and Breaking the Cycle of Oppression

by Karen Rupprecht

ah chocolate, that sweet little stash of rich, dark semi-sweet in your office drawer or those late-night candy bars that got you through

every temptation of a chocolate craving. But how sweet is it, really?  At what, or rather whose, expense do we satisfy our chocolate fix?  Sadly, the price of chocolate isn’t just in terms of money, or even in terms of a few extra pounds. It’s in terms of human poverty and exploitation, and the cost is much greater than most of us realize.

   Penny Candy: Cycles of Oppression in the Cocoa Industry

e are in the midst of a cocoa crisis. Although you might never guess it from the three- dollar cup of gourmet hot chocolate at your favorite

coffee shop, world market prices for cocoa are dangerously low. So low, in fact, that thousands of cocoa farmers in West Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere in the world are unable to provide for themselves, their family, and their farms. For example, cocoa farmers in West Africa receive about $30-$108 (USD) per family member per year, according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. In order to make and maintain a sustainable living they must produce massive amounts of cocoa, and are most often forced to rely on slave and child labor to do so. In the Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, about 15,000 children have been sold into slavery on cocoa, cotton, and coffee plantations in recent years alone (according to the U.S. State Department). Add to this figure the many other cocoa-producing countries, as well as children outside of the age and time range studied by the State Department, and the potential for (and reality of) human exploitation is staggering.

This cycle of oppression is not likely to end on its own. Because the enslaved children may spend as many as twelve hours a day working the cocoa fields and often performing dangerous tasks, they are deprived of the chance to receive an education. Without an education, they have little chance of breaking free of the poverty their families have experienced, and they become slaves to the system as well as slaves to the coffee producers.

     Cocoa Beans and Corporations: A Two-Part Equation

t this point, you might be wondering if you have to choose between the unattractive options of giving up chocolate forever (unlikely if

you're anything like me!) or being an active contributor to child and worker exploitation. Fortunately, there is an alternative: Fair Trade chocolate.

Fair Trade is not a new concept–its origins reach back to the early 1970s–but it is not as widely known as one hope. Fair Trade helps farmers help themselves, and has developed into a minimum wage system that guarantees a fair price to the producers of cocoa, coffee, tea, sugar, and other products, while offering them opportunities and empowerment through cooperatives.

To turn that fudge brownie into a sustainable living for a farming family, Fair Trade in the cocoa industry requires collaboration from both the farmers and the processors/importers. On the side of the farmers, Fair Trade policy requires that they form cooperatives. These co-ops must, according to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) standards, be democratic, non-discriminatory organizations made up of the farmers themselves. They must also maintain a “social fund” that goes back into the community for uses such as improved living conditions and crop diversification. Essentially, the co-op is the heart of the Fair Trade system, replacing a cycle of poverty with a cycle of productivity.  However, other requirements on the part of the farmers, such as those regulating cocoa quality and environmental protection, are crucial to the system as well.

The other half of the Fair Trade equation is a bit closer to home, involving cocoa processors and importers. (This is where companies such as Hershey’s or Nestlé would, and hopefully someday will, come in to play, landing on the side of social justice.)  In order to market their product as certified Fair Trade, processors and importers must purchase their cocoa from a registered co-op, and pay a minimum price of $.80/lb. of cocoa ($.89/lb. if the cocoa is certified organic). In addition, they must form direct, long-term contracts with the farmers and help them obtain credit during the off-season. These criteria help ensure that the relationship between the growers and the buyers is one that promotes reliability on both sides, high quality, and fair prices for honest work.

     Sweet Dreams: How Chocolate Changes Lives

o, does all this cooperation mean we’ll now have to pay five dollars for that same three-dollar cup of gourmet hot chocolate?  The

answer, thankfully, is no. Higher prices to the farmers do not necessarily translate to higher costs to the consumer. The key here is the same mantra you hear from any outlet store or wholesale market: eliminate the middleman. Farmers outside of the co-op system are forced to sell their cocoa to middlemen at extremely low prices during the off-season because they need the immediate cash. But remember, Fair Trade certified importers and processors are required to help farmers obtain credit at the beginning of the harvest season. This means the farmers can afford to wait and sell their product directly to importers, rather than rely on the immediate but unfair prices offered by middlemen. In this way, a new cycle is formed: farmers get an honest, fair price for their product, and consumers pay an honest, fair price for their chocolate.

With Fair Trade chocolate, everyone wins: the cocoa farmers, the chocolate companies, and the consumers. The farmers win for obvious reasons–they are able to provide for themselves and their families and send their children to school instead of the fields. The chocolate companies and consumers win first and foremost because they have the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping families across the globe avoid poverty and despair, but also because Fair Trade chocolate tends to also be certified organic and shade-grown, which means a better-tasting, higher quality chocolate. And who doesn’t love that?

     Holding Sway: Use your cravings for good

poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away" (Proverbs 13:23). Unfortunately, the Proverb is dead right;

Fair Trade co-ops produce millions of tons of cocoa, but only a fraction of it is being bought at Fair Trade prices. This is largely because major chocolate companies with enormous purchasing power have not yet supported the Fair Trade option, so the co-ops are forced to sell at less than Fair Trade prices. As citizens of the world’s most chocoholic nation (the U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of chocolate, spending, according to Global Exchange, $13 billion on chocolate in 2000 alone), we have the power to change this. We also have an incredible responsibility to our sisters and brothers.

The potential for change is enormous, and there are so many possible avenues. Contacting the local media, running fundraisers with Fair Trade chocolate, and raising awareness about Fair Trade in your church, school, community, or business are all important ways of helping to promote sustainable living among cocoa farmers. Even more effective might be requesting your senators and congress people to push legislation for the Fair Trade option or demanding more social responsibility on the part of the major chocolate companies. As an individual, you have the power to request certified Fair Trade chocolate in your local grocery stores or buy it online. Not only will the larger vendors begin to take note, but you’ll get the sweet satisfaction of some of the world’s best chocolate. Organized advocacy and simple word of mouth are powerful instruments of change, and you might be surprised how closely your examples are followed. So give into that late-night craving or workday chocolate fix – and spread the word about Fair Trade!

Learn More: Read about Helena Bempong, a cocoa farmer of Ghana’s Kuapa Kokoo co-op in “A Tale of Two Women,” part of Lutheran Woman Today’s Fair Trade issue (coming October 2003).

     "Thou shalt buy Fair Trade chocolate."

t may not be the long lost 11th Commandment, but buying and supporting Fair Trade is certainly a matter relevant to our faith and

the responsibilities that comes with it. Open the Bible to just about any book, and sooner or later you’re bound to find a passage about Jesus caring for a widow, or the poverty-stricken Ruth being cared for by Boaz and his family, or any general verse about God’s care for the poor. What a guide for us to follow in our own lives!  As Christian citizens of the 21st century, there is no reason why we have to blindly accept the poverty and injustice that are all too common in our world. Supporting Fair Trade is a great way to let our lights shine while working to resolve this social injustice.

Karen Rupprecht studies political science and French at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has helped run a Fair Trade coffee campaign on her campus and is interested in pursuing social justice issues, missions, and international studies. She also enjoys playing flute in a Christian rock/folk band, No Longer Micah.

Café: August/September 2003