and shipped with important players missing due to withdrawals and injuries but maybe they'll still be able to soar. it watching deadly news up next a documentary looking at the dark side of the chocolate industry titled chocolates heart of darkness don't forget you can always get the latest news on our web site at any time that's dot com you can also follow us on twitter and instagram the handle is at g.w. news on social champs for now i'm anthony held in berlin for me and the team here thanks for joining us. young moroccan emigrants. we know the police will stop laughing. at the rude is not the solution. they know their flight could be fatal. but going back isn't not an option shattered dreams starts january 18th

on t.w. . chocolate we can't seem to get enough of it each year we consume $7000000.00 tonnes of it worldwide. it comes in countless varieties and price ranges made by anything from small artists and all chocolate makers to the international giants that dominate the market. and the whole spectrum can be seen at confectionery trade fairs like these but the exhibitors are also here to teach children about where chocolate comes from. going to the local if you heard of ivory cruz is the biggest producing country in the world through the cocoa through to the cocoa tree is called couples because. we take good care of these plants. surprisingly there are

a critical voices at the exhibition as well. environmental organization mighty earth is here to talk about the darker side of chocolate through that image if you've consumed kolker in a past 20 years you have a closely guarded child labor and slavery absolutes work in the worst condition eyes dangerous chemical has shut machetes don't have to carry very heavy moment for trade. this has long been known in the chocolate industry but many companies still insist they are doing what they can to protect children and the environment. to satisfy us when an industry acknowledges the problems if i see a forestation child labor on plantations us officials hold back i assure you it's they are working hard to improve the situation is that they want to. over the last 10 years more and more cocoa producers have pledged to save the forests and send

children to school instead of work. but are they. this is the harbor of abidjan the economic capital of ivory coast the west african country produces 40 percent of the world's entire cocoa supply. the trees that it comes from grow on small remote funs. there are around 6000000 of these farms worldwide and they're mostly left to their own devices. their harvest then goes through a long supply chain of traders and manufacturers before it ends up on our shelves. i'm paul mora a french television journalist and i'm interested in the very 1st link of this

chain. much of the remaining rain forest in ivory coast lies. in the south west about an 8 hour drive from the capital the region is known as the country's cocoa belt. even as we approach on the main road children run away when they see our camera it's a sign we're getting close to the plantations. why did you tell him to run away is he working for you. know so why send him away filming. child labor is forbidden in ivory coast punishable by up to 6 months in prison but it's rarely prosecuted as it's shown too hard to prove. in the far west of the country the roads turn into which muddy dirt tracks.

militias patrol the area they say they're here to protect the people. they collect money from everyone who passes through especially the cocoa trucks. it costs 100 francs to sometimes 500 if you've got a truck it's 1000 francs. this is the protected one deb a forest reserve about 10 kilometers from the liberian border it used to be part of the species rich west guinea and lowland rain forest. but there's not much left of the forest or the protected animals. the land was cleared to make way for thousands of illegal cocoa plantations.

the green plants are full cookout trees the primary forest is dead. officially no one is even allowed to enter the syria without permission from the forrestal thorazine but no one is here to enforce the rules. of these hidden camps a list signs. the farmers are working illegally on land that doesn't belong to them journalists on welcome here so we don't tell them what we do. we're accompanied by a member of a named geo fish human rights. around 40 people who live in this camp in huts men and children only. play

drink water from the river and eat bananas and manioc that they grow in the forest themselves. they pick could count holes and cut them open with machetes all day. long but. it takes a lot of care and precision the shells the hard and their blades shop. good it's the only way to extract the precious beams that is still coated in a white fleshy cult. that. the beans are left out to dry before they have bagged up and sold to

a co-operative. the works. very young about a 3rd of them a children. 'd they're extremely poor immigrants from neighboring kenya faso. their homeland is a country plagued by drought hunger and violence the cocoa business in ivory coast is often their only hope for survival. drum on these 13 years old records why don't you go to school if you do why don't i go to school when i went there and yes the moment i dropped out if you were to. buy those parents couldn't afford it anymore with respect to our you know come on

how did you end up here. they came with my older brother a lot of those still don't get it. is the youngest in this camp for a fight what about you know school i don't. know. no no no i don't like school. you know i need to earn money for. this forest should in theory be monitored by ivory coast's ministry of water and forests. that were using the u.s.c. ranges here she yeah but they leave us alone it was a mess. the government does have an official plan to save the rainforest they want to redistribute the land reforest some of the areas that have been destroyed and use legal farms more efficiently more than 200000 cocoa farmers are meant to receive training. but next to nothing has actually happened so

