Improving Workers’ Lives Worldwide

Pod opening at one of the assessed farms ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN (NOT COVERED BY THE “NESTLÉ COCOA PLAN”) IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Prepared by the Fair Labor Association

August 2016 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 3 II. INTRODUCTION...... 5 III. BACKGROUND...... 6 a. About Nestlé Standard Supply Chain Assessment...... 6 b. Supply Chain Management System at Tier 1 Supplier viz à viz Assessed Traitant...... 8 IV. METHODOLOGY...... 9 a. Assessment Team...... 9 b. Sample Selection...... 9 c. Data Collection and Tools Used...... 11 d. Assessment Stages...... 12 e. External Information Gathering...... 13 V. FINDINGS...... 13 a. Traitant’s Supply Chain Mapping...... 13 b. Traitant’s Supply Chain Actors...... 15 c. Cocoa Bean Procurement and Transportation in Traitant’s Supply Chain...... 19 d. Farm Profile of the Assessed Farms...... 20 e. Risks Assessment of the Internal Management System at the Traitant Level...... 20 1. Presence, Content and Visibility of Policies...... 21 2. Implementation, Training and Internal Monitoring...... 22 3. Resource Allocation...... 23 4. Indicators and Results...... 23 f. Labor Risk Assessment...... 25 1. Employment Relationship...... 25 2. Forced Labor...... 26 3. Child Labor...... 26 4. Harassment and Abuse (H&A)...... 28 5. Non-Discrimination...... 28 6. Health, Safety and Environment...... 29 7. Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining...... 30 8. Hours of Work...... 30 9. Compensation...... 31 VI. CONCLUSIONS...... 32 VII. RECOMMENDATIONS...... 33 a. Improvements in the Internal Management System...... 33 b. Improvements at the community and farm level to foster labor standards compliance...... 35 ANNEX 1...... 37 ANNEX 2...... 38 COMMUNITY PROFILES (4)...... 38

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TABLE OF ACRONYMS

ASA...... Afrique Secours Assistance CCC...... Coffee and Cocoa Council COC...... Code of Conduct CPT...... Community Profiling Tool FEMAD...... Femme Action Développement FLA...... Fair Labor Association FT...... Fair Trade GAI...... Grower’s Assessment Instrument GAP...... Good Agriculture Practices GBCC ...... Global Business Consulting Company HSE...... Health Safety and Environment ILO...... International Labor Organization IMS...... Internal Management System IMST...... Internal Monitoring System Tool IPEC...... International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor MoU...... Memorandum of Understanding NCP...... Nestlé Cocoa Plan NGO...... Non-Governmental Organization PR...... Producers Relay RA/RFA...... Rainforest Alliance SACO...... Société Africaine de Cacao SERAP...... Socially and Environmentally Responsible Agricultural Practices SMT...... Supply Chain Mapping Tool STCP...... Sustainable Tree Crop Programs UNICEF...... United Nations Children’s Fund UTZ...... Utz Certified

