COTE D'IVOIRE ROLLS OUT PRELIMINARY COCOA-CHILD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 001084 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS TO USTR, C. HAMILTON DOL FOR T RASA, D GARMS USAID FOR C. GARRETT, S. SWIFT EMBASSY ACCRA FOR S. DRIANO TREASURY FOR D. PETERS COMMERCE FOR M. RIVERO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAGR PREL PGOV EAID ELAB EIND IV SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE ROLLS OUT PRELIMINARY COCOA-CHILD LABOR DIAGNOSTIC AND PLAN OF ACTION AS EFFECTIVE HARKIN-ENGLE DEADLINE APPROACHES REF: ABIDJAN 998 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Prime Minister's interministerial taskforce rolled out preliminary results of its industry-funded survey of child labor in the cocoa sector on Oct. 12. It found that 22 percent of children in the region are involved in cocoa production, and a majority of them are involved in one of the worst forms of child labor, carrying heavy loads. The rest of the report shows a picture of largely family-related enterprises, as the great majority of children involved in farm labor are members of the family of the farm owners. The Ministry of Labor has produced a companion plan to reduce the prevalence of child labor, which should be presented formally in the coming weeks. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On October 12, the Prime Minister's Interministerial Taskforce on Child Labor (which effectively focuses on the single issue of child labor in the cocoa sector) headed by the redoubtable Madame A. Acquah, presented the first draft of its preliminary findings concerning the prevalence of child labor in Ivorian cocoa production centers. Concentrating on the areas of Agnibilekrou, Tiassale and Soubre (the heartland of Central Cote d'Ivoire cocoa production),the diagnostic found that 22 percent of children in the studied region are involved in cocoa farming. Of those, the vast majority are subject to one form of the "worst forms of child labor" as defined by the ILO: carrying heavy loads. 84 percent of children who work in the cocoa industry affirm engagement in this activity. ¶3. (SBU/NF) The report was produced by a group of local academic consultants and funded by a consortium of the international chocolate industry. Industry has been reluctant to share the extent of its involvement in supporting Madame Acquah's efforts, and has repeatedly declined to tell Emboffs how much financial backing has been provided for the study and follow-on sensitization campaigns. However, given the interest level shown by top-level corporate and industry association representatives to this question, it is clear that industry takes the issue seriously and is determined to achieve success in the 'end game' in the months leading up to the Harkin-Engle Protocol's deadline of July 1, 2008. ¶4. (SBU) The Prime Minister's report presents a fairly predictable tableau of child labor in the cocoa sector. Three percent of children involved in the cocoa sector perform tree and branch-cutting and 18 percent are involved in brush burning, although higher numbers are exposed to such practices performed by others. Five percent of children working in cocoa production apply pesticides/fungicides themselves, although 47 percent are present when others do. Intriguingly, girls are slightly more likely to be employed by their families to work in cocoa production, and the percentage of girls working in the cocoa field who have never been schooled is 49 percent, versus 29 percent among boys. Even among children involved in cocoa production, the vast majority are family members of the farm owner: 93 percent are farm owners' own children, their nieces and nephews or grandchildren, and only 7.1 percent are unrelated. Among the subset of children involved in dangerous work (and only 2.3 percent of such children are unrelated to farm owners) all report attending at least some school and eat on average three meals a day. The report notes that these last points tends to undercut the notion that children are being pitilessly exploited. ¶5. (SBU) The Taskforce presented its report to a broad group of academics, NGO leaders involved in cocoa/child labor and government officials. At the meeting, attended by Emboff, others subjected the report to a rigorous critique, focusing on its structure (which is awkward, putting less relevant information up front and making it difficult to determine key conclusions of interest to most readers),some technical details related to the regression analysis, and some valid Ministry of Agriculture criticism about the definitions of heavy loads and whether children are forced to work. Overall, however, it appeared that the basic tenets of the report were sound. Once the report incorporates the points made by conference participants and is translated into ABIDJAN 00001084 002 OF 002 English, it will be disseminated to foreign audiences while the diagnostic will be simultaneously expanded to 50 of the country's cocoa growing regions. ¶6. (SBU) Meanwhile, on October 16 the Ministry of Labor released its separate report on Cote d'Ivoire's plan to combat the worst forms of child labor (reftel) which it will formally present in the coming weeks. The plan identifies a series of steps that need to be accomplished, including strengthening the capacity of judges and law enforcement, putting in place a system of surveillance (effectively the Prime Minister's Taskforce),"reinforcing preventative action" (i.e., continuing to encourage foreign NGOs and organizations such as Germany's GTZ to conduct sensitization campaigns against child labor) and developing a plan to remove children from the worst forms of child labor. The latter element appears to lean heavily towards developing structures to either repatriating children if trafficked across national boundaries, or returning them to their families from abusive situations. ¶7. (SBU/NF) Comment. The Harkin-Engle Protocol has clearly and effectively motivated the government of Cote d'Ivoire and the international chocolate industry to move forward to put into place the elements of an overall system capable of addressing the question of the worst forms of child labor in cocoa production. The diagnostic element appears further along than the plan to combat the problem. However, Post understand from experts in the field from U.S. and other international NGOs (Winrock, STCP, IFESH, GTZ and others) that, thanks to their sustained efforts, gradually their message concerning the problems associated with inappropriate child labor in the fields is sinking in among farmers. If progress can be made in substantially reducing the use of children to carry heavy loads, much of the incidence of the worst forms of child labor would be eliminated. Tulane University's preliminary study on the effectiveness of public and private efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor should be presented to Congress October 31 (reftel), and GoCI officials are clearly attempting to show progress. It appears that Cote d'Ivoire is far more capable of meeting its child labor targets and the demands of the Harkin-Engle Protocol than it did in October of 2006. End Comment. AKUETTEH