00:00

luxury boxes street corners to

00:03
grand salons it's a product were a
00:06
hundred and ten billion dollars a year
00:08
whose key commodity is grown by some of
00:11
the poorest people on the planet in
00:14
plantations that can hide the worst
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forms of child labor this is a story of
00:20
cocoa - chocolate bean to bar poverty to
00:25
profit access to one of the industry's
00:30
most influential figures know what
00:32
everyone go through your job show
00:35
whatever you have to show and I'm going
00:37
to do my job
01:03
it's early October cocoa season across
01:08
the southern half of the Ivory Coast the
01:10
cocoa pods are ripe for picking
01:13
this is a journey along the supply chain
01:16
of chocolate from the pods on the trees
01:20
to the cocoa beans in the market and the
01:23
chocolate in the shop only by
01:25
understanding the relationship between
01:27
all can we hope to unravel the
01:30
complexity of poverty and child labor
01:35
here it's a critical time of the year
01:38
for these poor rural communities and for
01:42
chocolate lovers too because this small
01:45
Equatorial country in West Africa
01:47
produces nearly 40% of the world's cocoa
01:52
and these are the cocoa beans the
01:55
beginnings of chocolate what's the name
01:57
of this gooey stuff that's around
01:59
because nickel is a mystery legend is in
02:02
in Spanish nickel abhava which is what
02:05
you get out of your mouth each part
02:10
contains 30 to 40 beans enough to make
02:14
about 10 Kit Kats one of Nestle's
02:16
top-selling bars still smashed open with
02:20
machetes the basic tool of the bush it
02:24
flew low tech and labor-intensive and
02:27
unfortunately in this part of Africa it
02:30
really is a case of many little hands
02:33
make work and it's not light according
02:39
to the US government up to 800,000
02:43
children still work the cocoa supply
02:45
chain and they are not hard to find
02:49
these two barely in their teens working
02:54
up to 10 hours a day in their parents
02:56
farm never been to school and sometimes
03:00
being hired out to neighboring farms for
03:02
labor necessary Jose Lopez is
03:06
responsible for Nestle's global
03:08
operations
03:09
that's 468 factories in 86 countries why
03:16
do you think it took the industry so
03:21
wrong to admit the issue of child labor
03:26
probably finding solutions was not as
03:29
easy but it it is not such process where
03:34
nothing gets done and all of a sudden
03:37
things get done but you seem to be
03:39
having a difficulty accepting that the
03:42
industry was late to dealing with this I
03:45
have to say that we were late because
03:47
the problem like this has to be dealt
03:49
with so any time that has been lost was
03:53
lost and that should not have happened
03:58
we're on the move but progress is slow a
04:01
lack of proper roads is high on the list
04:04
of farmers woes
04:06
we arrived in zip oh yeah crow it's a
04:10
small village with a big welcome for
04:13
chocolates royalty Lopez is here to see
04:19
how Nestle's work to prevent child labor
04:22
is working with the local community
04:27
oh sorry babe I already knew you
04:36
Prabhupada physical ooh and this is
04:39
where the message gets taken deep into
04:41
the rural community no matter what the
04:45
critics may say if you can't get these
04:48
people to accept the challenge of ending
04:51
child labor well frankly you're wasting
04:54
your time the solution that we see today
04:57
and I'm really very very encouraged by
05:01
what I see have taken many institutions
05:06
NGOs companies traders many people in
05:10
the value chain have decided to step
05:12
further and move and we are moving a
05:17
decisive move came in 2011 when Nestle
05:21
asked the Fair Labor Association to map
05:24
out their supply chain the conclusion
05:26
child labor is still a reality on cocoa
05:30
farms and Nestle because of its size was
05:34
well-placed to make a difference the
05:38
company has pledged 120 million dollars
05:40
over ten years with sustainable cocoa
05:44
plan stop child labour create a
05:47
sustainable flow of quality cocoa and to
05:51
prove the lives of farmers
05:52
the fact is child labor is a symptom of
05:57
a much deeper malady poverty your
06:00
average cocoa farmer is earning about 10
06:02
percent of the absolute poverty line
06:04
in simple English it means that if you
06:07
would increase a couple farmers income
06:09
tenfold he would still be in the
06:13
definitions of the global society
06:14
absolutely poor the reasons are systemic
06:21
across the Ivory Coast cocoa is grown on
06:25
small family farms typically only a few
06:29
Hector's small parcels of land handed
06:32
down through generations each son
06:35
struggles like his father before him
06:37
growth when his father died seven years
06:41
ago this boy inherited just two hectares
06:45
and was only 11 years old
06:47
life is hard he tells me he tries to be