far meanwhile immigrants. from bikini afonso continued to arrive to work on ivory coast illegal plantations. they come as children and stay for many years the forest becomes their prison within a seesaw is just one of its prisoners your parents stayed. because they saw yeah you know and burkina faso you don't see them to develop i. know i haven't seen them for 6 years but. you were 15 when you arrived here of a family that are rectors well yes now i'm 21 a long time without your parents yet it's very painful you were told me i even got you know it's not one thing. why not it was if you think you know this is the 1st year i've actually started earning money that it doesn't jeopardize

it. it's one of the darkest secrets of these clandestine plantations people like us ceased toil for years without compensation only later did they receive a small piece of land in return to grow their own harvest and keep any returns he'll. he can finally make some money from selling cocoa this is how the camps in guam debate operate 1st the boys work for food then for payment in kind of. kali has also started working on his 1st small plot of land if you don't get caught or you 'd if your boss doesn't pay you. know no i didn't get any money and a decided i'd work you know get my own. for the clover you work for free for 6 years exactly that's slave labor. yeah that's just the

way it is. this year i harvested i do. and i have. said and then. a bag and a half that's 180 kilograms which sells for $210.00 euros that's ali's new annual income. has just arrived from bikini a fast so this is the start of his new life here. and then i. think someone sent over here can you tell me how much money he makes. for the. idea that god. i don't know young and then get out of there depending on how much. the question he's making really sharp

uncomfortable. i mean it's like. if i like if he works in here literacy his own plot. ok thank you for tamara right now he's working for free he's working towards getting his own point we're going to impose on it a lot how old are you i think good thing do you know how old you are. one of us when he doesn't know. where is your birthday. it was here but he went into the city. the city of geek low is 40 kilometers east of the forest children from bikini afonso who've been sold by their parents arrive at this bus station to be bought by plantation owners.

to observe one of these transactions our ngo help a pretense to be a farmer he's wearing a hidden camera. he finds 2 traffic is at the station waiting for the children to arrive from the kenya faso. they target the most vulnerable ones who'd be willing to work just for food. they tell us who's in charge of this business. the next day we meet the old man as he's known here but trust me off my kids for you no problem for you you know a little for what you're going to pay and purposes. i'll be very happy to find children for you. i'll be happy and so you want to disregard your profit and be a parent get 200000 francs of this and. you send the $200000.00 to the parents or dollars prada sure why look below average employee there long can they work for me

34 years. to stay for 3 maybe 2. i can't pay more than 200000 don't worry they're not all the same price. or humans have different prices. like sheep they're not on birth to say. to food finish your coffee and get the children . just right now of course it is ok that. 200000 west african c.f.a. francs a worth roughly 300 euro. rose that's the cost of $1.00 slave for 3 years. while our guide has a coffee the old man gets a tip off that there are journalists investigating the illegal plantations he calls off the deal. the young workers have no idea of the dangers they face of the cocoa plantations one of the worst is invisible toxic herbicides to come either

going to work in the fields. we come across a lot of children wearing big weed sprayers. forces to find out more about these weed killer we venture further into the forest to another illegal plantation the deeper we push the more we begin to realize why the forest is dying out and quite frankly i think only very good we're going to go there for. it kills weed through the poison everything then you plant cocoa. yes we spray the stuff everywhere it to dish to the children who work here use this product as well as even sit in the. yes. it's gleiser say do you know what that yes. we know the name but we don't know what it does if we just kill weeds. gleiser say it is a broad spectrum herbicide that kills almost full plant species and the world health

organization has identified it as a probable cause an agent especially when applied without appropriate protective gear. certainly there's no one told you it might be dangerous music i know we didn't know it was a long pause or possibly even deadly floods across the cold when you see the protective clothing on the packaging doesn't that make you wonder los altos we know we know protection to use this product but we don't have any. so we just may do without it if. that's how you make room to plant can all brains that's right so basically you can use to do once the vegetation has been destroyed because the cocoa can grow quickly has. it come over for it is ot due to the trees they're all white for we set them on fire. what sticks. up look at do we use dry wood to burn them down. if they're like

you've. been you have most rights because exactly i'm going. to count trees rely on the 1st of all soils of the forest but they're also leeching them dry. the environmental organization my sheep documents the destruction that i'm here all these years waiting i think our life once kick our ride it takes over the entire forest as a full sun monoculture masses of chemicals are sprayed all over 20 years later the ground is completely worthless so they push deeper into the forest into the same thing again and again they just keep moving further and that's why i say the cow plant is a can of paint can even. between 909-2015 over 90 percent of ivory coast's primary forests were