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY by Nestlé. This Code of Conduct forbids child labor and forced labor, articulates a Since 2012, the FLA has assessed working number of health and safety standards, and conditions at farms in Côte d’Ivoire producing requires reasonable hours of work and fair cocoa for Nestlé under the company’s “Nestlé compensation, among other provisions. While Cocoa Plan.” This sustainability initiative Nestlé’s adoption of this Code of Conduct focuses on the 20 percent of the company’s obligates its implementation throughout the cocoa supply chain in which Nestlé works company’s supply chain, FLA assessors found collaboratively with its tier-1 suppliers to little awareness of this code and its provisions maintain visibility into labor standards at the among the farmers and farm workers of the suppliers’ farms and enact its commitment to “standard supply chain.” the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct.1 Assessors did find that some of the farms For the great majority of Nestlé’s cocoa supplying to the tier-2 supplier had achieved procurement, the company maintains no a third-party sustainability certification for direct relationships with farmers, and relies on their cocoa from either Utz3 or the Rainforest a network of intermediaries to secure access Alliance4. To achieve these certifications, to the cocoa used in the company’s products. farmers must be trained on the certifying For this assessment of Nestlé’s “standard body’s Code of Conduct (which is similar, supply chain,” the FLA worked with one of but not identical, to the Nestlé Code of the company’s tier-1 suppliers to identify an Conduct), and implement the certifying appropriate tier-2 supplier (also known as body’s sustainability requirements at the farm a “traitant”) for an assessment of working level. Assessors found sustainability training conditions at farms outside of the “Nestlé and some sustainability monitoring among Cocoa Plan.” the 30 percent of farms that both produce Assessors visited farms in four communities, for the tier-2 supplier and have also achieved interviewing a total of 110 farmers and 322 farm certification. The tier-2 supplier maintains workers, along with staff at both the tier-1 and staff responsible for training these producers tier-2 suppliers, and a number of additional on the labor and environmental standards intermediaries, such as truck drivers, warehouse they must meet to earn certification, and for workers, and others. The body of this report monitoring their compliance in preparation describes the structure of the supply chain they for assessment by the certification body. encountered, and the working conditions at the For the 70 percent of farms outside of any farms at the end of the supply chain. certification program, however, FLA assessors found no evidence of any training on the Labor Standards Outside the labor standards articulated by Nestlé’s Code “Nestlé Cocoa Plan” of Conduct, or any monitoring to ensure that When FLA assessors visit farms producing working conditions meet Nestlé’s standards. cocoa for the “Nestlé Cocoa Plan,” they The assessment team reports that in addition assess working conditions against nine broad to the lack of monitoring and remediation categories outlined by the FLA Workplace systems, they found labor-rights issues that 2 Code of Conduct , which has been adopted mirror those sometimes found on Nestlé

1 http://www.nestle.com/csv/rural-development-responsible-sourcing/ 3 https://www.utz.org/ nestle-cocoa-plan 4 http://www.rainforest-alliance.org 2 http://www.fairlabor.org/our-work/labor-standards www.fairlabor.org 3 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Cocoa Plan farms (which do have monitoring by a certification standard. This work would and remediation in place), such as child labor, require support from Nestlé to distribute its health and safety issues, a lack of effective illustrated Code of Conduct to the standard grievance procedures, and forced labor risks. supply chain, expand the labor-standards training and monitoring functions performed Supply Chain Traceability and Internal by the tier-2 supplier, and strengthen farmers’ Management Improvements contractual relationships to incorporate labor Despite the many actors involved in the standards. “standard supply chain,” FLA assessors found that the systems and information necessary Farm and Community Level Improvements to fully trace this part of the supply chain do Finally, the FLA recommends that Nestle and exist. Because of the need to track the cocoa its tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers work together to coming from farms involved in certification make needed improvements at supplier farms programs, and to provide training at these and communities that will improve the quality farms, assessors found that the tier-2 supplier of life for farmers and workers and improve maintains traceability mechanisms that could working conditions at the farms. For example, be leveraged for non-certified farms as well. FLA assessors identified that many farmers could increase their yields and therefore Assessors also found that while the tier-2 their incomes with some simple inputs such supplier does not maintain documentation as new cocoa seedlings, fertilizers and plant on the non-certified farms in the supply nutrients, and training on best agricultural chain, this information could be obtained. practices. Because low incomes are one driver The tier-2 supplier works with a number of of child labor at the farms, any inputs that intermediaries known as “pisteurs” (“trackers” help lift farmers’ economic standing may help in English) who maintain records on the remediate this persistent labor-rights issue in farms where they collect cocoa beans. The cocoa supply chains. assessors note that while many pisteurs are reluctant to share their information, if supply The full assessment report includes further chain stakeholders could work together to recommendations for improvements at the combine the pisteurs’ records with the tier- farm and community level (including further 2 traceability system, it would be a first step improvements intended to reduce child toward organizing and better implementing labor), and further recommendations for labor standards across this part of the enhancing the internal management system “standard supply chain.” of the standard supply chain. Implementing such recommendations would begin to The FLA recommends that Nestlé work with bring Nestlé’s full supply chain under the its tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers to introduce an requirements of its established Workplace electronic registration system of all supplier Code of Conduct. farms, based on the data currently maintained by the pisteurs. With this infrastructure in place, then, the FLA recommends that Nestlé and its suppliers develop a five-year plan to bring both internal labor monitoring and remediation of violations to the 70 percent of the supply chain not currently covered

