https://en.sputniknews.africa/20231203/only-20-of-chocolate-brands-pay-enough-to-cocoa-farmers-report-reveals-1063928934.html
Only 20% of Chocolate Brands Pay Enough to Cocoa Farmers, Report Reveals
Only 20% of Chocolate Brands Pay Enough to Cocoa Farmers, Report Reveals
Sputnik Africa
Most of the world's cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers in West Africa, where it is a source of livelihood for millions of people. However, cocoa farmers... 03.12.2023, Sputnik Africa
2023-12-03T16:23+0100
2023-12-03T16:23+0100
2024-03-14T14:25+0100
chocolate
sub-saharan africa
west africa
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international
exploitation
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Only 17 out of 84 brands are recognized as using chocolate from suppliers who guarantee farmers are paid enough, the media reported, citing an analysis by the UK-based research organization Ethical Consumer.Large companies such as Mars, Nestlé and Mondelez have been criticized for poor sustainability schemes that only cover a portion of their suppliers.These three multinational companies, though, are promising to receive 100% of their cocoa from responsibly sourced countries by 2025.'Incredibly Unequal' IndustryChocolate brands have been criticized for inadequate ethical standards in the cocoa supply chain, with the risk of child labor being used in the production of Christmas treats.It is noteworthy that around 60% of the world's cocoa production comes from West Africa, according to the report. However, conditions for farmers in these cocoa-producing countries are dire.Owens also noted that the chocolate industry is "incredibly unequal" with many cocoa farmers living in poverty, while multinational chocolate companies are making billions of dollars.The unethical practices of most chocolate brands is one example of how multinational corporations plunder African countries of their mineral and agricultural wealth without promoting the development of the very people they exploit.Thus, "there will always be frustration" from the West, according to Isaac Yitzhak Mosbey, Kenya's Nandi county Assembly leader and former chairman of a trade union. In his interview with Sputnik Africa in September, he also mentioned that the US and Western countries are interfering in the affairs of countries leaning towards the Global South, creating instability there.Furthermore, in October, Burkinabe Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Simon-Pierre Boussim, criticized the global financial system for its attempt to keep the status quo, saying that "everything is designed to keep them [countries] in a certain subordination, in a certain subjugation, in a certain exploitation."Another African official, Guinea's interim president Mamady Doumbouya slammed the West for forcing its own governance model on Africa, adding that he had "better appreciated the extent to which the model has above all contributed to maintaining a system of exploitation and pillaging of our resources by others, and very active corruption of our elites."
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20230924/misfortune-of-meeting-france-burkinabe-minister-denounces-wests-hypocrisy-towards-africa-1062326784.html
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Only 20% of Chocolate Brands Pay Enough to Cocoa Farmers, Report Reveals
16:23 03.12.2023 (Updated: 14:25 14.03.2024) Most of the world's cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers in West Africa, where it is a source of livelihood for millions of people. However, cocoa farmers receive a mere 6-11% of the $100 billion chocolate industry's revenue, according to the Ethical Consumer research group.
Only 17 out of 84 brands are recognized as using
chocolate from suppliers who guarantee farmers are paid enough, the media reported, citing an analysis by the UK-based research organization
Ethical Consumer.
Large companies such as Mars, Nestlé and Mondelez have been criticized for poor sustainability schemes that only cover a portion of their suppliers.
"[...] These schemes tend to cover just a proportion of the company’s cocoa suppliers, as opposed to 100%, meaning some farmers get the benefits, but others get none," the report said.
These three multinational companies, though, are promising to receive 100% of their cocoa from responsibly sourced countries by 2025.
'Incredibly Unequal' Industry
Chocolate brands have been criticized for inadequate ethical standards in the cocoa supply chain, with the risk of child labor being used in the production of Christmas treats.
It is noteworthy that around 60% of the world's cocoa production comes from West Africa, according to the report. However, conditions for farmers in these cocoa-producing countries are dire.
"Most of the world’s chocolate is grown in West Africa, and the conditions for farmers are in general really appalling. But it’s European and UK consumers who eat most of it. So we really do have a huge amount of power and responsibility over conditions for farmers in West Africa because we’re the reason why they’re harvesting the cocoa," Jasmine Owens at Ethical Consumer told the media.
Owens also noted that the chocolate industry is "incredibly unequal" with many cocoa farmers living in poverty, while multinational chocolate companies are making billions of dollars.
The unethical practices of most chocolate brands is one example of how multinational corporations
plunder African countries of their mineral and agricultural wealth without promoting the development of the very people they exploit.
Thus, "there will always be frustration" from the West, according to Isaac Yitzhak Mosbey, Kenya's Nandi county Assembly leader and former chairman of a trade union. In his interview with
Sputnik Africa in September, he also mentioned that the US and Western countries are interfering in the affairs of countries leaning towards the Global South, creating instability there.
Furthermore, in October, Burkinabe Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Simon-Pierre Boussim,
criticized the global financial system for its attempt to keep the status quo, saying that "everything is designed to keep them [countries] in a certain subordination, in a certain subjugation, in a certain exploitation."
Another African official, Guinea's interim president Mamady Doumbouya
slammed the West for forcing its own governance model on Africa, adding that he had "better appreciated the extent to which the model has above all contributed to maintaining a system of exploitation and pillaging of our resources by others, and very active corruption of our elites."