cleared. they've mostly been replaced with could count trees. these continual deforestation is having an impact on the local and global climate less forest means less rain and without rain nothing will be able to grow here even cocoa. as the soil dries up so does a vital source of income in the region within a week in the guam deb a forest we witnessed all the crimes the industry pledged to eradicate including slave labor child labor and the destruction of the environment. however each and every day tons of these illegal cocoa beans enter the regular

supply chain the people who buy them up like to keep a low profile but we find a trading post at the edge of the forest that buys both legal and illegal produce these bags stored here come from at least 40 different farmers. there's no marking on the bags to say where they came from their opened in the beans are all mixed together completely impossible to track. one of the biggest cooperatives in the region cooper webb used to work under the fair trade label. displaying this logo means taking a stand against child labor and deforestation. in 2017 cooper web had its certification suspended was there cocoa being grown in the

protected rain forest. that that's ok. we have hardly any business partners in the classified rain forest the number is marginal so. is it safe to say that when these trucks arrive with dozens of bags like these are you sure none of them come from the areas where child labor all deforestation are taking place let's be honest we saw child labor everywhere within the classified zone outside the zone everywhere you did as the old order as they still sit. in a suitable mozy is a bucket depends what you call child labor a man who takes his kids to the field on sundays is that child labor. no that's not child labor this. you know but i'm going from the keen afonso who's been here 5 years that's child labor raiola i mean normal. normal so far i

haven't heard of any such cases of children working for one of our part that i'll. take a little can you be sure that we inspect our producers every year. that the supply chain for the chocolate is anything but transparent what exactly happens between the forest and our supermarkets. that's the cocoa you process where does it go how does it work who's buying this next quarter's. export earth. like this like this. and it's export us from ivory coast. to. the cooper web manager won't tell us who he sells to we come back in the evening and to drive us spills the beans. you know the congo yes. they both yes.

cooper webb sells it kick our beans to congo a giant us conglomerate. trades agricultural commodities among other things. it's an intermediary that sells cocoa on to the chocolate makers whose products we see in our supermarkets many people haven't even heard the name before. surprisingly we managed to get an interview with congo they usually prefer to stay under the radar. i keep volatility still the coke 02 that you get from ivory coast to many big companies i'm not exactly sure nestle mars' legal action and some others do it says some. without knowing it most of us are eating cocoa products supplied by congo the company promises that it supplies clean cocoa but we have our

doubts we confront the manager and his p.r. officer with our images. only has 2 kids we only stayed for a few days and we saw children on the roadside working with machetes and weeding with dangerous herbicides. that's terrible you should already know about the ideas on false to see. child labor is something we do our best to prevent within the certified cooperative organizations that are part of our sustainable development network. for sustainable hoka we offer a 50 percent premium compared to the price of conventional green. so 50 percent goes to the cooperative who you know do you have the cash to. the boss are you sure the money is being redistributed to hope that even the cooperative is run by a well trained people it's all for me. our system works. we're

committed to quality. the promise commits us to make a difference to them in return for the 50 percent premium. these cooperatives a supposed to actively improve the daily lives of farmers by building schools for instance this is a promise that cooper webb has also committed to. it is it hard to verify when children are being forced into labor and that we have to build a school this year in one of our sections and you know 6 you know. how do you do for cooper went for cooper web. site when. you got i think well the location has already been chosen but we'd rather keep it confidential next year if you come here i'll show you where you know i was already here i hope it'll be there you know it will be there in. every.

little while why is it a location secret nothing's clean built you know ok because he's lying that he didn't tell the truth seems so. tell me i can't promise that things are running better in our industry than elsewhere to suppose that all of the. congo also pledged to no longer destroy the rainforest to grow cocoa they promised that by the year 2030 there would be 0 d. forestation in the supply chain. before i start your station is a key issue for us success without the forest there's no rain and without rain we have. no bean no chocolate one of the. things that sounds wonderful that you do business in one of the most deforested places in west africa yes it's very difficult. would you work for a station in ivory coast between 116 and 2010 was 90 percent and when we

arrived in 2010 that figure was already 80 percent they tweet it's things need to change the force. sure. how can you be sure that the cocoa cooper will be selling it doesn't come from the classified forest. which is basically a lawless zone where unspeakable things are happening. or was ever since then we've implemented our reliable system that enables us to identify the producers we're working with i think you would have a young supply they are g.p.s. tags with a barcode on. it. we collect all of this and a database which allows us to link the product to the producer that he has it apply to. this system is mentioned on candles website bar codes on cocoa bags a scanner with satellite connection that offers state of the art g.p.s. traceability the problem is the schoolteacher is from ghana not ivory coast.

