I was highly disappointed but actually not to the point of devastation when I
read in an article published in YLE official website on 10th April 2009,
captioned: “Lapsityövoimalla tuotettua suklaata myydään myös Suomessa”,
claiming that chocolate sold in Finland is produced by child labour in
Africa. Actually, this statement is unfortunate and I would like to set the
record straight that Chocolate sold in Finland is never produced by child
labour as claimed in the article.
Honestly child labour is a problem in Africa and is a canker that has eaten
deeply into the fabric of the society but not in that direction as it has
been exaggerated in the caption of the article. Ghana Cocoa board and other
chocolate manufacturing company never employed children under 18 years to
work in these companies. It’s even against the labour law in Ghana and
Africa as a whole.
The children who work in the cocoa farms are the children of the farmers. One
thing we must all understand is that, In Africa; most of the ordinary people
are peasant farmers just like any other country.They live on the meager
income by their commercial crop sold on the market and that is what they use
to fend for their children. Because children do not enjoy any benefit like
the developed countries such as Finland where children are entitled to KELA.
Hence these children have no option than to help their parents in their farms.
That is how we were brought up and has become part of us. But what has been
claimed in the article appears like these children are been exploited for
money by the manufacturing companies or their parents and see it to be a
barbaric act which is not true.
I don’t know if the article was internationally captioned just to paint
African’s black and drag our image into a mud or not. When it comes to
morality as one of our strength, Africa is not mentioned .I don’t know if it
always the intention of the foreign media to publish only negative things
about Africa. This is what has been perceived in the minds of the younger
ones to see Africa as a continent of war, disease and chaos. This is a wrong
signal and must be brought to a halt. This negative signal does not promote
international trade.
Let us be fair to ourselves rather than painting ones black. Swewatch must
re-consider their study once again and stop throwing dust into the eyes of
the public. Chocolate is never produced by child labour in Africa but
harvested with the help of the children of the farmers.
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