CSR

Chocolate industry accused of fuelling armed conflict

A report by Global Witness has accused chocolate companies of fuelling the recent armed conflict in the Ivory Coast by making significant contributions to both the Ivorian government and the Forces Nouvelles, a rebel group holding the northern half of the country. The Ivory Coast is the world's biggest cocoa producer.

The report states that more than $58m has been diverted from cocoa levies to the government's war efforts, and

alleges a link between two major Western companies and the diversion of some funds. It is claimed two senior directors of cocoa companies - one from a subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland, the other from Dafci, then owned by French conglomerate Bolloré - were both representing the Ivory Coast's biggest exporters' union on the board of the Ivorian cocoa institution, the Bourse du Café et Cacao, at the time the funds were diverted.

Furthermore, the report outlines a strategy used by Forces Nouvelles rebels to raise around $30m a year by taxing cocoa travelling through the north of the country.

Global Witness is calling for companies involved in the cocoa trade to "support farmers, not the war effort". Suppliers, it is argued, should be transparent about where their money goes, ensuring it supports development and not "unaccountable elites on either side of the crisis".

Patrick Alley, Global Witness director, said: "There is a high chance that your chocolate bar contains cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire and may have funded the conflict there, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. The chocolate industry should clean up its act and ensure that it only sells conflict-free chocolate."

July 2007