A first ethical dilemma is seen where Abou Traore is stuck in revealing his actual age when asked by a Washington Post reporter. The following statements illustrate this: A reporter from The Washington Post approaches one of the older-looking lads and inquires, “How old are you?” It’s “nineteen,” says Abou Traore softly, which would make him lawful in Ivory Coast under the country’s labor rules. However, while he speaks, he nervously scans the farmer standing nearby, keeping an eye on his job. When the farmer’s attention is diverted, Abou crouches and scrawls the following response in the gloomy sand: To be sure he’s understood, he then shows the number 15 while moving his hands. As it turns out, Abou Traore claims to have worked on Ivory Coast cocoa fields since he was at the age of ten. The other three boys claim to be in their early ages; one claims fifteen, another claims fourteen, and the third claims thirteen.
Another form of ethical dilemma is observed where representatives of some big companies could not guarantee whether their chocolate was produced by child labor. This is supported by, According to a senior executive of a major chocolate company, “I’m not going to make those claims”. Despite their promises to eliminate child labor almost two decades ago, chocolate manufacturers still can’t recognize the ranches where all of their cocoa is sourced, much unaccompanied if child abuse was employed within its production.
An ethical dilemma is manifested where companies like Mondelev and Godiva promise to eradicate child labor but have little idea how to do so. This is an illustration: Although industry insiders and records claim that firms initially pledged to eliminate child labor, it seems that they had no clue how to do so at the time. Many of their subsequent attempts have hit a brick wall due to a lack of focus and funding, say industry watchers.
An ethical dilemma is seen where a farmer ponders the boys’ management unfair but decides to hire them only because he needed help. “The crofter said that he believes the treatment of the boys has been unjust, but he still employed them since he needed their help.” He said that since cocoa is so cheap, it makes life tough for everyone. The farmer said, “It is a form of slavery.” They are still kids and they have the right to educate them today. But they bring them here to work, and it is the boss who takes the money”.
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Stakeholders and how they are impacted by the way the supply chain runs
The chocolate industry. The chocolate business had clambered back its determinations. At the same time, the original potential called for the abolition of child abuse in West African countries cocoa fields and set deadlines for the 2005 goal, which called for its reduction by 70%. McCoy, S. Timothy In 2001, when the sector signed the pact, the actual scale of child workers in the cocoa industry and how to handle the problem was little recognized. Mars, Hershey, Nestlé USA, and 5 more coffee firms all contracted on to the agreement. Legislators attributed “principal responsibility” for ending child labor to the businesses that signed the agreement. Still, the Ivorian state, labor unions, and a consumer watchdog all promised their support, as well. Hershey’s vice leader of organizational sustainability and communication, Leigh Horner, said that the business’s efforts depend not only on certificates. Local governments must be involved for these initiatives to be successful. Without their help, none of this will be possible.
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Possible solutions
Information dissemination on the adverse effects of child work. For more “vote” power, share your findings with people in your network by using the recommended sites and then spreading the word. Get in touch with local retail businesses as well as manufacturers and importers for further information. If you have any concerns regarding the sources of their goods, please feel free to contact them. Share your desire to support companies that do not use child labor to produce their goods and services. When you can, buy fair trade or non-sweatshop goods. When new isn’t an option, consider used. Or you may get it for free by borrowing, sharing, trading, or even making it. Suitable Trade Certified, Fair Americas, and the Goodweave brand are great places to look for certificated fair trade labels to make sure you’re supporting ethical business practices that don’t use child labor. Increase the amount of food you grow in your yard. Buy from farmer’s markets, Community Farming, and U-Pick farms (first check their labor policies). Make contact with your representatives at the state, regional, and federal levels. Encourage them to establish “codes of conduct” that include consideration for humane, sustainable, and equitable methods and ask them to enact legislation to guarantee that no goods in your city, state, or nation are produced using child labor.
Education on child labor has a positive impact on stakeholders. They will understand the consequences of child labor, enabling them to use available resources to eradicate child labor and enact laws that guard children against abuses in cocoa farms. Contacting manufacturers, producers, and retail businesses on whether their services use child labor helps stakeholders keep track of companies and outlets that misuse children. Establishing a good code of contact enables stakeholders to consider children’s sustainable methods to guarantee that children’s use generates no services or products in the market.
The advantages of implementing these ideas are that children will have equal and fair education opportunities without discrimination and favoritism. Stakeholders will have an opportunity to follow up on companies or businesses that use children as a source of labor. Companies will cease using children as a source of labor since people will stop using products and services that employ children as a labor force. Disadvantages will be that some other companies will still hide in the background and continue to use children as a source of the workforce. Those businesses that will have no opportunity to gain training on the consequences of child labor will still employ children to work. Many stakeholders may take this for granted and still allow companies and farms to use children to attain their goals at low wages.
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Addressing the issue as a business owner
Being a CEO of a chocolate company, I will raise awareness about this issue. Children will not be pushed into work if parents are informed of the dangers of child labor in cocoa fields. Communities that are educated about children’s problems are better equipped to deal with them. Creating a culturally and financially developed society where children do not suffer will be easier if people are aware of the possibilities for education, development, employment, and entrepreneurship in their areas. I will enforce existing rules and put in place new regulations that will be more effective. Long-term societal change that needs policymaking and advocating for better laws necessitates showing the benefits of change, find out about abused children in cocoa plantations, and share what they’ve learned via research and case studies about how their work helps kids. I will send more children to school and enact strict laws governing their rights to education in that anyone that violates them faces the wrath of the law and even imprisonment. Finally, I will organize massive campaigns to end child labor and save children’s lives. Officials and governments who simply implement rules, while disregarding daily child maltreatment and malnourishment, will be targeted on an individual basis wherever they can.
