance banner.
dec 1 passed. and nothing new from big chocolate. they released an open letter to world vision that said "yes" - but was full of rhetoric and failed to provide any detail as to how they intended to implement said eradication of exploitation.
we need to use of buying-power to make these controllers of the $71 bn industry realise that we demand better from them.
as it is, the producers who stock fairtrade manufacturers with cocoa, are only able to sell around 2% of their crop through the fairtrade labels. the reason?
the demand from western markets isn't big enough.
if we revert to fairtrade, increasing the demand, and expanding the market, then these producers will be able to sell more through fairtrade channels, ensuring they get fair prices for their produce.
it's about ethical consumerism. it's about realising that our choices at the supermarket, at the counter, in the canteen, have a direct correlation to the futures of our brothers and sisters in west africa.
the opposite of love isn't hate. it's indifference.
on trek we heard from experts in humn trafficking, campaigners from the tibet campaign in washington, fairtrade experts, and from young people who have been mobilised for the cause of fairtrade.
we protested on parliament lawns, and even got in the local media (http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/video/video.php?v=36605561663&ref=nf). we spoke to politicians, and hit the streets of canberra, persuading the retailers that they should go fairtrade.
on dec 1, many of us called the CMA (03 9813 1600) to see how they'd responded. they palmed us off to this media release (http://www.candy.net.au/cm
to which world vision responded with this
(http://www.worldvision.com
www.vgen.blogspot.com is the blog for vision generation - the youth movement of world vision.
check it out - our friends down in melbourne stormed the CMA hq dressed as oompa loompas and willy wonka, and insisted upon speaking with trish, the ceo of CMA.
write letters. now. don't delay. call up customer call centres. they need to know that we're watching them.
they need to know that we're not indifferent.
COLES : https://www.coles.com.au/contact/service_email.asp
1800 061 562
IGA: http://www.iga.net.au/igafresh/index.cfm?page_id=2285&breadcrumb=Home%20%3E%20Contact%20Us&TempLeve11_PageID=2014
MYER: 1800 811 611
SAFEWAY/WOOLIES: http://www.woolworths.com.au/contactus/index.asp
TARGET: 1800 814 788
ALDI: http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/company/3389.htm?WT.z_src=main
LINDT: customerservice-au@lindt.com
ARNOTT'S: http://www.arnotts.com/feedback.aspx
CADBURY: http://www.cadbury.com.au/Feedback.aspx
NESTLE: https://www.nestle.com.au/AboutUs/ContactUs/Default.htm
sample email to cadbury's:
"Hi.
Wanted to know the reasons why you haven't cleaned up your production lines?
Also found it interesting that the only mention of the 284 000 kids working with machetes and pesticides, enduring up to 80-100 hour weeks - which means they can't go to school, which cripples any hope to improve their prospects for the future - was "The harvesting of cocoa pods is very labour-intensive. On West African small-holdings the whole family, together with friends and neighbours help out."
Sorry. You need to acknowledge more than that. You need to give a public explanation of why you are yet to commit to World Vision's 10 year detailed, fully-costed and time-bound action plan. I understand and appreciate that you have contributed millions towards the cause. But it is not enough. Is profit so important to you that you are indifferent to the suffering of children as young as 6?
More than a little outraged,
Stephanie."
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