Beyond a Chocolate Bar: A Quiet Crisis
The author is a Sophomore at Brownsburg High School.
Cocoa farming is the backbone of the world’s billion-dollar chocolate industry, yet many of the workers are trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of exploitation and poverty. In Ghana along with its neighbor Ivory Coast, 60 percent of the world’s cocoa is produced, which is the key ingredient needed in the chocolate people love and enjoy (Confectionary News). Many cocoa farmers work in extreme conditions, among many of them are children as young as seven, forced into labor.
Nelson Donkor was one of these children. From child slave to entrepreneur, his story is a testament to a community’s resilience and a call for systemic change in an industry built on unethical labor. In an email interview with Donkor, he shared with me how he was forced into the cocoa farming industry at age 7, preventing him from attending school. Donkor says his daily routine consisted of, “clearing the weeds in the farm, harvesting, cracking the pods, drying and taking the dried beans to the depot to sell,” all while not being paid. His past struggle remains the current reality for many children and adults living in Ghana, confined in an industry that thrives off of their labor but offers almost nothing in return for it.
Cocoa is primarily harvested by farmers ages 9 to 17, who sacrifice their education to work full-time. These laborers, usually ranging from ages 9 to 55, are paid one-third of a living wage, according to Cocoa Future. However, their challenges extend beyond unfair wages.
Cocoa farmers work in harsh conditions that often subject them to physical injuries and exhaustion. Research from the Global Agricultural Research Network (GAIN), indicates that by 2050, the temperature will increase by 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius, Ghana in particular is already a hotspot for global warming. If urgent climate actions are not taken, “income for poor households could be reduced by up to 40 percent by 2050” (GAIN). For cocoa farmers, this means more hours in the scorching sun, as heat waves will become more frequent and the need for fair wages will increase.
Harvesting the cacao seed, commonly referred to as the cocoa bean. Photo courtesy of Nelson Donkor
Another significant issue for cocoa farmers is galamsey, also known as illegal mining. Illegal minors often take over land and strip it of its resources. More than 100,000 acres of land have been lost to galamsey, as reported by the Mankurom Cocoa Cooperative Farmers Association. This gives cocoa farmers less land to harvest, resulting in less profit. It also leads to a loss in generational wealth as many parents plan to pass the land down to their children, and can no longer do so. Illegal mining not only affects cocoa farmers but the environment miserably. The usage of heavy machinery, mercury, and excessive wiping of land done by Illegal minors contributes to deforestation, soil degradation, and water pollution. Which, in turn, harms the health of cocoa farmers and the rest of Ghana’s population.
A major solution to some of these injustices lies in consumer choices. Purchasing directly from farms that do not participate in child labor and other unethical practices, ensures that profits reach the farmers themselves. Additionally, if consumers pressured large chocolate companies to take a smaller share of the profits, cocoa farmers could receive fair compensation that better reflects their work.
Nelson Donkor urges these companies to recognize farmers’ struggles, stating, “We the cocoa farmers are going through a lot of hardship so they should pay us a fair price for our beans. Our lives have to be better to be able to continue producing cocoa beans.”
Ethical sourcing is a crucial step towards ceasing child labor and improving working conditions altogether. So, next time you enjoy chocolate, consider: Am I contributing to empowerment or exploitation?