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II. INTRODUCTION a portion of Nestlé’s tier-1 suppliers change every year, there is a loyal base Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s biggest cocoa to start with and some already work on producer accounting for one-third of global sustainability issues. cocoa production. The country exports around 1.5 million tons5 of cocoa beans b. Nestlé should invest in training of per year, of which 80 percent is sourced registered traitants and pisteurs on from a supply chain that is neither formally code awareness, responsible sourcing organized by producers nor formally traced practices and monitoring labor issues and tracked by buyers—what this report calls (especially child labor and health and “the standard supply chain.” As part of its safety). affiliation with the Fair Labor Association, c. This may also require some consolidation Nestlé is required to progressively establish of the supply chain so that the tier-1 transparency of its entire cocoa supply suppliers work with fewer partners who chain in Côte d’Ivoire (both organized are known to them, and their suppliers and unorganized) and to ensure fair labor do the same. Knowing your business conditions in the entire supply chain, subject partners should be a maxim observed at to independent verification by the FLA. For every level of the supply chain. Nestlé, its “standard supply chain” refers to any cocoa sourced outside of its Nestlé d. With other industry partners, Nestlé Cocoa Plan (NCP), meaning that Nestlé has should explore the opportunities to no direct contact with the cocoa growers and organize joint monitoring of shared procurement is managed by the sub-suppliers supply chains (farmers associations, (tier-2 suppliers, also known as traders and traitants, SARLs). If industry-wide “traitants”). Per the Nestlé Supplier Code6, collaboration were attained, the each tier of the supply chain is required to standard supply chain could also be adhere to established labor standards. monitored for labor standards.

In a 2012 assessment of labor conditions at Nestlé’s provided the following response suppliers for the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, the FLA to the FLA’s recommendations: recommended that Nestlé begin scaling up its efforts to trace, monitor, and remediate labor “Nestlé believes that improving and scaling abuses in its standard cocoa supply chain. up the Nestlé Cocoa Plan will be an effective Those recommendations were described as way to try to address the problems in our follows: supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire. Nestlé Cocoa Plan aims to enable farmers to run profitable a. Nestlé should evaluate the options farms and eliminate child labor, while ensuring to include middlemen (other than a sustainable cocoa supply chain for our cooperatives) under the NCP through business. The initiative is an example of our registering of all tier-2 suppliers, their “creating shared value” approach to business. traitants and their pisteurs. Even though It is designed to create value through the supply chain—particularly for farmers and

5 http://www.agenceecofin.com/cacao/2401-16970-la-cote- their families. It is a long-term holistic plan d-ivoire-a-produit-1-449-million-de-tonnes-de-cacao-durant-la- that leverages certification and complements campagne-2012-2013 it with other activities. We welcome the FLA 6 http://www.nestle.com/asset-library/Documents/Library/Documents/ findings that the Nestlé Cocoa Plan lays the Suppliers/Supplier-Code-English.pdf www.fairlabor.org 5 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

foundations for strengthening and mounting implementation of the FLA Code of further efforts to achieve our mission of Conduct (CoC) at the traitant level; procuring cocoa from child labor free supply 3. Assess the traceability and sustainability chains. Our action plan will deepen and programs installed by the traitant and extend the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. identify ways in which they can be made • We will accelerate the extension of the more efficient with the aim of building Nestlé Cocoa Plan to more coops and partnership through the tier-1 supplier farmers, and will report annually on to roll out an internal monitoring and progress. Our published targets for 2012 remediation system; state 10 percent of our global cocoa 4. Based on the findings, make definitive supply should come from Nestlé Cocoa and actionable recommendations to Plan, and we aim to increase the amount Nestlé on integrating the standard of cocoa we source through the Nestlé supply chain that is currently not visible Cocoa Plan in Cote d’Ivoire by over 30 to Nestlé under NCP. percent between 2012 and 2013. • We will explore the possibilities to III. BACKGROUND certify the conventional supply chain through working with our tier-1 suppliers a. About Nestlé Standard Supply Chain (traitants and pisteurs) by December Assessment 2012. In this case we would include these participants in child labor awareness According to Nestlé, the manufacturing of training and ultimately the monitoring Nestlé-branded cocoa products annually and remediation scheme in the same consumes around 10 percent of all cocoa manner as we plan for coops. beans harvested worldwide, with 37 percent of these beans and products (cocoa liquor, • FLA will conduct further research powder, butter) originating in Côte d’Ivoire. with our tier-1 suppliers, to get in- Around 25 percent of the cocoa8 procured depth knowledge on the options and from Côte d’Ivoire by Nestlé is at present possibilities for consolidation.” covered by the Nestlé Cocoa Plan (NCP)9 and In June 2015, the Fair Labor Association the remaining 75 percent comes from the yet- conducted an assessment of Nestlé’s standard to-be-traced “standard supply chain.” cocoa supply chain in the Soubré region, in Côte In 2013, Nestlé and FLA contacted all of d’Ivoire. The goals of this assessment were to: Nestlé’s tier-1 suppliers (supplying both Nestlé 1. Conduct a workplace standards risk Cocoa Plan cocoa as well as standard cocoa) assessment in a sampled portion of the to request an overview of their Supplier Code upstream cocoa supply chain that is of Conduct and to survey their willingness currently managed by a traitant and is to engage in a Standard Supply Chain not covered by the Nestlé Cocoa Plan;7 2. Map the internal supply chain 8 Beans and products management systems and assess 9 In October 2009, Nestlé launched NCP, which brings together all the gaps and challenges in the their past and future initiatives that focus on ensuring a sustainable future for the cocoa industry worldwide (Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Venezuela, Ghana, Indonesia and on small scale in Brazil, Mexico and 7 http://www.nestlecocoaplan.com Malaysia). www.fairlabor.org 6 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

