Dwelling deep beneath the rich, fragrant cocoa fields is a dark secret that contrasts sharply with the sweet delights of chocolate: a web of child labour that has ingrained itself into the supply lines. As everyone enjoys the delicious harvests of cocoa, countless children in major cocoa producing regions, particularly in West Africa, suffer from the brutality of forced labour and are deprived of an education and a loving upbringing.
It becomes clear that implementing blockchain technology is a potent, viable remedy that might end child labour and create an open, moral cocoa producing system. Discover the intricacies and potential of blockchain technology as we endeavour to protect children from the terrifying spectre of exploitation while simultaneously tracing the morality of our sugary pleasures.
In thus article we’ll talk about Child Labor is on the Rise in Africa, Using Blockchain to Stop Child Labour in the Production of Cocoa and Challenges in Implementing Blockchain to Curtail Child Labor
Child Labor is on the Rise in Africa
In Africa, where one in five children are currently involved in labour activities, child labour is on the rise. An alarming statistic released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that one in ten youngsters worldwide are estimated to be involved in child labour. The incidence is particularly high in Africa, where one in five children give birth at a startling pace.
Over 70% of child labourers worldwide work in agriculture, helping to produce goods like cocoa and coffee beans. They are also frequently involved in domestic labour, supporting their families at the expense of their education.
Due to the fact that child labour prevents children from having access to education, it continues to be a problem worldwide. However, there are differences in the regions where child labour is prevalent: since 2016, it has decreased in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Caribbean, but it has paradoxically increased in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Not only does child labour represent a moral conundrum, but it also seriously compromises children’s educational abilities, which severely limits their future work options and confines them to low-paying jobs.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child defines a child as any person who is under the age of eighteen. It also identifies a number of factors that contribute to child labour in Africa, including natural disasters, poverty, famine, conflict, corruption, and the need for low-cost, obedient labour. In Africa, the worst forms of child labour include forced child prostitution, drug trafficking, slavery, child trafficking, and hazardous labour involving operating heavy machinery.
Using Blockchain to Stop Child Labour in the Production of Cocoa
To end child labour, the cacao production process must be transparent in order to inform all parties involved—consumers, retailers, and exporters—about the harsh realities of production, which include child labour and farmer poverty. Then, with more knowledge, consumers can be encouraged to select sustainable cacao—possibly at a higher cost—which can encourage moral production methods.
Giving this higher payment to farmers who avoid using child labour increases their revenue and improves their future standard of living by releasing kids from the workforce and directing them into academic endeavours.
Harnessing blockchain technology in the cocoa supply chain promises not merely a reduction in regional child labor, but also unfolds several notable benefits:
1.Maintaining Traceability and Transparency: Blockchain technology streamlines communication throughout the cocoa supply chain and verifies that the product is made responsibly. Each participant in the supply chain has access to a public ledger that shows the entire product flow. Users can track things back to their source because the supply chain is completely transparent and any changes to the data are available to all parties involved. As a result, blockchain transforms supply chains from verifiable automated modes to trust-based ones, greatly improving the supply chain’s transparency and traceability for cocoa.
.Notwithstanding its benefits, the lack of cutting-edge technology available to farmers hinders the use of blockchain. In an effort to lessen this, many food corporations have started accelerator programmes that teach farmers how to effectively manage their farms, crops, and money using cellphones.
2 Empowering Farmers: Farmers can benefit greatly from the implementation of blockchain technology. It gives farmers direct, unrestricted access to the world market for cocoa, eliminating the need for middlemen and giving them more negotiating leverage by enabling real-time cocoa price information. As a result, farmers gain leverage in negotiations and increase their revenues. These gains allow them to hire trained labour and purchase machinery and sophisticated, environmentally friendly farming techniques.
3.Enabling effective marketing: Blockchain technology is a powerful marketing tool that goes beyond bringing sustainability, traceability, and transparency to the cocoa supply chain. By using reliable, blockchain-verified operations, it can help businesses create a trustworthy and respectable online profile that will increase their marketing effectiveness.
Analysing the aforementioned benefits reveals that blockchain technology is a powerful partner in reducing child labour and bringing about a plethora of other benefits that strengthen the cocoa production and supply chain as a whole.
Challenges in Implementing Blockchain to Curtail Child Labor
Using blockchain to address the significant problem of child labour comes with a unique set of difficulties that include socioeconomic, technological, and legal factors. Breaking down these complications not only clarifies the path towards a cocoa production process free of child labour, but it also illuminates the complicated web that lies at the heart of this worldwide problem. The following are the challenges;
1.Digital Accessibility and Literacy: The varying degrees of digital knowledge and accessibility among cocoa growers are one significant obstacle. A blockchain system’s ability to track the moral origins of cocoa depends on how widely it is implemented throughout the whole cocoa supply chain. It’s possible that farmers, especially those in isolated locations, lack the technological know-how or resources necessary to properly integrate with a blockchain system, such as dependable internet connectivity and smart equipment.
1.System Compatibility: It is crucial to make sure that the blockchain system that has been implemented can be accessed by all parties involved in the supply chain and can work with both current and emerging technology. Ensuring worldwide scalability and adaptability to emerging technologies necessitates a solid technological infrastructure that often demands substantial investments in development and maintenance.
3.Economic Consequences:The upfront cost of integrating blockchain technology may put off farmers and other production entities. Large-scale businesses may be able to afford these expenses more easily, but small-scale farmers may find them to be unaffordable, especially if there are no assurances of quick returns on investment.
Changing the structure of the market so that moral behaviour is financially rewarded may face resistance from industrial groups that have historically profited from low-cost, labor-intensive production techniques, especially those that include child labour.
4.Legal and Regulatory Obstacles: Setting up a global blockchain system requires negotiating a complex web of international laws and compliance requirements, which might differ significantly between nations of production and consumption.
Furthermore, in order to avoid legal ramifications and preserve stakeholder trust, the ethical and secure management of data within the blockchain must be carefully planned and carried out in light of the numerous data protection rules that exist in various jurisdictions.
5.Supply Chain Intricacy: There are many parties involved in the production of cocoa, and each has different interests and degrees of influence. These variations must be supported by the blockchain technology, which must also make sure that no one party may unduly influence the system. Logistical and monitoring issues arise even when a blockchain is implemented for real-world practises like blending ethically and non-ethically produced cocoa and making sure that data is entered accurately at every stage.
In conclusion, the abolition of child labour is an urgent requirement, requiring the integration of policy, technology, and socio-economic reform, especially in the cocoa producing sector. Although there are many obstacles along the way, the use of blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise the ethics and transparency of cocoa production. A complete, multifaceted approach is essential for tackling issues such as technology constraints, economic ramifications, and navigating through complicated regulatory, societal, and supply chain environments.
In order to guarantee that the disadvantaged groups at the centre of this systemic change gain rather than suffer, careful consideration must be given to how best to combine technology, social assistance, and international cooperation. As we proceed with creating routes for the manufacturing of ethical chocolate without the stain of child labour, the comprehensive integration of technical solutions such as blockchain must complement ongoing international efforts to promote and assist all parties involved in the supply chain.