CAOBISCO Press Release

CHOCOLATE/COCOA INDUSTRY PROVIDES PROGRESS REPORT ON RESPONSIBLE COCOA FARMING

Added: 15 February 2005

Industry Firmly Committed to “Protocol”: Will Meet Deadlines

February 14, 2005) – Efforts are moving ahead to ensure cocoa is grown responsibly, including completing development of “certification” standards for cocoa farming labour practices.

In late 2001, representatives from the global chocolate/cocoa industry signed the “Protocol” agreement, developed in partnership with U.S. Congressmen Tom Harkin and Eliot Engel, to address instances of abusive child labour practices on cocoa farms in West Africa.

To date, the industry has met every deadline established under the Protocol, and will continue to do so. The industry is committed on a long-term basis, beyond the Protocol, to responsible cocoa farming.

The industry will complete development of effective, credible standards of certification for cocoa farming by July 1, 2005 – as required by the Protocol.

These standards will form the basis for expanded farm labour monitoring and independent verification across the West African cocoa region during the 2005/2006 crop harvest, with the first certification report issued in early 2006.

Certification will tie together programmes to help cocoa farming families; cocoa farm labour monitoring, and corrective actions whenever problems are uncovered. It will be accompanied by an independent, third-party verification of the entire process. Industry representatives are working with the International Labour Organization (ILO), NGOs, organized labour and West African governments on the individual elements that will make up the certification system.

Together, these elements will both drive and measure improvements in cocoa farming labour practices.

More importantly, the industry is working with its partners in areas that go beyond the Protocol to help children and families on cocoa farms. These efforts will form the basis for meaningful, long-term improvements in social and economic conditions, long after the Protocol timetable expires.

“While independent surveys conducted in 2002 found the vast majority of farmers to be farming cocoa responsibly, it remains critically important that we address any instances of abusive child or forced labour,” said David Zimmer, Secretary General of CAOBISCO.

“Equally important, industry remains committed to driving meaningful, positive change in the cocoa growing regions of West Africa bringing improved incomes, strengthened communities, improved access to vocational education and farming assistance to thousands of small farming families."

Among the recent developments:

• A large-scale test of a cocoa farm labour monitoring programme is underway in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. A cornerstone of certification, the labour monitoring programme will collect reliable data on labour practices and related issues at the farm level.

Developed under the direction of the ILO, the monitoring test is underway in five districts in the Upper East, Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana and the Oume region of the Ivory Coast. Local NGOs and community groups are conducting the monitoring, with visits to hundreds of cocoa farms to observe and collect information on labour practices. The test will demonstrate the ability to conduct statistically valid social monitoring in a rural, remote environment.

• A similar test of an independent “verification” of the certification process is planned for the upcoming mid-crop cocoa harvest (May, 2005). Under the cocoa certification system, an independent verification body, not associated with the industry or West African governments, will carefully review the monitoring programme, its methodology and results.

Representatives from the National Consumers League and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF) are leading development and testing of the verification component.

• The joint foundation established by industry and non-industry stakeholders, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), is moving forward with a programme of on-the-ground activities in West Africa to address child and forced labour issues. Established under the Protocol, the ICI was formed to act as a catalyst for efforts to ensure cocoa is grown responsibly.
• The ILO-directed programme to identity and help at-risk children on cocoa farms is up-and-running in cocoa farming communities in West Africa. WACAP (West Africa Commercial Agriculture Programme to Combat Hazardous and Exploitive Child Labour) has identified communities in the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana where children might be at risk of being exposed to abusive labour practices, and has begun work in these areas.

Children at risk are being helped in a variety of ways – for example, being re-directed into schools or vocational training.

• A programme to boost farm family incomes and promote responsible labour practices, the “Farmer Field Schools,” helped nearly 15,000 West African farm families in 2003/2004. Early reports indicate that the programme is significantly raising awareness of acceptable vs. unacceptable labour practices, while generating significant increases in farm family incomes.
• Efforts to develop cocoa farmer cooperatives in the region – an effective way to promote responsible labour practices and boost family incomes – benefited more than 28,000 farm families in 2004 alone, in the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria.
• The industry is working in partnership with Winrock International to provide improved access to vocational education in cocoa farming villages.

“The issues linked to labour practices in cocoa farming are some of the most profound challenges facing Africa today, issues like farmer incomes, access to education, HIV/AIDS,” noted CAOBISCO Secretary General. “They require a long-term commitment that extends far beyond a four-year timetable – and that is exactly the commitment our industry has made, and will continue to honour.”