cocoa – Page 13 – Michael Niemann

September 10, 2009

Labor Department Releases List of Goods Made With Child Labor

The U.S Department of labor released its 2009 list of goods made with child and/or forced labor. As readers of this blog will suspect, cocoa is on the list. Five West African countries, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria are listed as exporters of cocoa produced with child labor. In addition, the list singles out the Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria as countries where cocoa is produced using forced labor (see p. 22 of the report).

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August 18, 2009

Kuapa Kokoo Holds 15th AGM

My favorite cocoa cooperative, the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union in Ghana, just held its 15th annual general meeting. The AGM is the highest decision making body of the cooperative and many policies for the next year are set during the proceedings.

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August 6, 2009

Hog Cycle at Work in India (and elsewhere)

A little item in the Economic Times of India shows yet again how market forces and agriculture don’t really work together very well. The article points out that due to the recent high prices for cocoa, cocoa cultivation has increased in India (I have reported on that earlier). The report focuses on the speed with which farmers in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu have adopted cocoa .

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July 28, 2009January 29, 2020

Competing Labels Confuse Consumers

It was only a question of time before large corporations discovered that there’s money to be made in the “ethical” market. Just like as they turned “organic” into “industrial organic,” corporate interests are looking for the legitimacy of an “ethical” label without having to pay the extra cost or engage with the underlying principles. Here’s a great article on the topic.

July 28, 2009January 29, 2020

Fairtrade vs. Rainforest Alliance

Here’s a very interesting article about the differences between the two certification standards. It certainly affirms the doubts I had about the Rainforest Alliance approach to farmers in the tropics.