Mondelēz Has Blood On Its Hands- Again?

Cadbury chocolates continue to be pulled into controversy over use of child labor in their chocolate growing facilities in Africa. A recent documentary titled ‘Cadbury Exposed’ surfaced on Channel 4 in the UK and shows footage where children can be seen working with machetes in fields in Ghana. They are said to be as young as ten years old are were filmed harvesting cocoa pods for Mondelēz International, owner of Cadbury, for the U.S. equivalent of less than $3 a day. 

Tweets are doing round accusing Mondelēz of continuing to indulge in child labor. Children were filmed weeding cocoa plantations, using sharp knives to open cocoa pods, and swinging sticks with blades to harvest the pods from trees. None of the children seem to have any protective equipment and one girl reported that she had once sliced her foot open while using a long machete. These children are too small to be doing this kind of dangerous work.

Apart from boys, girls are also being employed to do similar work. While making the documentary, a girl admitted that she was tricked into working at the plantation, claiming she was under the impression that she would be going to her uncle’s farm to help with childcare but instead was forced to work long hours on the farm and not allowed to go to school. She added that she’s never spoken out about it because she is “too afraid.”

While the company continues to make public statements of not allowing this to happen, the documentary proves otherwise. Campaigners fighting against child labor claim that farmers in Ghana get paid less than £2 ($2.62) a day and therefore simply cannot afford to hire adult workers. Ayn Riggs, founder of Slave Free Chocolate, told a leading British daily that, “It’s horrifying to see these children using these long machetes, which are sometimes half their height. Chocolate companies promised to clean this up over 20 years ago. They knew they were profiting from child labor and have shirked their promises.”