The US Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) pledged on Friday to help fight child labour in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, following reports that minors are being used as plantation workers in some West and Central African countries, AFP reported. The CMA said that its main contribution would be an action plan that will build upon the results of a study of some 3,000 farms in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s first and second largest cocoa producers respectively, the agency reported.
The CMA is to collaborate with other trade associations and governments to find ways to eradicate child labour which, UNICEF says, involves over 200,000 children a year in West and Central Africa. Chocolate companies in Great Britain have already vowed to combat the practice.
The CMA, which includes chocolate giants such as Hershey, Nestle USA and M&M Mars, said it would work closely with the Ivorian government as the country has been targeted by the recent international attention as it produces more than 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, AFP reported.
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