• Most farmers organized under farmer associations or are part of cooperatives

• Most visible to the international community and are part of transparent supply chain 20% cocoa farmers • Based in the central, south and east part of the country

• Industry sustainability programs cover these farms (Mars, Nestlé, Mondelez, ADM, Olam, WCF, ICI etc.)

• Monitoring and certification programs cover these farms (UTZ, RA, FT, FLA, others)

• Seldom are part of any organized farmers association/cooperatives Farmer groups clustering by assessed tier 1/traitant • Mostly located in the north-west part of the country

80% • Rarely covered by monitoring and sustainability programs independent small cocoa farmers • Most farmers still need to be part of a transparent supply chain

Figure 1: Current coverage of various sustainability programs in Côte d’Ivoire

assessment. At the time of this survey, Nestlé The assessed tier-1 supplier started reported sourcing cocoa through 28 tier-1 participating in the NCP in 2012 with an initial suppliers. Of these, eight large tier-1 suppliers commitment of three years, including a trial made up around 80 percent of the total year for part of its supply chain. The process cocoa volume procured from Côte d’Ivoire. for a tier-1 supplier to participate in the NCP Nestlé approached one of its largest tier-1 is provided in Annex 1. While cocoa supplied suppliers and processors and asked to conduct through the NCP is well tracked in an electronic this “standard supply chain assessment” in database (number of farmers, locations etc.), their cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire. the information that the tier-1 supplier has of This tier-1 10 supplier responded positively the non-NCP traitants’ or other intermediaries’ and in turn identified one of its biggest sub- supply chains is more limited, usually to cocoa suppliers (a traitant that is planning to soon volume and financial information. begin participating the Nestlé Cocoa Plan) to According to the tier-1 supplier staff, the participate in the assessment. farmers covered through the NCP and their own sustainability program form a very small 10 The tier-1 supplier participating in the assessment is one of the proportion of the entire supply chain. Other world’s leading agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, sustainability programs tend to cover the with about 33,000 employees across 140 countries. The global value same groups of farmers and cooperatives chain of this tier-1 supplier includes around 470 crop procurement locations, 285 ingredient-manufacturing facilities, 40 innovation centers in Côte d’Ivoire. This FLA standard supply and a large transportation network. The company makes products for chain assessment is designed to assess the food, animal feed, chemical, and energy uses. The tier-1 supplier has conditions in the roughly 80 percent the its own Code of Conduct, a revised version of which was adopted in cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire unreached 2010 and covers employees, suppliers, and business partners. The tier-1 supplier supplies cocoa butter, liquor, and powder from West by any sustainability program. Africa (Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) to a number of food companies including Nestlé, and a has a local office in Abidjan. www.fairlabor.org 7 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

b. Supply Chain Management (representing 90 percent of the total volume System at Tier 1 Supplier viz à viz of the assessed tier-1 supplier), the tier-1 Assessed Traitant supplier along with the assessed traitant are in the process of clustering the cocoa Figure 2 highlights the supply chain of producers into farmer groups of 50-100 the assessed tier-1 supplier. They source farmers each. These growers are not currently cocoa from: part of any existing farmers’ association or cooperative. The clustering is done based on 1) cooperatives, their geographical proximity. Traitant staff is 2) traitants, who gather cocoa from: in the process of registering the growers in a) collection centers where cocoa an internal supplier database and traceability growers deliver their own beans, and tool that they maintain.

