Cargill has partnered with the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) to expand their joint actions on child labour in Côte dIvoire in West Africa.

Starting their partnership in 2002, Cargill and ICI intend to scale-up their relationship by establishing a monitoring system in Cargills cocoa supply chain to identify and protect children, especially those involved in child labour.

The new model for child labour prevention and response has been termed as Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS), and would boost Cargill’s efforts in eliminating child labour practices.

The model has been designed and developed using ICIs best practices.

“Working together with ICI and the cooperatives on establishing CLMRS is a crucial next step in the important journey to both understand and eradicate child labour from our cocoa supply chains.”

The new system will be incorporated into the monitoring and evaluation strategy for the Cargill Cocoa Promise, the companys responsible and sustainable cocoa programme.

The new programme will be implemented this year in eight farmer cooperatives in Côte dIvoire, and is expected to reach approximately 7,000 cocoa farming households.

The system will help Cargill identify and understand child labour incidences in the region and allows them to take appropriate action.

Cargill cocoa and chocolate sustainability director Taco Terheijden said: “At Cargill, we recognise that we cannot tackle child labour in cocoa-farming communities on our own.

“Working alongside technical experts like the ICI helps us learn how to take a labour-monitoring system to scale in a complex, smallholder agricultural supply chain.

“Cooperatives have proven to be one of the most efficient and effective means to reach cocoa farmers, reduce poverty and impact their livelihoods.

“Working together with ICI and the cooperatives on establishing CLMRS is a crucial next step in the important journey to both understand and eradicate child labour from our cocoa supply chains.”

Last September, ICI trained Cargills network of ‘lead farmers’, which is a group of important and reliable members of farmers cooperatives working with the company, who served to serve as child labour agents and lead interventions that allowed children to escape child labour.