Ghanaian children are working in the cocoa supply chain of Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli, a revelation that conflicts with the company’s efforts to combat child labour. Despite having developed a sustainability programme aimed at reducing child labour risk, an investigation by Swiss public television, SRF, discovered children such as six-year-old Kennedy and his eight-year-old brother Ebenezer collecting and carrying cocoa pods in Ghana’s cocoa plantations.
The company acknowledges that “fighting child labour requires efforts on the part of governments, non-governmental organisations, companies, local institutions, schools, and farmers,” highlighting the multifaceted challenge that the issue of child labour presents. Despite measures designed to prevent child labour, including 8,491 surprise visits in 2021 which uncovered 87 child workers, the effectiveness of such measures is questioned. Ghanaian journalist Kwetey Nartey believes “the monitoring carried out by the chocolate companies is insufficient,” labeling the reported cases as “laughable”.
Lindt & Sprüngli sources cocoa from roughly 80,000 farmers in Ghana, positioning it as one of the leading cocoa buyers in the country. In contrast to Lindt’s reported findings, other chocolate makers like Barry Callebaut have recorded substantially higher instances of child labour. In response to these reports, Lindt & Sprüngli explains that “the methods used to identify child labour differ among chocolate manufacturers,” and claims it is “constantly trying to improve [its] identification system”.
The Farming Program, Lindt & Sprüngli’s sustainability programme, is outsourced to ECOM, a Swiss raw-materials group and one of the world’s largest cocoa traders. The company asserts that they “constantly support and oversee the implementation of the Farming Program,” even without having a branch office or employees on-site in Ghana. This setup raises questions about the direct oversight and impact of Lindt’s programme on reducing child labour.
Child labour remains an issue not just for Lindt & Sprüngli but for many chocolate companies. A study from the University of Chicago indicates that just over half of Ghana’s cocoa-producing households include working children. The complexity of addressing child labour in the cocoa industry is evident in the varied approaches and results reported by different chocolate manufacturers.
At the same time, despite facing crises like climate change-induced crop failures in West Africa, Lindt & Sprüngli has hit record sales, largely by passing increased costs onto consumers. Amid supply chain woes and global economic pressures, the chocolate maker has demonstrated resilience and the ability to maintain profitability, raising questions about corporate practices in the face of ethical challenges.
The recent findings on child labour within Lindt & Sprüngli’s supply chain, juxtaposed with its commercial success, highlight a bitter irony within the chocolate industry. As stakeholders call for transparency and responsibility, the company’s next moves in addressing these systemic issues will be closely watched by consumers and advocates alike.
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