Despite the natural origins of Cacao trees in Latin America, West African countries are the largest producers of cocoa beans in the world. About half of the world’s cacao beans come from Ghana the world’s second largest cocoa seed producing country. In Ghana, many hundreds of thousand workers produce about 65,000,000 kilograms of Cocoa a year. Since the Cacao tree is not native there, chocolate or any other product of the cacao tree is not featured in recipes, ceremonies, or rituals in West Africa. Most of these chocolate producers and farmers have never even tried a chocolate bar. 

            Ghana’s cocoa seed production is second only to Cote d’Ivoire. In Cote d’Ivoire chocolate production truly gains a bad reputation as being one of the most unethical and inhumane trades in the world. This is due to its massive amounts of child labor and trafficking. In 2005, six hunderd and twenty-five thousand children worked on cacao plantations in Cote d’Ivoire alone, and five thousand to ten thousand of these children were brought into this line of work from child trafficking. One hundered and nine thousand child laborers worked in hazardous conditions on cacao farms, and the state department described these farms as the “worst forms of child labor” in the world.

            To avoid supporting this blatant violation of human rights, the Fair Trade label was created to help consumers and producers. The Fair Trade certification ensures farmers receive a fair price for their labor and strictly prohibits slave and child labor. For a full list of Fair Trade USA cocoa brands go to http://www.fairtradeusa.org/products-partners/cocoa.