Tackling child labour in the

cocoa-growing sector

Opportunities and challenges for traders

Presentation to the Soft Commodities Trading Operations, Logistics & Finance Summit
Geneva, 27th February 2013
Nick Weatherill
Who are we?

A unique multi-stakeholder partnership between

industry and civil society

New members (2012):

Board Advisor:

Board Observer:
What is our mission?

To tackle the problems of child labour, child trafficking

and forced adult labour in the cocoa supply-chain.
How do we do this?

Through joint thinking

and collective, multi-
stakeholder action,
based on the principle
of shared responsibility.
 What is child labour?
Acceptable child work
• Work that is limited to a few hours a week,
supervised by responsible adults
• Light tasks, usually carried out on the family
farm, that do not compromise school
attendance.
Unacceptable child labour
• Underage, unsupervised
• Excessive hours, deprived of schooling
Worst forms of child labour
• Conditional: hazardous activities
(age/context).
• Unconditional: exploitation and trafficking.
 Scale of the problem

• 132 million child labourers (U15) in agriculture globally.

• 56-72 million child labourers (U15) in agriculture in Africa.
• Prevalent - but not specific or unique to cocoa.
• Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana: 300,000-900,000 children in child
labour, in cocoa growing.
• 97% on family farms.
Progress to date

Improved understanding of child

labour in cocoa
• Causes
 Income poverty and fragile livelihoods.
 Incomplete awareness through the supply-
chain, amongst farmers, and in key national
actors.
 Inadequate social infrastructure and basic
services.
 Weak legislative frameworks, poor rule of law.

• Solutions and good practice

 Holistic (multiple drivers).
 Context-specific.
 Community-oriented.
 Area-based (cross-sectoral).
 Multi-stakeholder, but nationally-led.
Progress to date

Stronger national leadership

and coordination at origin
• Ratification of ILO Conventions
138 and 182.
• Development of National
Hazardous Activity Decrees and
Frameworks.
• Articulation of National Action
Plans for Child Labour Elimination.
• Establishment of cross-sectoral,
multi-stakeholder coordination
platforms.
• Commitment to child labour
monitoring and national surveys.
• Sector reforms that benefit
farmers.
Progress to date

Increased commitments
from the cocoa industry

• Concern for lowest-tiers in supply-chain.

• Sustainability targets (including certification).
• Increasing resources for sustainability, social
development and child labour mitigation.
Progress to date

Positive impact on
child education

In ICI-supported
communities, from 2007
to 2011, school enrolment
increased by :

24% in Ghana.
16% in Côte d'Ivoire.
Progress to date

In 31 communities in Adamsi South, Ghana, community-

based activities lifted primary school enrolment to 97%,
and boosted school attendance from 50% to 85%.
 Progress to date

Real reductions in child labour

Côte d'Ivoire Ghana

Bas Sassandra, Côte d'Ivoire, over 18 months Wassa Amenfi West, Ghana, over 18 months
• Children spraying pesticides: 97% reduced. • Children spraying pesticides: 97% reduced.
• Children carrying excessive loads: 84% reduced. • Children carrying excessive loads: 88% reduced.
• Children using heavy machetes: 63% reduced. • Children using heavy machetes: 94% reduced.
Remaining challenges

Spreading detailed knowledge and understanding

• Moving from definitions to common operational supply-chain standards.

• Developing tools and capacities to implement standards.
Remaining challenges

Matching the resources

to the scale
• Shared responsibility 
defining roles and burdenshare.
• Tapping development funding:
child labour = development
failure.
• Building partnerships.
• "Investing back" for
sustainability: taxation revenues
& commercial profits.
• Passing costs to consumers?
• Ensuring efficiency through
coordination and best practice.
Remaining challenges

Managing child labour risks as part of

responsible supply-chain management
• Know your supply chain
(down to lowest tiers/smallholders and workers).
• Understand and identify the child labour risks.
• Manage those risks responsibly
(prevention, remediation, referral / advocacy).
• Monitoring / Compliance  Remediation / Assistance
Remaining challenges

Cocoa: from a sector in crisis

to a model sector?
• Ageing farmers, predicted
supply deficit, social
challenges, reputational risks.
• Vast potential for change.
 Engaged industry, engaged
origins.
 Production concentration.
 Multi-stakeholder collaboration.
 Sustainability win-wins.

• Child labour as a composite

sustainability indicator.
Challenges for traders/suppliers

Large volumes
• Coverage and leverage.
Buying from/selling to many
• Supply-chain penetration.
Responding to client demand
• Translating manufacturers'
consumer commitments into supply
chain action (e.g. certification,
quality, social responsibility).
Direct interface with producers
and intermediaries
• Organising and training farmers
(e.g. coops). Agro-social win-wins.
• Influencing middle-men (supply-
chain standards, traceability,
efficiency).
Challenges for traders/suppliers

Not consumer facing

• Harder to justify investments
in child labour mitigation to
shareholders.
• In absence of client demand,
tests commitment to child
labour risk-management on
basis of:
 respecting and supporting
child/human rights, and
 securing sustainable supply
and longevity of profits.
Challenges for traders/suppliers

Cost/market share dilemmas

• Effective child labour mitigation is not resource-neutral (in short-term).
• If consumers or clients don't pay (e.g. premiums), responsible supply-chains may
become less competitive. Investor does not benefit.
• Crowded, multi-layered, fragmented & liberalised supply-chains most vulnerable.
• Importance of pre-competitive approach and level-playing field.
 National standards/industry standards (ICI/CEN).
ICI's work

• Research
 Child labour causality and good practice.
• Awareness-raising and training
 Child labour definitions, child protection,
standards, responses.
 Community mobilisation (Community
Action Plans, Community Child Protection
Committees, community/government
resources).
• Access to quality education
 School construction/rehabilitation/
equipment/teachers.
 Formal and non-formal education,
vocational training for youth.
• Livelihood support
 Farmer-field schools, extension, inputs.
• Basic services
 Health, water, sanitation.
ICI's work

Nestlé case study

Responsible management of
child labour risks in the cocoa
supply chain
Nestlé case study

• Standardised training of all supply-chain actors

 Nestlé and first-tier suppliers (ADM, Cargill, Olam, Noble).
 Certified co-operatives.
 Farmers and cocoa-growing communities (+ local authorities).

• Injection of child labour capacity and responsibility

 Child Labour Agent (CLA) in coop management structure.
 Community Liaison Officer (CLO) at producer level.

• Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System

 CLO monitors farms, identifies at-risk individuals/households, reports to coop.
 CLA validates CLO reports, follows-up cases, allocates remediation funds,
reports to supplier.

• Strengthening of existing certification models (UTZ, Fair Trade)

 Revision of standards.
 Expanded training.
 More regular and reliable farm-level monitoring (remediation link).
Partnering with traders/suppliers

• ICI is funded through members' annual

contributions (category/metric tons of
cocoa usage).
 Core technical and advisory capacity.
 Influencing and advocacy (national/international
policies).
 Community development and child protection
activities in 400 communities.

• Service-provision and company-specific

projects for members, funded separately.

• ICI is actively seeking additional traders and

logistics companies to join.
 Expansion of supply-chain improvements and
business-oriented innovations.
 Inclusive, sector-wide, standardised, pre-
competitive protection of children.
 Thank You
Thank you!

For all ICI's activities and results: www.cocoainitiative.org

Partnership enquiries: n.perroud@cocoainitiative.org