06:51
courageous he needs help
06:55
unfortunately the economics of cocoa or
06:58
coke anomic sif you will have firmly
07:01
against him if you look at the cocoa
07:05
price adjusted for inflation of about
07:08
1980 you'll see that that cocoa price
07:10
was close to six thousand US dollars per
07:13
tonne now he is sort 2223 maybe twenty
07:17
four hundred so it's less than half of
07:18
what it was 30 years ago and it's even
07:22
less than what it was 50 years ago the
07:24
relative value of cocoa in the chocolate
07:27
bar has also been falling for the past
07:30
50 years in the mid 1970s during the
07:33
peak in cocoa prices
07:35
it was almost 50 percent of the value of
07:37
chocolate bar was the cost of cocoa by
07:39
1918 listen fallen to 12% and by 2012 it
07:43
was just 6% today so much of the value
07:46
of a chocolate bar comes from research
07:48
and development and marketing and so for
07:50
a farmer they're finding that just by
07:52
producing the raw beans they are a very
07:55
small part of the chain
07:59
it's not surprising some farmers of
08:03
giving up disillusioned they're turning
08:07
to other crops like rubber cocoa
08:10
plantations are aging and in decline the
08:14
next generation are seeking what they
08:15
believe is a better life in the capital
08:18
city have a job
08:20
this city is causing challenges for the
08:25
country how to handle such urbanization
08:29
and for the cocoa industry which is
08:31
losing its future farmers all this at a
08:35
time when chocolate itself is becoming
08:38
more popular
08:39
no wonder companies like Nestle decided
08:42
it was trying to act if things continue
08:44
in the same way the supply of cocoa will
08:49
not be there so that create this notion
08:53
that in order to continue that activity
08:56
and do it in a sustainable manner we
09:00
have to move beyond what we thought Rory
09:03
was our responsibility we have to do
09:06
something it's a business case escaping
09:10
poverty is the key for a thriving cocoa
09:13
industry and the eradication of child
09:15
labor when we returned how to put more
09:18
money in the farmers pockets in the
09:33
Ivory Coast nearly a million cocoa
09:35
farmers account for a think that the
09:38
country's economy collectively they may
09:40
be rich individually very poor the
09:44
farmers are at the wrong end of the
09:45
value chain fighting to get more for
09:48
their beans helping them is now a
09:52
priority for a new government that
09:54
emerged in 2012 after a decade of civil
09:58
conflict two things have happened in the
10:00
last 18 months or two years one the
10:04
conflict is finished we have a new
10:05
government in place and there appears to
10:07
be relative stability
10:09
compared to before and the second is a
10:11
reform of the cocoa sector which at
10:13
least in its first step is guaranteeing
10:16
a more steady price for the farmers by
10:20
law farmers are now guaranteed a minimum
10:24
price at the farm gate it's about one
10:27
and a half US dollars per kilo of beans
10:30
we sure will take care that the farmers
10:35
have what they need to have a better
10:38
life but also that the release of return
10:41
for the industrial people who are
10:43
investing in Cote d'Ivoire is not touch
10:46
charity is a business it must be it must
10:50
be I think the win with him for all of
10:53
us the fixing of a minimum price is of
10:57
course an important step but only if
10:59
you've got enough bees to make it
11:02
worthwhile in Ivory Coast there's a
11:05
serious issue of low yields from old
11:08
diseased trees this farmer says that
11:12
once he paid for an operation for his
11:14
son he had nothing left to invest in his
11:18
plantation
11:19
it's a classic catch-22 his trees are
11:22
producing fewer cocoa beans so he hasn't
11:26
enough money to get financed to plant
11:28
new trees or buy products sowing the
11:35
seeds of science will be a crucial
11:37
solution to this part of cocoa Novak's
11:41
here at Nestle's Research and
11:43
Development Center in the capital are by
11:45
Jean there's a nursery of super saplings
11:48
in the plantations genetics meets coke
11:53
anomic s-- the big difference is
11:55
probably that they carry a much higher
11:57
genetic or potential in terms of yields
12:00
and maybe they're also more disease
12:04
resistant by 2022
12:06
Nestle plans to come away to farmers 12
12:09
million high-performance treats new
12:12
trees higher yields greater income
12:16
what Nestle is doing air goes beyond
12:19
simple generosity it's making sure the
12:22
company has enough cocoa in the future
12:25
if it was just the farmer and the
12:28
chocolate maker life would be simple but
12:31
there are the middlemen the traders the
12:34
processors and exporters who all demand
12:37
their cut this is a buying station of
12:41
the American food giant cardio Cargill
12:44
buys 20 percent of all beings produced
12:47
in the Ivory Coast mostly from farmers
