Chocolate Slaves

Chocolate is one of life's guilty pleasures. But recent reports of child slave labour on African cocoa plantations have given the guilt aspect a whole new meaning. Here is a surprising association between chocolate and child labour in the Cote d'Ivoire. Young boys whose ages range from 12 to 16 have been sold into slave labor and are forced to work in cocoa farms in order to harvest the beans, from which chocolate is made, under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse. This West African country is the leading exporter of cocoa beans to the world market. Thus, the existence of slave labor is relevant to the entire international economic community. Appropriate response from the chocolate industry, government officials, and consumers concerning whether there should be boycotting, establishment of government legislation to put "made by slaves" labels on products, or whether some type of international cooperation is needed to ensure improved working conditions. The complexity of the problem makes finding an effective solution a challenging task. Children have rights as human beings and also need special care and protection but child labour is a real problem in many countries, not only in Africa. Should this situation happen in our century?

http://www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm