Nestle Hailed for Progress in Tackling Child Labor in Cocoa

12 Jun 2017 --- As companies around the globe mark the World Day Against Child Labor 2017 today (June 12), Nestlé’s report highlights the company’s progress in tackling the issue in the cocoa sector.

Nestlé’s 'Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System' (CLMRS) is the most comprehensive yet to help children working in cocoa production, according to the organization Stop The Traffik.
 
The report highlights Nestlé’s progress in tackling child labor in cocoa and the recognition from Stop The Traffik underlines Nestlé’s commitment to continuing to report on the progress of its CLMRS, as part of its 2030 ambition to help improve the livelihoods of 30 million people in communities directly connected to its business activities.

The report, entitled 'A Matter of Taste', examines the Swiss transnational food and drink company’s efforts and assesses the progress made by other chocolate companies and certification organizations in combating child labor in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
 
It recognizes the long term societal challenges associated with bringing child labor to an end as well as highlighting ongoing opportunities for companies and certifiers to learn from one another and collaborate to address the issue.

Through CocoaAction, Nestlé is helping do this by promoting best practices and learnings from its approach to CLMRS. These include the benefits of transparency and third party impact assessments carried out by the Fair Labor Association.
 
Meanwhile, Barry Callebaut is reaffirming its commitment to eradicating child labor 
as a company deeply rooted in cocoa origin countries and communities, especially in West Africa.
 
Barry Callebaut stresses that society is still faced with the fact that children are working on cocoa farms, predominantly in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana which is why it has pledged to stamp out child labor from its supply chain by 2025. 
 
“Supporting parents in formally registering their children is one element in a portfolio of actions we do,” it says. 
 
Not all children in Côte d’Ivoire have a birth certificate which leads to serious problem for the further education of the child, because without a birth certificate, they are unable to finish their schooling. In cocoa growing communities this issue is one reason which keeps children out of school and working on the cocoa plantations instead. 
 
Children working, instead of going to school is considered part of the International Labor Organisation’s definition of the worst forms of child labor.
 
This is why Barry Callebaut is supporting parents financially to organize birth certificates for their children. In 2015/16 this amounted to 214 birth certificates, some of which were provided many years after the child was born. In addition, the company also provided school kits, containing a  backpack, pencil case, ruler, notebooks, and pens. This allowed children who could not afford the school equipment, to go to school. In 2015/16, Barry Callebaut provided a total of 11,983 school kits.