b) a network of pisteurs (“trackers” in As of March 2015, the traitant’s database English) who operate as sub-suppliers, contained information from about 4364 picking up cocoa beans from the cocoa farmers (both certified and non- farms and collecting them into a “bush certified) of whom 96 were women. The warehouse.” growers are registered according to their community “bush warehouses” (community- In order to provide some structure to based cocoa collection centers maintained by this large portion of the supply chain a pisteur). Growers in these farmer groups,

Nestlé Tier 1 Supplier

Cooperatives Traitants

Cooperatives Standards participating Cooperatives in the Tier 1’s CSR (Traced/Untraced) Program (40% Coop) (50% Coop) Pisteurs

Nestlé Non-Nestlé Cocoa Cocoa Plan Plan but involved (10% volume in sustainability of cocoa) programs 90% volume of cocoa 90% volume Cocoa Growers Cocoa Growers Cocoa Growers

Figure 2: Cocoa Supply Chain of Assessed Tier 1 Supplier (estimated percentages) www.fairlabor.org 8 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

agree to provide their cocoa harvest to the researcher), and an FLA Research and traitant and in return receive guaranteed Innovation Assistant, both based in Côte purchase of their beans at the government- d’Ivoire. Technical support was provided by established price, plus other services, such FLA Director of Research and Innovation as pick-up of their beans, and deliver of any based in Geneva. The team was responsible fertilizers or other inputs for which they for tool adaptation, selection of communities, have paid. data collection, data processing, analysis, and reporting. The assessed traitant is one of the largest suppliers to the tier-1 supplier in Côte d’Ivoire and has been in business for thirty years. b. Sample Selection Some farms supplying to this traitant are For the initial sample selection, the FLA in Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certified and the consultation with the tier-1 supplier selected process of bringing farms under the NCP is the top four zones producing most of the ongoing. Much of the procurement is through cocoa delivered to the collection center in direct sourcing from small cocoa farmers in Soubré: addition to working with 50-60 additional smaller cocoa traders. The traitant maintains 1) Allakabo and an in-house sustainability team that is being 2) Sarakadji in Axis D11, advised by an international auditing firm. According to the tier-1 supplier, the assessed 3) Krohon in Axis B, and traitant procures and delivers about 150,000 4) Zogbodoua in Axis C. tons of cocoa each year and has a fleet of 80 large trucks and approximately 500 pick-up In each of these zones, a group of twenty trucks that bring cocoa from the farms to (20) farmers (men and women) were the collection centers. The current biggest randomly selected from the list of traced catchment areas for the assessed traitant farmers provided by the traitant. Based on are Soubré and Gagnoa, where the cocoa this, a total of 80 farmers were randomly beans are sorted and bagged. In Soubré, the selected in four zones where assessment assessed traitant operates one of the largest activities were to be conducted (Figure nurseries in Côte d’Ivoire (distributing about 3). During the introductory meeting with 100,000 cocoa seedlings each year), along the traitant staff managing the Internal with a local administrative office and a team Monitoring System (IMS), the FLA team of employees. During the initial discussions adapted the sample selection process to fulfill with the tier-1 supplier, FLA determined to the objectives of the assessment. Interviews concentrate the assessment in one of the with the IMS staff revealed that the traitant two prime sourcing locations; Soubré was maintains a partial farmer list. selected for the FLA assessment. There are three categories of farmers that the traitant works with:

IV. METHODOLOGY 1) certified farmers who are organized and involved in sustainability programs and a. Assessment Team appear on the traitant’s list; The assessment team consisted of an 11 The traitant has divided the procurement regions into four Axis FLA Program Manager (serving as lead A,B,C,D for administration purposes. www.fairlabor.org 9 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

2) non-certified farmers who are yet to be beans to the traitant but are not involved involved in any sustainability programs in any certification program and were and appear on the list, and not displayed on the farmer list originally provided to the FLA. Additionally, during 3) untraced farmers who deliver their cocoa the field visits, some of the selected to the traitant whenever they want to, farmers were not available; therefore, other and who also do not appear on the list. available farmers were selected. FLA The initial selection of 80 farmers was only staff also interviewed family members made from the available certified farmers’ working on the farms, sharecroppers and list. Therefore, in order to capture the contractual workers, pisteurs, collectors, reality of all the entire supply chain, FLA truck drivers, and internal staff at the team interviewed additional farmers in the traitant’s buying center in Soubré and at selected communities who supply cocoa the community level.

