Why is the cocoa industry still using child workers in Ghana?

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Al Jazeera English

Joined: Mar 2024
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Why is the cocoa industry still using child workers in Ghana?


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…

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37 Comments

  1. I surprised family owned big cocoa farm while children helping to harvest before export to manufacturers but unfortunately these capitalist forcing them to lower price for raw materials while the shops selling hundred of dollars for a piece of chocolate. 😑

  2. This aged terribly because now Al Jazeera English has lost credibility to accurately portray anything in regards to the war that is going on right now as well. This channel is spreading misinformation.

  3. If Europe pays a fair price for their cocoa their will be no child labor. We all know who creates poverty around the world and why they are trying to put the Ghanian cocoa industrie in a bad light. I stand with Ghana.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. People always said your network was the worst in publications, I never agreed until today..
    U talk of sustainability and don't me to take my kids to the farm, it's either you are short sighted or just pursuing an agenda.. child work is not crime. Hope u registered those kids in school before leaving or else you've failed. Shame

  8. I had lots of respect for you guys but after you staged a documentary, you are worse than the others. Ghanaian cocoa farmers are planning on suing you guys for the nonsense journalism you did. No wonder countries like China don’t entertain your mediocrities you call journalism.

  9. Al Jazeera is fake news media they tricked the farmers to send their children to the farm and later on saying they are using child labour, the farmers are very angry saying they will sue you for your lies. How could you deceived innocent people just to make a story.

  10. 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

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. This whole world runs on a imbalance system design to decrease the standard of living for a significant number of people in order to sustain the greed for a few individuals. It's extremely disheartening to know that these things are actually happening to people.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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