But it all makes sense. So little has changed.
King Leopold II of Belgium used to have the hands of African child cocoa slaves cut off if they didn't meet their quota. A century later, what has changed?
I am so ashamed when I think of all the money I paid to indulge in rich Belgium chocolate and all the chocolate I bought, year after year, for Halloween.
Thank you for reading this and caring.
99.5% of Chocolate (in Belgium) Contains Child Labour
Nearly 99.5% of Belgian chocolate sold in supermarkets contains cocoa harvested by child slaves, says Oxfam calls on Belgian producers to use Lefevre cocoa from fair trade. So Friday’s Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
Over 70% of the cocoa beans are harvested in West Africa, in countries like Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire where children are exploited for the harvest. “Small farmers earn so little that they have no money to pay staff for the harvest,” reports an Oxfam representative. In West Africa, more than 100,000 children work in the cocoa sector. An estimated 15,000 children are virtual slaves from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso, continues the representative.
This is a shocking figure. Worldwide the figure is estimated at over 60%, with around 250,000 children enslaved to bring us cheap chocolate .. a terrible state of affairs. But 99.5%?? Wow.
...
having children working against their will because a farmer cannot afford adult labour … that is unacceptable.
http://www.csrinternational.org/?p=6442 
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