12:50
groups called cooperatives Cargill
12:53
exports the beans raw or grinds them
12:55
into cocoa liquor butter or powder the
12:59
many products used to make chocolate so
13:02
it's here that the bean becomes
13:05
value-added and the farmer gets none of
13:08
the extra value like chocolate makers
13:14
the processors need beads so have a
13:17
self-interest in the sustainability of
13:20
growing coca
13:23
Augustine or Ingo manages Cargill supply
13:27
of cocoa in the Ivory Coast we are we're
13:29
trying to focus our effort in increasing
13:32
from our revenues and increasing their
13:34
livelihoods they say and we are working
13:37
to his certification which is an
13:39
important tool of our program because by
13:42
raising zest or not of working either in
13:45
social part environmental part but to
13:47
ever go to a part so far are getting
13:50
rewarded for this extra wealth and
13:52
increasing there is no certification
13:56
it's the means by which a cooperative
13:59
cocoa is given the stamp of approval
14:01
from the likes of the Fairtrade
14:04
foundation the rainforest alliance or
14:07
boots to get certified means growing
14:10
your cocoa to strict standards and that
14:13
of course means no child labour this
14:16
cooperative warehouse is where the
14:18
certification issue becomes very real on
14:21
the one side the cocoa ordinaire the
14:26
normal supply chain on the other side
14:29
the certified cocoa buy books keeping
14:33
the two separate goes to the heart of
14:36
the credibility of certification there's
14:41
a real incentive for the farmers to grow
14:43
certified cocoa to get a higher market
14:46
price and a bonus premium on top of two
14:50
hundred dollars per ton but by buying a
14:53
certified cocoa we can all join in
14:55
economic there is no one magic bullet
14:59
there's not one solution that will fit
15:01
all the problems however you do need
15:03
vehicles for change and I think that
15:06
certification is probably the only
15:08
decent vehicle we have at the moment
15:10
it's not that less than 20% of beans are
15:13
currently sold as certified but it's a
15:16
rising trend and several of the biggest
15:18
chocolate manufacturers Mars and Hershey
15:21
included have now committed to sourcing
15:24
a hundred percent certified by 2020
15:28
Nestle refuses to give the same
15:31
commitment why will you not agree to a
15:36
hundred percent certification by 2020 as
15:41
your competitors have promises of what
15:44
the world would be looking like in 2020
15:49
are loaded with a lot of unknowns of
15:52
course we take commitments we have
15:54
commitments that we present to the
15:57
outside world but they have to do with
15:59
plans and we are more interested to see
16:03
how year after year we make progress I
16:06
have said you know in the area of
16:08
sustainability is not about work the
16:11
talk is about talking the walk these
16:18
farmers are attending one of Cargill's
16:19
field school academies to help them get
16:22
certified there's not a machete in sight
16:26
higher income from certified beans is
16:29
now being reinvested by local
16:32
cooperatives in to schools health care
16:34
and welfare it is tomorrow's coke anomic
16:38
s-- in action and the best hope for
16:40
these communities to break out of the
16:42
palm
16:43
he trod in a moment it's all about
16:46
education and a taste of chocolate it is
16:55
a supreme irony that the chocolate bar
16:58
we take for granted at a price we dope
17:00
my playing is rarely seen in the Ivory
17:03
Coast even in the capital there are
17:05
chips and wafers cookies crisp sometimes
17:11
but there's no chocolate even though the
17:14
stuff comes from here only a hundred and
17:18
thirty kilometers from the capital is
17:20
the village of kaya do
17:22
yeah crow I talk to farmers about what's
17:25
now a depressingly familiar tale of an
17:28
impoverished lifestyle but nothing
17:31
brings home the inequity of cloak anomic
17:34
s-- then farmers who've never seen aunt
17:37
alone tasted the products that rely on
17:40
their daily toil these farmers have been
17:43
grown means for decades they're about to
17:46
get their first taste of chocolate you
17:49
have never tried chocolate no who knows
17:53
I met him I know he turned out not one
17:59
person in this group had tasted
18:01
chocolate that is your cocoa Jose Lopez
18:20
who runs the factory that makes the
18:22
KitKat is speeding through the capital
18:25
of other char he's on his way to meet
18:27
the first lady it's time for government
18:30
and chocolate maker to come face to face
18:33
Dominica uttereth is the wife of the
18:36
president and determined that the
18:38
government ends child labour this is a
18:40
delicate dance of coke anomic s-- the
18:43
government needs Nestle's investment
18:45
Nestle needs the government cocoa and
18:48
both have to find a solution like never
18:51
before
18:52
please co-repressor pop-tart so that the
18:55
