Chocolate - Not So Sweet Afterall (The Côte d'Ivoire Story)

The Ivory Coast (Republic of Côte d'Ivoire) remains the world's leading cocoa producer. In Cote dIvoire, child slave labor is the main labour force, which has made Cote dIvoire notorious for its production, exportation, and harsh child slave treatment. Child slave labor is inexpensive and easily attainable. This makes it the primary choice for the cocoa harvest. Child slave labour has not only crowned Cote dIvoire as the top producer and exporter in cocoa but has also made it the reigning champ in harsh child treatment. The slaves lack the opportunity for education, leaving them in a life of poverty. Specifically 66% of child cocoa workers in the Ivory Coast did not attend school and About 64% of children on cocoa farms are under age 14. To this day the children of West Africa are trapped in desperation and slave labour.

The horrendous conditions under which children must toil on the cocoa farms of the Cote d'Ivoire are even more jarring when the facts are juxtaposed with the idea that much of this cocoa will ultimately end up producing something that most people associate with happiness and pleasure: chocolate. The connection serves to illustrate that the existence of misery in one part of the world and joy in another part are no longer divorced as nations are connected together in a globalized web of trade. Thus, the pleasure that people from various nations around the world are deriving from these chocolate confections could possibly be at the expense of child slaves in Africa. The problem of child slavery then is not simply a faraway abstraction with no immediate implications for anybody else except those who are directly affected, but rather it is an issue that everybody around the world should be concerned about and demand action to eradicate.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ivory Coast
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Child Slave Labor
• physical torture
• psycological torture
• globalization
• servitude
• chocolate
• cocoa beans
• slavery
• exploitation

[shalilaQu]

thank you so much for this video, - I suspected something like that and only buy fairtrade chocolate for a long time. But this is much more horrofying that I could ever imagine..

I will share this with all of my friends!

[Purrfectstranger]

Hi shalilaQu. Thank you for your appreciation and for passing by. :) Namaste

[Purrfectstranger]

Anyone is more than welcome to repost this article on their own channel in order to raise awareness. Thank you! :)

[XxChUbBybunniixX]

i never knew how much slaves suffer for cocoa plantations. thanks i can really use this for my assignment on slavery. I always was thinking orf boycotting the cocolate companies that use slaves. but i dont know how...

[Purrfectstranger]

Hi Xx, if you're a chocolate lover you can opt to buy from retailers and manufacturers who are Fair Trade Certified. ADM (who own the brand Ambrosia) as well as Nestle are not therefore buy nothing associated with those two companies. The only way to hurt corporations who do not insure fair trade is by hitting their pockets. You can start your own campaign if you like and get your friends and family to help raise awareness. Good luck with your assignment. :)

[inouyejulio]

holy... im not eating chocolate ever again!!!"bites football made in china by 4 years old child"... ?

[Purrfectstranger]

Hi inouyejulio. Not all chocolate is bad (in a manner of speaking that is) It just depends where manufacturers get their cocoa beans from. Nestlé, Archer Daniels Midland and

Cargill in 2005 had lawsuits filed against them for trafficking, torture and forced labour of children. You can still support companies who only buy and use products which are not apart of this disgusting trade. Blessings.

[Goodkarmasutrahere]

Africa is one of the most corrupt places in the world. Its disgusting when you hear these boys stating that they have no idea what chocolate tastes like. And the world continues to eat snickers.

[VatoRanger]

Mmmmm Slavery chocolate I like

[keeks4000]

does anyone know where this video is from? who created it?

[febulamc]

Never eating chocolate again

[defect530]

sucks to be them

[Kanonamos]

I heard this saying. "The world is not a place of darkness because of those who do evil, but because of those who stand by and let it happen." This is only half true, but evident in the case of the murder of Kitty Genovese, where 38 people stood by and watched as she was stabbed and raped. Maybe they should have done something about it. The phrase is also evident in the case of slavery. People are enslaved to make chocolate, while other people fund that slavery.

Stop that shit. Buy FairTrade.

[samibless]

i cried when i saw this, sometimes we think our life is hard but just look at these kids omg its terrifying

[4muLAkonnekt]

I'm an African,but come from Southern Africa,I didn't know about this back when I was in Africa because its hidden from us,in our country we have the same problem with diamonds,gold,platinum etc....this is a sad situation,only 5K people viewed this??can't believe it...yet Kanye West rakes in the millions of views,whilst talking about his ego and how richer he is compared to those that listen to him..completely dumbfounding!!!Thanks for sharing

[TheJuliusJT]

What a cruel story. I feel very grateful and humble after seing this but also very sad.

[mikes4real314]

@Purrfectstranger favorited, as a chocoholic AND an african american I never even KNEW something like this existed, I'm floored, speechless, but now well informed and will only buy Fair Trade from now on, believe that!