Daloa MARAHOUÉ YAMOUSSOUKRO Guiglo

Issia MOYEN- FROMAGER CAVALLY

Gagnoa Lakota Taï C A Soubré Divo D BAS- SUD- SASSANDRA BANDAMA B

Sassandra

San Pédro

Figure 3: The geographical reach of the FLA’s assessment around Soubré, including areas along Axis B (Krohon), Axis C (Zogbodua), and Axis D (Allakabo and Sarakadji) www.fairlabor.org 10 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

TABLE 1: DETAILS OF INTERVIEWED PERSONNEL FOR THE ASSESSMENT

NUMBER OF NUMBER OF PISTEURS, NUMBER OF NUMBER OF IMS ZONE COMMUNITIES WORKERS (FAMILY/ COLLECTORS, FARMERS STAFF CONTRACTUAL) PRODUCER RELAYS, TRUCK DRIVERS*

Buying center Soubré 5 3

Allakabo

Petit Odiéné

Kaborédougou

Sidibédougou Allakabo (Axis D) 33 13 3 3 Johin

Kra-N’guessankro

Petit Zuénoula

Moussadougou

Sarakadji

Sarakadji (Axis D) Angbi-Kouakoukro 28 11 1 4

M’brakro

Krohon Krohon (Axis B) 26 8 1 2 Renékro

Zogbodoua

Sialoukro Zogbodoua (Axis C) 23 13 1 3 Oupoyo-Bété

Dar-es-alam

Total 18 110 45 11 15

*The various categories of interviewees are defined under Section V—Findings-Supply ChainActors.

Table 1 provides the final sample size visited 18 communities in the selected zones interviewed and the number of visited to assess the workplace through observation, communities. FLA staff visited a total documentation review, individual and group of 18 communities during the assessment interviews, and focus-group discussions with and collected data from 110 cocoa growers, workers, and their family members. farmers, 45 farm workers (family members, Finally, FLA staff conducted interviews sharecroppers, and contractual labor); with pisteurs, collectors, truck drivers, and 11 traitant staff; and 15 pisteurs, collectors, producers relay (PR)12 for triangulation and and truck drivers—for a total of 181 additional information. Interviews were interviews. conducted in French, Baoulé, Malinké and others local dialects. As necessary, the FLA c. Data Collection and Tools Used team used local translators. Interviews were held at farms, in homes, in the communities, From June 10–26, 2015, the FLA field team or at the drying places. met with the sustainability staff of the tier-1 supplier and traitant to, 1) understand their The assessment team adapted existing internal systems; 2) map the existing policies FLA tools and developed new ones. and procedures; and 3) assess the existing

processes and their implementation. 12 Producers relay (PR) are part of pisteurs’ staff. They are hired by pisteurs and jointly paid by the pisteur and the traintant to provide In addition to these meetings, the team training and awareness to farmers. www.fairlabor.org 11 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

TABLE 2: ASSESSMENT STAGES

INFORMATION SHARED OR PHASE PERIOD OBJECTIVE(S) GATHERED

• Explain the FLA’s approach to task and risk mapping, Meeting with tier-1 supplier • Understand tier-1 supply chain model, in particular the cocoa Tier-1 and traitant’s internal December–February 2014 staff in Switzerland supply chain under the selected traitant, management systems • Determine next steps

Development of tools, work plan, and methodology; Prepare assessment tools and finalize sample size and February–June 2015 Communities’ names, farmer lists selection of communities assessment locations and farmers

FLA: Context, objectives and Meeting with tier-1 supplier methodology of the assessment. June 10, 2015 Share the objective and methodology of the assessment local staff in Côte d’Ivoire Tier-1 Supplier: Communities’ locations; Security procedures.

