Edmund Rice Justice Bulletin

Easter is a time of year when a huge amount of chocolate is sold and eaten all around the world. The shocking truth is that children as young as 10 are still trafficked and exploited to create chocolate. West Africa produces an estimated 70% of the cocoa used to make chocolate with perhaps 1.8 children in West Africa at risk of being exploited in working and harvesting cocoa on the farms of West Africa.

Much of the chocolate that finds its way into our shops and homes is made with cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire plantations that use trafficked children. They are kidnapped or their families are tricked, forced to work in the cocoa
plantations from an early age, for long hours, in dangerous working conditions, without any possibility of attending school.

A global movement has begun to change this. The movement tackles poverty and empowers producers who are doing the right thing. Farmers operating with Fairtrade Certification, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ Certified are engaging in good labour practices.

This year Coles and Woolworths supermarkets are being asked to double their product range for 2016 (they order shortly after Easter 2015) and we are thanking those stores such as Aldi and Haigh’s for giving us an excellent selection.

Some actions you can take are to check out the daily Traffik-Free chocolate actions, download the Good Egg Guide, take it shopping with you and visit the ACRATH website to keep up to date with anti-trafficking news.