The International Cocoa Initiative has announced an independent evaluation of its activities in Ghana. According to the press release, the areas in which the ICI has been active have seen a reduction of the exposure of children to the worst forms of child labor. In addition, the foundation reports that attitudes towards child labor have changed.
Children, for example, are no longer involved in the spraying of chemicals. Since most spraying in Ghana is done by government employed spraying gangs, that seems to be a small achievement. A more common violation, the carrying of heavy loads is also down. Overall, that’s good news. But until the actual report is released in July, we won’t be able to assess the scope of this progress.
