Table of contents
- From Beans to Bar
- Social Costs
- Benefits
- Economic Costs
- Conclusion
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) is located in West Africa and it is one of the world’s top cocoa producers. They produce cacao beans which are very treasurable and important for the country’s financial management and consistency. The cocoa bean is the dried and fermented seed of Theobroma cacao tree and the basic ingredient of chocolate and develops in the tropical atmospheres in Western Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cacao bean is all the more normally alluded to as cocoa. Ivory Coast supplies 30% of the cocoa beans for the world’s chocolate market. The cocoa they develop and gather is offered to a majority of chocolate companies, including many of the largest on this planet. Although the process seems very relaxed and has many benefits, the many horrible factors behind the closed doors are to be revealed.
From Beans to Bar
Cocoa pods grow directly on trunks of the trees which are normally between 4 and 6 meters tall. An individual cocoa tree can produce between 50 and 150 pods within 6 months. They are cut off and straight after that, the freshly harvested fruits are opened and podded. Using the correct tools and technique, the beans and the white pulp around them can easily be extracted from the hard cocoa shell. The process is very long and tiring. they are covered for a few days and this is when the beans start to ferment. During the fermentation process, the beans lose its bitter taste and develop their aromatic flavors. They are then dried in the sun to prevent it from spoiling. The bags are then transported then the beans are tested. This is when the farmers receive their payment for the beans they have delivered and they are paid very low. They are then brought to the exporter’s warehouse. Almost all of Ivory Coast’s exports are shipped from the port of San Pedro. They are then shipped all over the world to create the many famous brands of chocolate we all know.
Social Costs
As the interest for modest cocoa has expanded, the interest for physical work on the cocoa fields has increased. Today, cocoa farmers scarcely bring home enough money and have to depend on the child's work to keep their costs focused. Kids between the ages of 12 and 16 have been recorded working on the farms. Some of these children find themselves on cocoa farms because they need work and are told by people that the pay is high. Other kids are 'sold' by family members to traffickers or farmers. Tragically, a large portion of these family members don't understand that these kids will be presented to a risky workplace, for example, the utilization of unsafe hardware and hazardous chemicals and the children won't have sufficient nourishment, water and living conditions. Unfortunately, the children working on these horrible farms have little to no hope of getting out from the cage of poverty.
Benefits
The International Labour Organization and transnational corporations, also voluntarily signed a protocol to abolish the ‘worst form of child labor’. Even with these attempts there has been little improvements which were made and issues of blame and responsibility have been created.
Economic Costs
Cocoa farmers only get a tiny piece of the world market cost for beans, because of nearby exchanging structures, charges and furthermore the nature of the beans. For instance, in the course of the most recent ten years, farmers in Ivory Coast achieved only between 40 to 50 % of the world market cost for their beans. farmers are once in a while composed and don't have any knowledge for the market trends for cocoa prices. they sell their cocoa at prices dictated by mediators. many farmers cannot cover their living costs anymore.
Conclusion
Chocolate is one of the world’s most known and purchased products. Not many people know what happens behind the production process of chocolate. Child labor, slavery and low income are many factors of the making of chocolate. It is made in Ivory Coast, where economics are very low and unstable. The social effects are also very horrific. The process for chocolate is truly an endless journey with many obstacles.