Meeting with traitant staff in Understand policies and procedures June 16, 2015 Internal Monitoring System assessment Soubré and management system

Community and farm visits June 17 – 25, 2015 Farm-level assessment The results of IMS in communities

Closing meeting, Sharing of preliminary conclusions of the assessment, discuss and IMS Report, numbers and statistics, clarification of all pending June 26, 2015 sign the IMS report and clarify any pending items summary findings items with traitant staff

Data processing and report July 1–August 15, 2015 Report on findings and recommendations Findings and Recommendations writing

Four main data collection tools were used completed for the communities visited in four during this assessment: zones (Annex 2), one SMT was completed for the entire supply chain, and 110 GAI tools 1) Internal Monitoring System Tool (IMST), were completed for 110 assessed growers. 2) Community Profiling Tool (CPT), This report is a synthesis of the information collected in the various tools. 3) Supply Chain Mapping Tool (SMT) and

4) Grower’s Assessment Instrument (GAI). d. Assessment Stages

One IMS tool was completed for the traitant’s Table 2 provides the details of the assessment central bush warehouse, four CPTs were stages.

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TABLE 3: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND EXTERNAL INFORMATION GATHERING

ZONES STAKEHOLDERS MET DURING THE ASSESSMENT AREAS OF DISCUSSION

President of Women’s Association Involvement of women in community-level decision-making; income generating avenue for women

Involvement of the pisteur in community-level intervention, different actors from the cocoa sector in Representative of Notability the community, communit- based intervention from cocoa actors

Krohon Youth representative Involvement of youth in community activities, main occupation of youth

School fees, facility for children attending school, school infrastructures, involvement of the pisteur President of the School Management Committee in the school activities

School Director School attendance rate, child labor prevalence in the community, sensitization regarding child labor

Context and objective of the committee, means allocated to them, process of intervention, results of Child Labor Monitoring Committee intervention

Involvement of the pisteur in community based-interventions, relationship between pisteur and Representative of Notability community members, opinions about the existence of the child labor committee

Community Head of Angbi-Kouakoukro Lack of water, village maintenance, relationship of the pisteur to the community Sarakadji School Director of Angbi-Kouakoukro School attendance of children, school infrastructure, child labor prevalence

Nurse of M’brakro Health facilities in the community

President of the School Management Committee School infrastructure, school attendance, school fees

President of the School Management Committee School infrastructure, school fees, child labor prevalence

Allakabo The intervention of the pisteur in the community, labor issues, child labor, labor standards Notability Representative in Kra N’guessankro awareness

Labor issues, child labor, labor standards awareness, main actors from the cocoa sector in the Notability Representative in Sialoukro Zogbodoua community, intervention of the traitant in the community Koranic school teacher Attendance rate of children at the Koranic school

e. External Information Gathering into four Axes (Axis A, B, C, and D) covering a total of 41 zones: In order to understand the functioning of the communities and collect information − 10 zones in Axis A that could bolster the findings of the − 6 zones in Axis B research, a number of local community based stakeholders were interviewed. Information − 17 zones in Axis C about them is available in Table 3. − 8 zones in Axis D

Each of these zones has a bush warehouse V. FINDINGS managed by a pisteur and covers about 20-30 communities and up to 1000 farms. a. Traitant’s Supply Chain Mapping Each of these communities includes both untraced farmers that do not appear in This section primarily reports on the the traitant’s supplier database and traced assessed traitant’s supply chain structure farmers that do. Each pisteur organizes and in and around Soubré. For organizational manages his own supply chain. They are not purposes, the traitant has divided Soubré considered members of staff or employees

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FARMERS TRACED FARMERS BUYING COMMUNITY AXIS ZONE TRACED (T)/ CERTIFIED (C)/ CENTER (C) UNTRACED (U) NON-CERTIFIED (N)

Figure 4: Traitant’s Supply Chain Structure (Tier-1 Supplier—HKF*)

of the traintant. Pisteurs are responsible for The traitant’s buying center in Soubré collecting beans from the farmers in the collects from a total of around 90 bush communities they manage and for providing warehouses. Although the catchment area other services to the farmers in their for each bush warehouse is about 30-40 designated zone. To help them in this process, kilometers, pisteurs sometimes could cover they appoint collectors in some communities, farms located up to 80 kilometers away. who are responsible for bean collection from The assessed traitant has provided pick-up the farmers. In some communities, pisteurs trucks to each of the pisteurs (in total employ additional truck drivers to collect the about 500 trucks) and advances them beans directly from the farmers. In addition credit at the beginning of each season, with to the pisteur’s central bush warehouse (for which they compensate the growers while 20-30 communities), some communities are picking up their cocoa. Pisteurs bring all the equipped with local bush warehouses. cocoa to the central warehouse in Soubré.

