Creating Fairtrade in the Cocoa Industry
The demand for cocoa has increased by at least 5 percent each year since it has developed into an industry. While that demand has been steadily increasing, so has the production of how much cocoa is being produced. While the rapid and steady increase in the need for cocoa, nations who are main producers do not have the adequate agricultural practices to supply nations with enough cocoa around the world.
In the long history of the cocoa industry, there hasn’t been a very balanced or reasonable relationship between nations who import or consider themselves consumers and nations who export or actually produce cocoa. In result to that relationship and the system the industry operates under, many …show more content…
Specifically, most cocoa growers from the Ivory Coast and Ghana are farmers on very low income who would grow just enough to provide for themselves and their families. Ordinarily, cocoa is grown alongside their food crops, which doesn’t exactly encourage neither a strong workers’ society, competition between local farmers to produce more, or the potential expansion of commerce. However, it is imperative for Fairtrade in the cocoa industry because of how much it benefits all parties involved. Fairtrade in the cocoa industry is needed because there is a lack of support for growers from their governments, poor education in the region, and most importantly climate change and how it’ll effect …show more content…
Consequently, villages in cocoa growing areas typically don’t have adequate education or healthcare systems. These governments also impose high export taxes to improve their economies at the expense of the farmer’s income. Also, not much is being done to re-invest to the farmers. For example, developing technical training systems for farmers to increase product capacity or to improve market access is very beneficial because it will increase transparency of what is happening in the cocoa sector. Poor education in the region is also a reason Fairtrade is needed; the primary reason literacy rates are low for cocoa growing communities is because it isn’t as accessible to them as it is in other parts of the region. From schools being too far away, to parents being unable to afford the school fees. This is the major factor behind child labour on the farms, since children aren’t able to attend school they have to work on the cocoa farms, without pay. Another reason, and maybe the most important on why Fairtrade is needed, is climate change. As crop failure is a big issue in the region, the threat of climate change increases that by high
The demand for cocoa has increased by at least 5 percent each year since it has developed into an industry. While that demand has been steadily increasing, so has the production of how much cocoa is being produced. While the rapid and steady increase in the need for cocoa, nations who are main producers do not have the adequate agricultural practices to supply nations with enough cocoa around the world.
In the long history of the cocoa industry, there hasn’t been a very balanced or reasonable relationship between nations who import or consider themselves consumers and nations who export or actually produce cocoa. In result to that relationship and the system the industry operates under, many …show more content…
Specifically, most cocoa growers from the Ivory Coast and Ghana are farmers on very low income who would grow just enough to provide for themselves and their families. Ordinarily, cocoa is grown alongside their food crops, which doesn’t exactly encourage neither a strong workers’ society, competition between local farmers to produce more, or the potential expansion of commerce. However, it is imperative for Fairtrade in the cocoa industry because of how much it benefits all parties involved. Fairtrade in the cocoa industry is needed because there is a lack of support for growers from their governments, poor education in the region, and most importantly climate change and how it’ll effect …show more content…
Consequently, villages in cocoa growing areas typically don’t have adequate education or healthcare systems. These governments also impose high export taxes to improve their economies at the expense of the farmer’s income. Also, not much is being done to re-invest to the farmers. For example, developing technical training systems for farmers to increase product capacity or to improve market access is very beneficial because it will increase transparency of what is happening in the cocoa sector. Poor education in the region is also a reason Fairtrade is needed; the primary reason literacy rates are low for cocoa growing communities is because it isn’t as accessible to them as it is in other parts of the region. From schools being too far away, to parents being unable to afford the school fees. This is the major factor behind child labour on the farms, since children aren’t able to attend school they have to work on the cocoa farms, without pay. Another reason, and maybe the most important on why Fairtrade is needed, is climate change. As crop failure is a big issue in the region, the threat of climate change increases that by high