For more than a decade, the global chocolate and cocoa industry has been working together to bring about positive and sustainable change to the way cocoa is grown and harvested in West Africa.
To address labor practices in cocoa farming and to coordinate Industry activities, the industry formed a coalition of chocolate and cocoa processing and manufacturing companies and trade associations representing the North American, European, and international chocolate and cocoa industries. Leaders in the coalition include ADM, Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, Mars Inc, Nestlé, the National Confectioners Association, the Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of the European Union, the European Cocoa Association, and the World Cocoa Foundation.
The Harkin-Engel Protocol has been a catalyst for the industry to support improvements in cocoa farming. Initiatives conducted to date include the development of a “public certification” system for cocoa farming and the establishment of an independent foundation – the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI).
The Framework of Action represents a new and historic partnership between industry, U.S. government and the governments of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to support the implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol. The Framework seeks to address the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the cocoa sector in West Africa through new and expanded initiatives which support the promotion of safe labor practices, access to quality education and sustainable livelihoods for the children of cocoa farming communities and a clear goal of bringing about an aggregate 70 percent reduction in the worst forms of child labor by 2020.
Read about the Harkin-Engel Protocol and its actions for eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
Learn more about the industry and its efforts.
Read about how industry is working in partnership with U.S. and West African governments under the Framework for Action to support the implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol.