Cacao

Cacao is an important ingredient that we use very often in our lives. But the cacao plant its not modern at all. The Maya indians were the first people that found the cacao, they made a drink of the cacao and used it for medicine. In modern time we mostly use cacao for chocolate and in many pastries. The cacao plant grown in north Amerika, south Amerika, Africa and Asia. West Africa has, since the mid of 1900s been the poduction center for cacao.
For more than 30 of the world´s developing countries the cacao industries is very important for the economy of the country. For example in Ghana the cacao production stands for 40 percent of all export revenue. Now you probably think that cacao just brings good things but it is almost just the opposite. All is not as good as it sounds. It is very usual with children that work under bad conditions even that it is illegal to employ children. The growers also use dangerous and illegal pesticides to get off with the leaves on the cacao bushes so that the cacao fruits can easier be ripen.
It is exactly this problems with the cacao farms the Fairtrade organisation want to stop.

Difficulties for the growers

In south Africa you need at least 180 dollar per month if you are going to support one family. And the growers earn between 40 and 116 dollar per month, so you understand that those who are working at the farms must work very hard to just have food on their table. The cacao price has fallen very much during the last years, since the 1980s have the price has dropped with three quarters. One of the strategies the growers use is to push the price of the employees. The crucial for the cacao growers depends on how much the buyers are willing to pay.
It leads to that the workers on the farms must work under very bad conditions, in principal none of all the employees has some type of contract, that says they only will work under right conditions and get a fair salary.

Working children is very usual at the farms, the children have like the adults no contract or right to work under fair conditions. SwedWatch is a Swedish company that have made ha big project about how it is to work on a cacao farm. SwedWatch have reported some employees on the cacao farms. Bauba Bassole have worked on a cacao farm since he was 13 years old, he has worked with all things you can work with on the farm. That is all from move bags of cacao that weight up to 100 kilos to scale the cacao fruits. Babua has worked on the cacao farm for 17 years and has much experience from the life on a cacao farm. The worst job was when they sprayed the cacao trees with pesticides just with a little pump and without any clothes that protected the body from the toxin. It stack in the workers throats after they used the pesticides, and they had to find some textiles to protect their mouth's with. It is impossible to be sick-listed cause if they don´t work they will not get food. Some of the cacao growers end up with the cacao and start with cannabis because that cannabis gives more money.

What do Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is a ethical and social product labeling that promotes the human right. All cacao farms that are connected with the Fairtrade organisation are guaranteed a minimum price that they get for the cacao. The Fairtrade organisations work, for that the growers will not be so depend of the world price. If the world price exceeds the minimum price the growers earn a premium per ton paid cacao. All contract are for a long time and that lead to that the growers get a fixed income and have afford to support a family.