Not every child helping their parents farm cocoa is involved in child labour, and not every task on cocoa farms is a cause for concern. What is child labour?
Child labour Child labour remains one of the cocoa industry’s biggest and most persistent problems – a clear violation of human rights that robs children of the ability to have a playful childhood, in which they are protected and free to learn. Ending it is not simple, but it is possible with collective will, accountability and action. When Tony’s Chocolonely started implementing the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) across its supply chain and achieved high levels of coverage (from 41% in the 2017/18 season to 84% in 2021/22), other chocolate industry players often suggested that these results were only possible because of the small scale of the supply chain. However, over the past 9 years, Tony’s Chocolonely, and subsequently Tony’s Open Chain expanded its CLMRS 82 coverage from 5 to 19 cooperatives, from 5,095 to 66,775 children. Despite this level of scaling, our data analysis shows that: • Partner cooperatives have maintained average CLMRS coverage levels of 84-99% since 2019/20. 83 • Our longest-term partner cooperatives have maintained an average prevalence rate of below 5% for the past 5 years. • The prevalence rate across newer partner cooperatives is 13%, which is still significantly below the industry average of 46.7%. 84 These figures demonstrate that the approach is not only effective but also scalable. Our results provide compelling evidence: child labour can be
Children below the minimum age specified for light work. 5-13 years
Children within the age range specified for light work. 14-15 years
Children at or above the minimum working age. 16-17 years
Children fall in different age groups
Regular work Refers to tasks for limited hours that do not interfere with schooling.
There is child work...
Light work
Refers to light and safe tasks for limited hours that do not interfere with schooling.
Hazardous child labour Refers to employment in designated dangerous industries and occupations, night work in any industry and occupation, unpaid household services for long hours, unsafe equipment, as well as dangerous working conditions.
...and then there’s child labour
Other worst forms of child labour Refers to children trafficked for work, forced and bonded child labour, commercial sexual exploitation of children, use of children for illicit activities and armed conflict.
5-13 years
14-15 years
16-17 years
Light work
What’s legal What’s illegal
Regular work Hazardous child labour
Source: International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards as applied at national level in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Other worst forms of child labour
82. The number of children covered refers to all children aged 0 to 17. 83. Tony’s Chocolonely started the CLMRS in 2017. Since the 2019/20 cocoa season, it has been run by Tony’s Open Chain. See Interesting Appendices for details on the definition of coverage and how this has evolved. . 84. NORC at the University of Chicago. Assessing Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farming. 2020, p. 70. The NORC report is considered one of the leading sources for child labour estimates. It was published in 2020 using data from 2018/19. We are keen to obtain updated data reflecting current industry realities, as the figures may no longer reflect present conditions.
81
Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
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