Cadbury is accused of using children as young as 10 on its cocoa farms in Ghana
Mondelez International, owner of the popular British confectionary maker Cadbury, has been accused of exploiting child labor in Ghana after videos emerged showing workers as young as 10 cutting down cocoa pods with machetes.
The footage emerged in a recent ‘Dispatches’ documentary for Channel 4 in the UK, in which two children on a farm, allegedly belonging to Mondelez, were filmed weeding the plantations, using sharp knives to open cocoa pods, and swinging sticks with blades to harvest the pods from trees. None of the children seem to have any protective equipment and one girl reported that she had once sliced her foot open while using a long machete.
Another girl said she was tricked into working at the plantation, claiming she was under the impression that she would be going to her uncle’s farm to help with childcare but instead was forced to work long hours on the farm and not allowed to go to school. She added that she’s never spoken out about it because she is “too afraid.”
Illegal child labour is being used to supply cocoa beans to Cadbury – Britain’s favourite chocolate brand.#Dispatches has been undercover in Ghana where children as young as 10 have been working gruelling hours to supply cocoa beans to Cadbury. pic.twitter.com/nS90jyBr8w
— Channel 4 Dispatches (@C4Dispatches) April 4, 2022
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