because it went i'm sorry but i spent a week in this area i didn't see a single bag with a barcode cooper where they didn't have a single one but it's said that information doesn't match what i have here at all because. we asked the cooper web manager about the possibility of using technology to identify the farmers and track the bags. that come up us how can we know whether it actually comes from the classified forests we need a g.p.s. position is good but who can help us with that the state is to do that research. do you know how they do it in ghana you in ghana they're facing the same issues each bag has a barcode with a g.p.s. identification that links it to the producers you can work like that could you make it happen simply mushy we are so full if they can do it in ghana we should be able to do it here as well but you know. i didn't

get a confirmation about these barcode that maybe it's the old system but it's definitely certified. we're talking about the worst practices here no doubt we're not perfect i'm not saying that we've found the perfect solution but we are trying. after the interview we receive an angry message from cargill they checked and have to admit we were right there are no bar codes on the bags from the go on debbie forest but they assure us that 99 percent of farmers are registered and everything should be straightened out within a year. because the problem defies that still despite all these disclaimers deforestation slave labor child labor it all comes down to one thing traceability without traceability law it's almost or it's all in the shadows we don't know the root of it accountable everyone is hiding as soon as we know who sells flight when where and how then all of a sudden like we have something that works we can people accountable to this child

and particularly for this case of slavery or for just the forestation and so we can fix the problem traceability is the key to everything. here. we also want to explore the areas of ivory coast where cocoa is being grown illegally rather than on secret plantations in the classified rain forest. in 2012 ivory coast's government launched its 1st national action plan to crack down on child labor its 3rd and latest plan has expanded to include issues such as supply chain traceability and illegal plantations in the classified forests and it's allocated a little over 100000000 euros for the daunting task. of qualm a us to man works for one of the ngos that implement the program at the local level you're dora said. to go ahead of

a role is to help children who are in trouble featured a program for the sort of the future children who are being abused who are sent. slaving away your cocoa plantations. those are the ones who are here to help and also. for the for. you they're about a mistake for me for i work with the ministry of family to raise awareness in these villages about the child exploitation that takes place within cocoa farming this brought us. to. children in ivory coast often help their parents out in the fields on the weekends that's not illegal kwame is targeting the families who don't even send their children to school. he works for a small n.g.o.s funded by international donors he himself used to work as a buyer for the cocoa cooperatives so he understands why the farmers rely on their children's help. he was article because they help you to pick up the parts that are

far right. yes they pick up the pods that's a good example you need to understand these children shouldn't be doing this work that you take it up off. the store and i just feel that if cocoa farming paid well everyone here could afford to send their kids to school but isn't it usually when i explain to them that children need to go to school they tell me they'd love that but they simply can't afford it and it by the way if it were farmers with 4 or 5 children and no money to put them through school because they don't know what else to do. the only way to put children 1st through on a cocoa farmers salary is to make sacrifices elsewhere. mr song who has been working in the cocoa business for 30 years he's very proud of his son who will soon go to college he helps his dad during the school vacations the french official

you're studying that's right what's something to do for. us but i'm going to start history this year i just graduated from high school and i continue my studies at college. tuition fees is very difficult that's why it's wonderful that i can manage the 1st installment of the quarter earnings will only last for 2 months. now there's nothing left. next to get lewis his little brother he doesn't go to school or school anymore he's dad had to make a choice it was either good or his brother. i don't have enough money like last year we need 700 francs a day. $0.75 a month that's not enough. to disasters to poor. well you know.

we work our fingers to the bone we have nothing left to give there's no money my children help me out where they can. do you go to school. not anymore. if your dad could afford it would you rather go to school work or. the chocolate industry turns over more than $100000000000.00 euros a year meanwhile it's estimated that an average cocoa farmer earns less than one euro a day. would raising the price of cocoa beans put an end to child labor.

could the solution really be that simple that's a question we wanted to put to the representatives of the chocolate industry. we travel to devils a small town in switzerland that's known for hosting large international business events every 2 years swiss chocolate manufacturer barry culbut invites the cocoa industries leaders to the conference shock of his young since 2012 they've declared it they goal to end the abject poverty in cocoa producing countries. barry kobo notified us by email that we were not welcome at the event we go along anyway in the hope of meeting some people we can talk to after all they claim to promote transparency. but the hotel security has strict orders no. yeah no fear. out of the hotel let's us work please no.

