Trick-or-treat!" will soon be heard across the country as kids run around in cute little costumes collecting bags of candy. But how many of us know that for many cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast the chocolate business is much more of a "trick" than a "treat." In fact, the cocoa industry is one massive trick on cocoa farmers and chocolate consumers alike. While the global price for cocoa has fallen too low for many cocoa farmers to feed their families, as chocolate consumers we continue to pay high prices for this delicacy. There is only way out of this trick: Fair trade chocolate.
In 2000, the State Department acknowledged that about 15,000 children aged 9 to 12 have been sold into slavery on cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast in recent years. Beyond documented cases of slavery, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture reported that over 284,000 children under 17 work in dangerous tasks on cocoa farms. Few things are more universally condemned than child slavery. It is of course easier to take a stand against child slavery when it is right next to you, as opposed to halfway across the world.
At the point our complicity in slavery becomes harder and harder to trace, it is easier to think there is nothing we can do about it. The "your chocolate bar contains cocoa from beans that were picked by child slaves in the Ivory Coast," does not often overwhelm us. There is simply too much that is wrong in this world. Sometimes, instead of doing what we can, we just throw up our hands in helplessness.
Fortunately, when it comes to chocolate there is an alternative to buying chocolate that exploits children and Third World farmers. In addition, unlike some actions that take a great deal of planning and effort, helping cocoa farmers is as easy as buying fair trade chocolate. The fair trade movement is of course most well known for coffee, but recently groups have worked on getting fair trade chocolate to the U.S. market.
Just like fair trade coffee farmers, fair trade cocoa farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their cocoa (currently about $0.80 per pound, versus $0.40 on the free trade market). In turn, cocoa farmers promise to deliver a superior product and use responsible labor, social and environmental practices.
With fair trade chocolate, everyone wins: Consumers get a superior product and know that they are supporting cocoa farmers. Cocoa farmers receive incomes that enable them to send their children to school, build wells and open clinics in their villages. I know of few actions that are as easy and make this kind of impact on people's lives.
I am personally very interested in fair trade chocolate because I was fortunate enough last spring to bring a cocoa farmer from Ghana to speak about her fair trade cocoa cooperative. Mary Adu-Kumi spoke of her love for her cooperative "Kuapa Kokoo," which means "good cocoa farmers company" in the Twi language. Kuapa Kokoo was formed in 1993 and now has over 35,000 members.
The cooperative is dedicated to maximizing women's participation and does this by insisting that women hold a minimum number of leadership positions. Kuapa Kokoo also uses environmentally sustainable farming methods whenever possible. Most amazingly, the farmers themselves are one-third owners of Day Chocolate, the company that sells the chocolate made with their cocoa. This means that these Ghanaian cocoa farmers, especially women, are directly involved in business decisions. Of course, this is quite unusual for any company, and a marked difference from the status quo that often leaves poor cocoa farmers at the mercy of middlemen.
"We didn't have a well before in my village, and the women had to walk miles just to get water," Mary Adu-Kumi told the audience who had come to hear about fair trade chocolate. "Sometimes this water wasn't even clean and it made our children sick. But now, we, with the fair trade cooperative, we have a well--we have clean water. You cannot know what a difference this is for us." Mary encouraged us all to buy her Divine Chocolate, the label her chocolate is sold under, and reminded us that most of their cocoa is still sold for free market prices because there isn't enough consumer demand for fair trade chocolate yet.
Unfortunately, this is a problem for all fair trade cocoa farmers: In 2000, fair trade cooperatives produced 89 million pounds of cocoa, but only 3 million pounds were sold at fair trade prices. The pressure is on consumers to do their part and support farmers like Mary.
When Mary left Duke, she looked at me and said, "Promise me Bridget, you will tell others about our chocolate?" I am trying to live up to my promise to this amazingly strong and inspiring woman. Please: End the trick on cocoa farmers starting this Halloween.
You may purchase Divine Chocolate, the fair trade chocolate from Mary's cooperative, in any Duke store, or it can be purchased off campus at the fair trade store, One World Market. Tell the managers at other stores that you want fair trade chocolate. And I promise you this: Mary's chocolate is a treat for both you and the farmers.
Bridget Newman is a Trinity junior. Her column appears every other Wednesday.
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