Why is the cocoa industry still using child workers in Ghana?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Hundreds of thousands of children in West Africa are working in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms, despite international campaigns against child labour.
Many have little or no access to education.
Farmers say attempts by Western cocoa buyers to force prices down are keeping hundreds of thousands of children out of school and condemning them to a life of poverty.
And they argue that only higher prices and better education can improve the lives of children.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Hiampeanika in western Ghana.
Subscribe to our channel: bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow us on Twitter / ajenglish
Find us on Facebook / aljazeera
Check our website: www.aljazeera.com/
Check out our Instagram page: / aljazeeraenglish
#Ghana #ChocolateIndustry #CocoaFarming #ChildLabour #GhanaCocoaIndustry
There has to be a clear distinction between a child working on his family's plantation (which he will inherently inherit later in life), and child labour where children and hired out to farms to work without pay and in terrible conditions, without going to school. I worked my mum's businesses as a child (was under 18) and went to the best school in my state. I learnt the ropes and now own and even expanded the family's business beyond what my parents ever did. There is a clear difference.
Exactly!
the kids in this story don't go to school.
Those farms only exist to supply foreign companies. Cocoa is not native to Africa. Britain and other countries destroyed natural economic growth in countries like Ghana and India. These communities never established a stable economy. The wealthy foreigners came in and dangled carrots in front of them. They can't live where they are unless they are farming. They'd need to move to the city. That's why there's no schools there.
There is nothing wrong when a white child is seen in an apple or grapes farm in the west. There is nothing wrong when a white child helps a parents at the cattle 🐄 farms.. but there is everything wrong when a child helps the father on cocoa farms . This issue is coming up just when Ghana decides to stop the exportation of raw cocoa ... surprisingly they paid our fellow Blackman to do the evil .. AFTCA has come to stay . Our market is opened to anyone who comes with equity
Well spoken
I lived part of my childhood in a Ugandan Village and we all worked with our parents on different agricultural projects. So long as the children still go to school, this shouldn't be an issue.
The way the West views child labor in Africa, specifically in Ghana's agricultural sector, is often misguided and doesn't take into account the unique cultural practices of the country. In many African communities, it's normal for kids to help their parents on the farm and learn valuable life skills through this type of work. This type of light work provides an income and food for the family.
However, the West has a very narrow definition of child labor and sees any form of work done by kids as exploitation. This perspective is imposed on other cultures without taking into account the differences in circumstances and cultural norms.
It's important to understand that child labor is a complex issue that can't be simplified into just black and white. A more culturally sensitive approach is needed, recognizing that there are varying degrees of work and exploitation, and what may be considered "light work" in one community may not be the same in another.
In short, the West shouldn't impose their views on African countries and instead work together with the local communities to find culturally appropriate and sustainable solutions. Labeling normal and accepted practices as "child labor" only reinforces stereotypes and does more harm than good
light work?
Activists can pay for their food also
Thats the true traditional style of life
Oral tradition is the best
At lest they r not making tik tok
After Ghana banning rawv cocoa materials to be exported , Now see this.... White games
Leave them. Bunch of hypocrites
Ghana hasn't banned Cocoa exportation. We still export 95% of our cocoa beans. If we don't export, it will just rot in Ghana because the factories in Ghana can only process about 4% of our yealy cocoa beans.
..And Al jazeera news network is from Qatar, not white.
Aljazeera and foreign media have an agenda. The Western World is trying to portray something which does not exist. In Ghana,Cocobod abhors worst forms of child labour. Child work (ages above 13) that is not hazardous and does not prevent children allows children to learn and support the family. Ghana has a Child labour monitoring and remediation system that is implemented across the landscape. This behaviour of paying farmers and giving chocolates for them to talk is outmoded. IDRIS DID NOT SPEAK TO Ghana Cocoa Board or ICI and this is unfortunate.
Yes they deceived them the farm are saying they will sue them
Some people have no choice to have kids working to help the family. Give them money to survive.
These people play dumb as if Amerikkka didn't have children working only 100 years ago. But they want to force wealthy nation standards on developing nations.
There is NOTHING WRONG HELPING OUR PARENTS IN THEIR FARMING . Agriculture is also An Education; This is NOT A NEWS cos we are cool
Why the European chocolate industry not give them maximum value price of this product.
Because European Nations historically exploit and colonize African nations and will continue to do so until Africans band together to stop this atrocity
Greed. Same issue here in the US 😞
@@anzarulhaque5382
Because capitalism does not work that way. If you own a business the point is to make money. So you try to pay as little as possible for the resources and labor that you need and then sell your products at the highest price possible, to maximize profits.
I can see paying more for a bar of chocolate if it means kids get to attend school. They still get to help around the farm but the education helps them and their family.
The middle men know this, they'll exploit your sentiments to grow their margins
Firstly, I am even wondering why you muted what the guy was saying in the local dialect; I can wager it isn't anything close to what you are saying. Secondly, we don't have full context as to what the activist is saying but you are asking us to believe what you are telling us. My conclusion is simply that, this whole thing is staged. I will go and look for that dude personally and ask him what the whole line of questioning was. We are well aware how the media could be weaponised to create misconceptions of countries and we the educated are sensitive to misinformation, disinformation and malinformation and will not relent in countering any of such. This VIDEO SHOULD BE FLAGGED AS A DISINFORMATION campaign.
That's crazy... learning about fair trade and kids working on cocoa farms in school 15 years ago.... and yet nothing has changed.
The farmers in the video are not happy with you. They are planning to sue you for misleading the public after documenting them for a different reason. I will be disappointed In aljazeera if you just called them together, film them and claiming a different story
Agriculture is also an education.
Ghana is still a very poor country because of mismanagement of resources,the minimum wage (1$ per day) in ghana is among the lowest in the world, parents from rural areas give their children to work in farms for them to raise money to feed their family
Stop saying nonsense. do you know what cocoa farm businesses are? If my father's office is a cocoa farm, where do you want me to go, when I closed from school? Kwaseato
Yes. A poor country. True. The minimum wage is actually around $0.15 a day.
@@rond5936 Please speak to the video and refrain from unnecessary distractions.
The Headline is misleading because you started with the obvious.
Most cocoa farms are family owned and that means family trip to farms including children who could not stay home alone.
The reality is even you studied very well in your childhood you will work when you grow up nothings wrong about this child workers they work for the food in plate education is 2nd important things in life
What is wrong with this? This is part of the culture
Your stupid
Working in parents farm or business is not child labor unless with extreme circumstances
Every child deserves a childhood, not a job.
But is there anything wrong with children working on their parents' farm
Yall want to ruin our cocoa image so bad ...
Ikr
Spam and misleading information
I like Africa
I need job