no. if you. call it he's searching for the police. we stay on the sidewalk. minister a question please. since it's a former minister from ghana almost talks to us but is quickly led away we starting to become a nuisance so they send us someone to interview as long as we promise to leave afterwards it's cameras the problem is i mean camera is the problem film for example the fact that you bridgeable we're not allowing any additional journalists on the ones that we will bring the. building to listen let's agree you're going to send me your questions and i'm going to reply to issue mr bush. the burning question why is nothing changing back in 2001 the big chocolate makers

committed to end child labor that was almost 20 years ago. trade is an manufacture is set up along the group will cocoa foundation that was supposed to improve conditions but social and environmental simple solutions. are very hard to find for something as complicated as the child labor and what we all agree that the solution of being more to the growers has been implemented yet. we are looking at ways to scale up approaches to how farmers can improve their income 18 years of. years to lucan what you going to do in the future and nothing is done nowadays efficiently to stop over 30. i would i wouldn't say that nothing is being done now as i mentioned before we have companies that are committed to paying premiums to farmers. to help them increase their income levels

the cocoa business altogether every year is a $100000000000.00 worth and that growers get 6 percent i think it's you know what if what i can say is that this is not unusual for commodities if you think of cotton i mean how much does a cotton farmer get compared to how much we pay for a pair of jeans or another article of clothing that is made from cotton so it's this is not something that's specific to cocoa ok so we're meeting in 20 years and see what's going on ok every 3 years or. overly sooner than that. the power doesn't rest solely in the hands of the chocolate maker what about the law makers chocolate is a widely consumed product in europe. so we pay a visit to the european parliament in brussels astoundingly there is no sanction for illegal practices within the cocoa supply chain. heidi how to an m.e.p.

from finland has regular meetings with manufacturers. have you. heard of the workers there at children point yes this is a tragedy. and we are busy preparing an action plan on what to do with cocoa so that cocoa would not anymore cause the forestation and child labor and what is really very remarkable is that more and more companies are saying that we need this mandatory due diligence obligation we need lol inform the times you would have said that companies are masochistic that they are asking for well yes but they have what they want what they call a level playing field because they don't want to be irresponsible and then they see that the irresponsible companies are reaping the profits you know for a cheap price so that's the question because to be responsible may cost. a little

more. than well well well if i may i would just like to show you an example that of course there is this kind of fancy side of the industry but there's not a word about these huge human rights issues and environmental issues that are hidden in the supply chain chocolate so i was invited to this reception but i just couldn't go because this is not the honest simple question. more i don't have a good answer to that everybody who works on the problems of cocoa say that yes you can you can maybe. you can coming to terms with. the forestation and child labor but there is a deep deep question of living wage is i think it's a terrible thing that we can taste these fancy chocolates here in brussels but then a simple cocoa worker in it got people are probably did not even taste of it

because it's too expensive it's a luxury product out of their rates so living wage is a real issue so simple if they had just a little more money then more of their children could go to school back in ivory coast in the village of troy or to cocoa farmers or investing the little money they make in their children's future they've all chipped in to hire a teacher 200 children attend this class who. we. are they are. right when we see children going to the fields we tell their parents to send them to school instead we take kids between the ages of 6 to 9 how do you get paid.

i get paid each month. by the parents group by the parents fail to chip in yes the state doesn't contribute. because the state can't afford to hire teachers in full remote areas like this. that's right. in 2019 ghana and ivory coast joined forces and decided to set the price of cocoa themselves the way opec countries do for oil. exporting countries have demanded the industry pay 30 percent more to the farmers that only translates into $0.30 per family per day but it's hopefully one small step towards a bigger change. cheat

me more so. discounted and inexpensive place animals are suffering and the environment is crying out. new trends. and feeding resources and. prices are on the plates how good is cheap. made in germany. 90 minutes on d w. the fight against the corona virus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. the coronavirus of data the cold a special monday to friday on g.w. . guy calling me and i'm game did you know those

that 17 trillion landed on the moon was killed worldwide sure so that we can get in touch but it's not just the animals little suffering it's the environment we won on a journey to find ways out of the ignition if you want to know how and when clicked on the priest i'm hopeless changed i was going to listen to our podcast on the green. light of the. plane. this is news live from berlin and the u.s.

house of representatives moves forward with a vote to impeach president trump over last week's attack on the capital trump projects for sponsibility for the violence but the democrats x. now also some republicans say that he is a danger to the nation this must be stopped.