THE MARS APPROACH TO RESPONSIBLE COCOA FARMING
Mars takes very seriously our responsibility to the cocoa farming families who provide us with this important ingredient. Our privately owned company's heritage is based on a genuine commitment to the communities that are touched by our business.
Driven by that commitment, Mars has taken a leadership role in our industry's efforts to ensure a sustainable future for the family farms where our products begin, for the children who live on those farms, for the communities that rely on those farms and for the ecosystems in which those farms play an important role. Our efforts seek to raise overall farmer incomes and encourage all aspects of sustainable cocoa cultivation.
As in any agricultural society, it is reasonable and acceptable for children to work safely with their parents on small, family-run farms. However, when reports were made that some children were working in dangerous conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, we responded. In 2001, in a process initiated and guided by U.S. Senator Tom Harkin and U.S. Representative Elliot Engel, Mars, along with members of the global chocolate industry, signed an unprecedented Industry Protocol to address this important issue. Joining us in this effort are organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), who are firmly committed to the Protocol's approach and goals. In addition, industry is working closely with representatives of Government Agencies in the cocoa producing countries who have developed national action plans to educate farmers and improve working conditions on cocoa farms.
To quote Kevin Bales, Executive Director of Free The Slaves, a respected non-governmental organization (NGO) leading the worldwide crusade to eliminate all forms of abusive or coercive work practices, "This Protocol is a breakthrough in the global fight against slavery. The partnership between industry, governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders is unique and will stand as a model for other products and countries."
The Protocol outlines a series of date-specific steps to ensure that cocoa is grown responsibly, free from abusive child labor. The Protocol called for the implementation, by July 1, 2005, of a certification process that ensures cocoa is grown free from abusive child labor. As publicly reported, industry efforts fell short of meeting this goal. However, in July of 2005, industry recommitted itself to meeting the terms of the Protocol and established a milestone reflecting a realistic appraisal of the challenges existing in the cocoa sectors of West Africa: that a functioning certification system would cover 50% of the growing regions of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire (the world’s two largest producers) by July of 2008. A senior executive from Mars, Incorporated was assigned to work on this activity on a full time basis, further demonstrating the commitment of Mars and industry to meeting this challenge.
We recognize that to achieve real change means working in partnership with others who have skills complementary to our own. Another key milestone of the Protocol involved the establishment of The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), an independent voice dedicated to eradicating abusive child and forced labor in cocoa production worldwide. As a registered Swiss charity, the ICI's Board of Directors represents a wide range of stakeholders: human rights and child labor organizations, trades unions, local groups in the cocoa growing countries, and the cocoa and chocolate industry. We are proud that a senior Mars executive has been chosen to serve as a co-president of the ICI. The ICI is already making great strides in understanding and improving labor conditions in West Africa and is now viewed as an important policy voice and “on-the-ground” implementer in the fight against child labor.
Mars has also taken the initiative to fund a program with the internationally renowned development organization, Winrock International. Our partnership with Winrock seeks to enhance educational opportunities for West African children. We are working with our industry partners and non-governmental organizations around the globe to "scale up" this and similar efforts so that they ultimately will help all cocoa farmers and their families.
There have also been other achievements. For example, a public private partnership between industry, USAID and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) now delivers farmer training in the major cocoa producing countries of West Africa. These farmer field schools, literally schools without walls, include modules to help farmers understand relevant international labor standards. The initiative, known as the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP), is also implementing programs that seek to raise the overall standard of living of rural cocoa farming families and workers through farmer training seminars and other means. In Cameroon, the STCP trained farmer organizations in business planning, marketing and accounting, and established 300 sales points throughout the country where farmers can sell their cocoa as a group - thereby increasing their economic leverage. On average, farmers who participated in this program earned 15 percent more for their cocoa crop.
Beyond the efforts noted above, producer country governments are also introducing child labor-related programs in cocoa producing regions. In Ghana, the primary cocoa production authority (COCOBOD) is promoting internationally accepted labor practices among farmers by disseminating public education messages via radio - often the only communications tool that farmers can access. In Côte d’Ivoire, programs in cocoa producing communities make families aware of farm practices that may place their children at risk – and parents are acting to make sure that children only assist them with supervised tasks that are age-appropriate.
These steps to address cocoa growing conditions in West Africa are just the beginning of a long-term commitment Mars began in 1998 to improve the well-being of millions of small farmers who grow cocoa.
To learn more about the Mars approach to responsible cocoa farming contact us at contact@policies.mars.com.
For further information on Mars and industry initiatives to fulfill the Protocol, and to improve the lives of cocoa farming families, click here.
