Children in West Africa are working night shifts to fuel a $100-billion chocolate industry

that has failed to crack down on child labor, a US government-commissioned report found

Twenty years after the $100 billion chocolate industry pledged to tackle child labour in cocoa-growing communities, a new report sponsored by the US government reveals that the problem has worsened.

The report found vast numbers of children across Ghana and the Ivory Coast are working night shifts, clearing land, carrying heavy loads, and using sharp tools to fuel the industry, which is expected to grow nearly 5% each year until 2027, according to a recent study by Grand View Research.

Nearly half of all children (45%) between the ages of five and 17 living in agricultural households in Ghana and the Ivory Coast are working in cocoa production, the research group NORC from the University of Chicago said in its report.

In total, around 1.56 million children are harvesting cocoa for chocolate in those countries, researchers found.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/children-in-west-africa-are-working-night-shifts-to-fuel-a-100-billion-chocolate-industry-that-has-failed-to-crack-down-on-child-labor-a-us-government-commissioned-report-found/ar-BB1am9Kb?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=DELLDHP