Cocoa Child Labor in Ghana
In Ghana, African-American children, ages five to seventeen, are in poverty because cocoa is a cash crop so human traffickers need slaves to harvest and plant it. As a result, the human traffickers easily manipulate the children of Ghana to work for them is because they are in severe poverty and they start working at a young age to try to support their family. On the other hand, other children are ¨sold¨ to the human traffickers by their own relatives because they are unaware of the dangerous conditions the children are working in. Apparently, child labor in the chocolate industry has been going on for a while now. According to the International Labor Rights Forum, "the chocolate industry has a century-long history …show more content…
For example, children on the cocoa farms work with dangerous tools, like machetes or chainsaws. The children use these tools to pop open the cacao beans and to clear the forest. Every time they pop open a cacao bean the machete has a chance to cut the child’s skin. Unfortunately, many children have scars on their hands, arms, and shoulders. Furthermore, the children also have to spray insect pesticide on the cacao beans. The insect pesticide has many toxins in them and the children are exposed to these toxins since they have no protective clothing on them. Not only could they get hurt, but the toxins from the pesticide can also damage their health. This is a violation of their rights because they are working laboriously and it damages their health as well. According to the Food Empowerment Project, ¨Western African countries, mostly Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.¨ (¨Child Labor and Slavery in the Chocolate Industry¨ 1) Cacao beans are a huge cash crop in Ghana, West Africa. There's a lot of cocoa, but how does Ghana produce that much? Well, deceitful human traffickers lure poor African-American children who don’t have work or are in need of money to work for them and do the hazardous labor. The human traffickers also makes fake promises to the children that they will get an education and will earn a fair amount of money, but really they don’t get paid a fair amount and only get a sliver of education. This violates the children’s rights because they are lured into a job that make fake promises, doesn’t give fair pay, and doesn’t give an education. To conclude, child labor in the chocolate industry affects the children in
In Ghana, African-American children, ages five to seventeen, are in poverty because cocoa is a cash crop so human traffickers need slaves to harvest and plant it. As a result, the human traffickers easily manipulate the children of Ghana to work for them is because they are in severe poverty and they start working at a young age to try to support their family. On the other hand, other children are ¨sold¨ to the human traffickers by their own relatives because they are unaware of the dangerous conditions the children are working in. Apparently, child labor in the chocolate industry has been going on for a while now. According to the International Labor Rights Forum, "the chocolate industry has a century-long history …show more content…
For example, children on the cocoa farms work with dangerous tools, like machetes or chainsaws. The children use these tools to pop open the cacao beans and to clear the forest. Every time they pop open a cacao bean the machete has a chance to cut the child’s skin. Unfortunately, many children have scars on their hands, arms, and shoulders. Furthermore, the children also have to spray insect pesticide on the cacao beans. The insect pesticide has many toxins in them and the children are exposed to these toxins since they have no protective clothing on them. Not only could they get hurt, but the toxins from the pesticide can also damage their health. This is a violation of their rights because they are working laboriously and it damages their health as well. According to the Food Empowerment Project, ¨Western African countries, mostly Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply more than 70% of the world’s cocoa.¨ (¨Child Labor and Slavery in the Chocolate Industry¨ 1) Cacao beans are a huge cash crop in Ghana, West Africa. There's a lot of cocoa, but how does Ghana produce that much? Well, deceitful human traffickers lure poor African-American children who don’t have work or are in need of money to work for them and do the hazardous labor. The human traffickers also makes fake promises to the children that they will get an education and will earn a fair amount of money, but really they don’t get paid a fair amount and only get a sliver of education. This violates the children’s rights because they are lured into a job that make fake promises, doesn’t give fair pay, and doesn’t give an education. To conclude, child labor in the chocolate industry affects the children in