For this assignment, you will write a three- to five-paragraph essay to inform readers about child labor in the chocolate industry. Introduce the topic with a clearly written thesis statement, then develop the central ideas with relevant details in the form of facts,
statistics, and examples. Use formal and objective language that is free of bias.

Chocolate is a product known and admired throughout the world, being an indispensable ingredient in several recipes such as cakes, drinks, confectionery, among others. In worldly moments and some places in the world, chocolate has become a luxury item, reserved for the highest social classes.

What many people do not know is that this product has a dark history of exploitation in its manufacture. This is because the manufacture of chocolate depends on the planting and harvesting of cacao fruits, which are often carried out by children in terrible work situations.

Large cocoa producers such as Brazil have a high rate of child labor on cocoa farms. According to the Brazilian Statistics Institute, it is estimated that 8 thousand children, aged 10-17 years old, work in these farms, even in the face of laws that prohibit child labor in the country. In addition to working, children do not have access to education and have a high level of socioeconomic vulnerability.

Although cocoa production in Brazil is one of the largest in the world, children are very poorly paid and are exposed to terrible qualities of hygiene and wholesomeness, being doomed to live a servile life with little quality.

This situation is a picture of the social inequality caused by capitalism and the bad government administrations. It is necessary for governments to regulate the production of chocolate more intensively, in addition to promoting strong enforcement that ensures that children enjoy their time in schools and not in poor quality jobs.

Chocolate has an unfortunate, frustrating, and surprising background. When taking a bite of a kitkat bar, a hershey's chocolate or a chocolate cake, the chocolate being used was most likely a product of child labor. Child labor in the chocolate/cocoa industry is something that has gone on for quite some time. Only recently was it brought to the attention of the public about West African cocoa farming and the trafficking that went on there.

West African child trafficking is a big part of the cocoa industry. Children are trafficked around places like Ghana and the Ivory coast in order to farm cocoa. This labor is forced labor. Bryan O'Keefe says that from the information gathered from the International Labor Organization, that around 5.5 million out of the 21 million people in forced labor are children (5). He also gathered that "there were roughly 12,000 child laborers in Ivory Coast who had been trafficked" in Ivory Coast alone in the year 2002 (5). With most of the children's lives spent working, most children "have never been to school" (O'Keefe 1).

Children forced to harvest cocoa in the West African region have been exposed to many things. From using machetes and blades to "hauling 100-pound bags of beans", conditions are not easy for these kids.(O'Keefe 2) They work in extreme heat with no rest most days and are beaten if they do otherwise. These kids work for little or no pay on top of it all. Some were sold into labor from their families while others do it for the little pay or by force.

Child labor has lead to several movements, legal actions, statements, and political leads since news came out. There were several attacks toward chocolate companies throughout the world about how they were getting their cocoa as "more than 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown in the region (Western Africa), and the vast majority of that supply comes from two countries: Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together produce 60% of the global total" (O'Keefe 1). With this came several sustainability programs launched from many companies such as Nestle who also helped build schools in the Lakota and Ivory Coast areas (O'Keefe 7). Other companies such as Hershey's and Mars have also launched such programs.

Awareness and improvement has definitely come from the amount of coverage and education to the public about this issue and has improved conditions in many places. Although there are many who are still being victimized from child labor, it is something that has become more known and talked about as well as looked to stop. Things seem to be improving rather than declining in recent years from the help of the chocolate companies' sustainability programs and other movements. The help is going into the right direction.

Explanation:

Edgenuity

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explanation:

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