Nestle to act on child labor at Ivory Coast cocoa farms
Some of the 12,000 cocoa farmers of Ivory Coast bigest cooperative of ‘Kavokiva’ gather during a meeting with representative of Swiss World Food giant Nestle on July 13, 2011 in Gonate. Facing with aging orchards, Nestle began an extensive renewal program, distributing nursery of a new variety to farmers to boost production.
Global food giant Nestle SA said Monday it will work with a nonprofit group to investigate child labor on Ivory Coast cocoa farms.
Child labor remains a problem on the cocoa farms that supply Nestle's factories, despite the company having signed onto a US protocol aimed at stamping out the practice, the Associated Press said.
Nestle, which is the world's biggest food company, announced it will join the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to investigate workers in the cocoa supply chain in the Ivory Coast, starting in January.
Critics ask why it has taken Nestle so long to act if it knew children were involved in its cocoa production.
The AP reported that Ivory Coast produces 35 percent of the world’s cocoa. A 2010 report by Tulane University said 1.8 million children work on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana.