The bitter side of chocolate, all the multimedia content of the german wave, dw

Christmas time is chocolate time. The cocoa beans for this are often still harvested by children because the families need the money. But always more Corporations want child labor limit. A dilemma.

Shadows over the final product

When it comes to pralines and chocolate products, the customer initially does not see the conditions under which cocoa is cultivated. Corporations like Nestlé are trying to counteract this. According to their own statements, they only buy cocoa from dealers who trade cocoa beans from companies without child labor.

Hard work at the age of nine

The nine-year-old Moahé sprayed herbicides in her father’s cocoa plantation for years. Every day the petite girl dragged water home from the village fountain. The water tanks were heavier than she was. Until recently, she was one of around two million children who work on cocoa plantations in West Africa.

The cocoa farmer

Cocoa farmer Fabrice Amangoua in front of his house in the village of Konan Yaokro in the south of the Ivory Coast. He is the father of nine-year-old Moahe. Amangoua grows cocoa on three hectares of land. The good harvests worldwide, despite the increased Chinese demand, did not Prices decline. Not good news for Amanagoua.

Immature cocoa pods

The object of desire: cocoa fruit on a plantation on the West African Ivory Coast. The region is a global leader in cocoa production. Around 75 percent of the harvested fruit comes from Africa.

sample

The quality of the cocoa beans is checked regularly. The moisture level of the goods is important. Mold and residues can destroy the harvest or affect the taste.

Drying under the hot sun

The way to the chocolate candy is long for the cocoa beans. After the harvest, the fruits are dried. The product can then be packed and shipped. The Nestlé food group now buys around 47,000 tons of cocoa beans from plantations that do not employ children. This corresponds to about eleven percent of the cocoa that Nestlé buys worldwide each year.

Child labor education

Serge, an employee of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), provides information about the dangers of child labor. This is often difficult for families, because the children’s workforce was included in the home. The child protection programs of the corporations are increasingly effective. There are still gaps in the reasonable remuneration of workers under ecological standards.