The Harkin-Engel Protocol – Part 1

The most important component of the 2001 Harkin-Engel protocol was the requirement that the industry develop “credible, mutually acceptable, voluntary, industry-wide standards of public certification, consistent with applicable federal law, that cocoa beans and their derivative products have been grown and/or processed without any of the worst forms of child labor” by July 2005.

As we know, that deadline came and went without such a standard in place. The extension of the deadline until 2008 modified the original requirement and required the certification scheme to cover only 50% of the cocoa growing areas of Ghana and the Côte d’Ivoire while maintaining 100% coverage as the ultimate goal. Continue reading “The Harkin-Engel Protocol – Part 1”

On the trail of cocoa in Ghana

I spoke with Mr. Kofi Nimako, the operations manager  and Mr. Kwame Owusu, the finance manager of Kuapa Kokoo, Ltd. (KKL), the licensed buying company that forms the commercial arm of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmer’s Union. The system of private licensed buying agents was developed as part of the liberalization projects of the early 1990s (1993). As a matter of fact, KKL came into being as a reaction to this process. There are around 30 licensed buying companies in Ghana but the number fluctuates as new ones emerge while others disappear. KKL is the only cooperative-owned company. Continue reading “On the trail of cocoa in Ghana”