As a part of the “Harkin Engel Protocol,” Cargill agreed to a “comprehensive, six-point problem-solving approach along with a time-bound process for credibly eliminating the use of abusive child labor in cocoa growing.”
Over the next 10 years, the company, along with the rest of the industry, extended the timeline to address the labor violations twice, and in 2010 dramatically lowered the initial target of eliminating all child slavery to reducing “the worst forms of child labor” by 70 percent.
But even that low bar, which still acknowledged and allowed child labor, was not met. In fact, a U.S. Department of Labor-funded study found that the number of children harvesting cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana has increased since the commitment–not decreased.
According to the study, since the setting of that goal, “in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the prevalence of child labor in cocoa production among all agricultural households increased 14 percentage points and the prevalence of hazardous child labor has increased 13 percentage points.”
