Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ACCRA574
2009-06-19 07:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

CHILDREN WORKING ON COCOA FARMS IS DEVELOPMENT

Tags:  ELAB EAGR PHUM SOCI XA XY IV GH 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #0574 1700721
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190721Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7929
UNCLAS ACCRA 000574 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EAGR PHUM SOCI XA XY IV GH
SUBJECT: CHILDREN WORKING ON COCOA FARMS IS DEVELOPMENT
ISSUE, NOT JUST LABOR ISSUE

UNCLAS ACCRA 000574

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EAGR PHUM SOCI XA XY IV GH
SUBJECT: CHILDREN WORKING ON COCOA FARMS IS DEVELOPMENT
ISSUE, NOT JUST LABOR ISSUE


1. (U) SUMMARY: Removing children as workers on Ghanaian
cocoa farms encompasses a number of social and economic
issues more far ranging than simply that of child labor.
While few would disagree with the premise of improving access
to basic education, encouraging children to attend school
rather than work on a family farm exposes a myriad of social
concerns ranging from poor quality education to the dangers
of walking to school on country roads. While NGOs funded by
the cocoa industry promote sending children to school rather
than to work, the GOG needs to address additional societal
issues if the NGOs' efforts are to be sustainable. END SUMMARY


2. (U) Over a recent two day period, Poloff and DRL/ILSCR
officer toured three cocoa villages in western Ghana
accompanied by the program manager of the International Cocoa
Initiative (ICI) and representatives of local NGO
implementing partners. The officers found that the NGOs have
been successful in encouraging parents to send their children
to school rather than to work on farms, but in each of the
three villages, the children face additional difficulties
when attending school.


3. (U) One village had a school within easy walking
distance, but the others had no collocated school. Children
of all ages walk four kilometers one way to attend class.
They are forced to walk on dirt roads that are dangerous
either from heavy trucks that ply the route or rivers that
flood low lying areas during the rainy season.


4. (U) The lack of qualified teachers in rural schools and
of material resources results in gaps in pupils' learning.
Teachers often must travel by public transportation for an
hour before beginning the long walk from the main highway to
the school.


5. (U) Only one of the three villages visited had
electricity, but one had six solar powered communal lights
located around the edge of the village. When asked about the
solar lighting, one village elder quickly dismissed the
project as inadequate because the lights were not in
individual homes and were, therefore, of little use to the
students for studying after dark in their own homes.


6. (U) The common refrain in all three villages was, "What
are you going to do for us?" Each village was a model for
reducing child labor on cocoa farms, but village elders all
wanted to know what the USG could do to improve their living
standards now that the children were attending school. The
answer to the elders' question should not come from the USG
or the cocoa industry; the GOG needs to address the question
in a comprehensive manner.


7. (U) The education system needs investment of human and
material resources, transportation infrastructure needs basic
improvements, and the electricity grid should be extended to
rural areas. These tangential issues have now been
highlighted following marked success in reducing the number
of children working on cocoa farms.


8. (U) COMMENT: Unless the GOG provides clear, tangible
evidence of improvement in the lives of villagers following
the decision to educate their children, some families are
likely to opt to keep their children working at home rather
than to send them to school, negating the positive advances
made in reducing child labor on cocoa farms. END COMMENT
TEITELBAUM