ICI Says the Obvious: Disappoints Again | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 140
Episode 140 takes a look at a recent report issued by the ICI - “Tackling child labour in cocoa: Results of ICI’s Member Reporting Exercise 2024.” What it says, and why this reporter is unconvinced.
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Episode 140 Overview
Released on July 27th, is the report Tackling child labour in cocoa: Results of ICI’s Member Reporting Exercise 2024 an example of greenwashing? From the cover page on the ICI website:
Every year, ICI members report on their efforts to tackle child labour in the cocoa sector. This allows us to track progress over time, highlight areas for improvement and drive transparency in the sector.
The results presented here are from the reporting season October 2023 – September 2024, and cover activities in four countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroun and Nigeria).
Some TL;DR, as reported in Cocoa Radar:
The Root Causes: Beyond the Farm
ICI’s findings emphasise a stark reality: child labour will not be eradicated without addressing its root causes.
- Low household incomes remain a persistent driver. Despite record global cocoa prices in 2024, many farmers experienced declining yields due to disease and climate change, which limited their ability to benefit.
- High inflation, particularly in Ghana, worsened the cost-of-living crisis.
- Limited access to education, healthcare, and child protection services also plays a major role.
“Treating” Symptoms?
“We must invest more in training local monitors,” [⋯] “The more capable they are, the better we can track impact and ensure no child falls through the cracks.”
Solutions?
Not surprisingly, the only actions the ICI report suggests are to do more of the same: bigger, better, and more monitoring. There are precisely ZERO solutions proposed to deal with any of the root causes.
Why is the lack of proposed solutions a problem?
Take a look at the members and partners in ICI (we will review those in the episode). The members and partners are among the reasons why I construe the ICI report as greenwashing.
Links
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#ICI #InternationalCocoaInitiative #ChildLabor #IllegalChildLabor
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
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#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
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Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
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