low graphics version | feedback | help | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You are in: World: Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Friday, 29 September, 2000, 17:26 GMT 18:26 UK
Cocoa farm slavery 'exaggerated'
The Ivory Coast has rejected allegations that child slavery is widespread on cocoa farms as "nonsense" and "wildly inaccurate".
The documentary shown on British television station Channel 4 on Thursday made unsubstantiated allegations damaging the Ivory Coast, said Kouadio Adjoumani, the country's ambassador to the UK. "The absurdity of the claim that 90% of farms use slave labour is shown up by the simple fact that this would mean that nearly every one of the 700,000 farmers employs slaves, patently nonsense as anyone with any knowledge of our country would know." Cocoa producers and international cocoa traders have also criticised the documentary as exaggerating. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa - the main ingredient in chocolate. 'Abhorrent practices' Ivorian and Malian authorities admit there is a problem, and signed an agreement recently to halt trafficking of child labour.
British chocolate makers have said they plan to investigate the Channel 4 report and insist upon action if such "abhorrent practices" were discovered. "We do not believe that the farms visited by the programme are in the least representative of cocoa farming in Cote d'Ivoire, although the claims cannot be ignored," the Biscuit, Cake Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance (BCCCA) said in a statement. Cocoa prices are at a 10 year low, and farmers have burnt small amounts of crop last year to try to boost the prices. The cocoa market has also been deregulated which is making it diffiicult for farmers to get their money. Less scrupulous ones have stopped paying their workers altogether.
|
See also:
Internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Africa stories now:
Links to more Africa stories are at the foot of the page.
|
Links to more Africa stories
|
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |