SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES IN COCOA PRODUCING COUNTRIES

Abstract

Fair trade is a crucial action determined to promote sustainable and ethical trading manners, ensuring that the people engaged in manufacturing, around the globe, receive fair payments and work under safe surroundings. In particular, the chocolate industry has been facing great challenges related to unfair labor conditions, especially illegal child labor, since its existence. The purpose of this paper is to examine the inequitable executions of the cocoa industry in African cocoa-producing countries, while giving examples of each aspect of these applications, followed by their consequences. Special attention has been paid to a leader in this industry’s fair practices, Tony's Chocolonely, with the explanation of their strategies to overcome and remove the injustices whilst working together with other enterprises. The research concentrates on secondary sources of investigation concerning this particular business industry. Agreeing with the already carefully collected and examined information in the specific area, assumptions and key insights are provided. The readings chosen for this paper were sourced from qualitative case studies, company annual Fairtrade reports, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Fairtrade International: Public Systems Report. Hence, auxiliary data is collected to give a better understanding, to create consumer awareness and trust in fair trade.