second corner I knew 15 zone kingdom was
18:59
Priyanka ji don't follow the protester
19:02
use everything compound useful
19:04
civilization amp of tour Asia pass goes
19:06
all the history time these children are
19:10
eight and twelve years old just saying
19:13
that children of this age should be
19:15
wielding machetes in the forest
19:18
completely ignores the culture of the
19:21
country these children are helping out
19:23
on the family farm this sort of work
19:25
goes on because children are slaves to
19:28
necessity slaves to poverty in market
19:33
forces constrain the price of cocoa then
19:37
education will be the main long-term
19:40
weapon in the fight against child labor
19:43
purpose EAJA has been working in sight
19:46
so of the poorest rural communities for
19:48
12 years will head to the bar will
19:51
probably take a Korea through his salt
19:53
oh let the waters of form so respecting
19:57
donate opportunity Chacon from the neti
19:59
pot yeah won a capacity to finish what
20:02
do man who imitates a baja i like a co
20:06
cachoo
20:07
will fare officials make on a bottom and
20:11
a 3 as about education everyone is
20:15
building schools government NGOs and the
20:18
chocolate companies Nestle have built 23
20:21
there are 17 more in the pipeline who do
20:23
you think when you see what this looks
20:26
like where the thing is that the effort
20:28
is incredibly important but also
20:32
incredibly hard and when I fear when I
20:36
am here is I cannot think but the need
20:41
to really focus on the long-term and we
20:44
will not sacrifice the long-term for
20:48
short-term gains but you don't think
20:50
putting more of your corporate money to
20:54
building even more schools or building
20:56
even more roads or just downright
20:58
subsidizing farmers so that they can
21:01
raise themselves out of the poverty trap
21:03
this company made 11
21:05
billion Swiss francs product it will not
21:09
work the reality of the country is the
21:12
reality that there is which you have
21:14
seen you cannot just simply transform
21:18
this production process by throwing
21:24
money somewhere we need to build
21:27
capacity in those farmers to do a better
21:31
job to improve their yield to protect
21:34
their crops from diseases we need to see
21:37
prosperity entering into these villages
21:40
and to do that it will take time and the
21:45
patience that will be needed we have and
21:48
I believe those farmers also have the
21:51
patience to prosper and progress step by
21:55
step but to lift an entire society up to
22:00
poverty will indeed take time decades of
22:04
time and yet there's an urgent
22:06
short-term imperative to stop child
22:09
labour it's hard to tell whether things
22:12
are improving specifically for the
22:14
children themselves because we don't
22:16
really have any real statistics or any
22:19
real data that says this is what it was
22:21
five years ago and this is what it is
22:23
now the impression I have though is that
22:25
the current steps being taken are
22:28
actually more significant than what we
22:30
have seen in the past the challenge now
22:32
is to escalate the solutions we've seen
22:35
in this program to reach more farmers
22:38
more communities more villages to make
22:42
cocoa worth growing the whole idea is
22:46
again that it all has to make sense and
22:49
making sense we are a business is that
22:53
we are able to generate return for our
22:55
shareholders and doing that while at the
22:58
same time benefiting society is possible
23:02
I believe and we NASA believe that very
23:05
strongly hope surely lies in our
23:09
insatiable love mud chocolate whether
23:12
it's a mid-morning snack a romantic gift
23:15
or an Easter Bunny
23:16
we the
23:18
Zoomers can make choices that demand
23:21
sustainable kokin everyone loves
23:24
chocolate and the world was continued to
23:26
want chocolate I think you know even at
23:28
higher prices perhaps and so there's a
23:31
demand and where there's a demand we can
23:35
make the economy work having been here
23:38
obviously I've seen the grinding poverty
23:41
that goes with my cocoa but I've also
23:45
seen the very real change taking place
23:48
the parties having been driven to making
23:51
those changes often by enlightened
23:54
self-interest usually by public pressure
23:57
and always with a general realization
24:01
the cocoa growing is becoming
24:03
unsustainable cynics will argue that
24:07
just like the colonial past or the
24:09
rhetoric of anti capitalism it pays to
24:12
keep the poor but Jose Lopez makes an
24:16
impassioned and convincing case for a
24:20
chocolate industry finally embracing
24:22
change we must focus all that change and
24:27
the momentum it is bringing we can't we
24:31
must we will keep up the pressure to
24:35
make sure everyone gets a fair deal
24:38
Nestle say every second a hundred and
24:42
fifty cat cats are eaten around the
24:45
world perhaps not as important as this
24:49
one