* The traitant is coded as HKF to protect its identity. www.fairlabor.org 14 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

The Soubré central bush warehouse has a garage where the pick-up trucks are serviced and maintained.

b. Traitant’s Supply Chain traceability

Exporters (Tier-1 Suppliers) Exporters are subsidiaries of multinational companies that manage the procurement, processing, and shipping of cocoa beans and products. They source cocoa beans from the farmer groups (cooperatives), traitants, Cocoa bags at the traitant’s buying center and other companies13 and provide the beans to companies like Nestlé. Within their supply chains many exporters implement Pisteurs sustainability or certification programs that A pisteur14 is a small trader of cocoa beans. help farmers improve working conditions In some cases, he is an independent entity at their farms and living conditions in the and works for himself, but most of the time communities. They represent the tier-1 he is attached to a traitant and acts as its suppliers for the chocolate industry. representative in a given zone. Althought a pisteur usually manages only one zone, Traitants he can sometimes extend his operations to A traitant is a large cocoa bean trader other zones as well that are managed by licensed by the Coffee and Cocoa Council other pisteurs. A pisteur must obtain a license (CCC) to source cocoa from farmers in a from the CCC to collect cocoa beans from region for which the traitant holds a license. farmers in a given area. Pisteurs work on Traitants are different from cooperatives or commission, based on the quantity of cocoa farmers’ associations, as they do not have they delivered. Pisteurs are tier-3 suppliers of formal farmer members. Traitants are tier-2 the chocolate manufacturer. The Pisteur keeps suppliers to the chocolate manufacturer. They in contact with the communities through the buy cocoa beans from farmers (any farmer) pick-up trucks drivers or collectors who are and sell to the exporters. The assessed appointed as representatives of the pisteur in traitant provides cocoa beans to various a given community or geographical area. exporters and implements certification programs (UTZ/Rainforest Alliance) for two Collectors/Coxers exporters, including for the assessed tier-1 The collector (sometimes also called “coxer”) supplier. Each traitant is free to organize its is appointed by the pisteur to collect and supply chain to suit its business needs and gather cocoa beans from farmers in the same business model. community, or from various communities in

14 In our assessment we did not come across any female pisteur, collector, truck driver or commis. According to the traintant’s staff, women are not prevented from performing such activities, but they have never received a request from a women interested to work 13 Companies that are registered as SARL (limited liability societies). as a pisteur. www.fairlabor.org 15 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

a given area. Most of the time, the collector is a farmer, living in the same community or area and is trusted by the fellow farmers. The collector works on a commission basis. In some cases, the pisteur provides a pick- up truck to the collector to transport the beans to the pisteur’s bush warehouse. The Collectors are tier-4 suppliers to the chocolate industry. All communities may not necessarily have a collector, depending on the volume of business in the community, and the needs and preferences of the pisteur. Collectors must obtain the same license from the CCC as a pisteur.

A farmer drying cocoa following Good Agricultural Practices Truck Drivers

Two types of drivers are involved in the commis is responsible for completing related assessed traitant’s cocoa supply chain. One documents such as the “Connaissement” that type of driver conveys cocoa beans from accompanies the loading of the beans. pisteurs’ bush warehouses to the traitant’s buying center or from traitant’s buying center Cocoa Farmers to the exporter’s buying center. The other The cocoa farmer (producer) or the cocoa type of drivers are responsible for collecting farm owner is the last link in the cocoa cocoa beans from farmers’ households or upstream supply chain and represents the last collectors’ bush warehouses and transporting tier supplier to the chocolate industry. The them to the pisteur’s bush warehouse. These cocoa farmer sells his or her cocoa harvest in drivers are members of the pisteur’s staff who one of the following ways: are directly interacting with the farmers but are not suppliers or traders themselves. 1) through the cooperatives (may or may not be a member of the cooperative), Commis Officers 2) to a collector, or A pisteur appoints staff at the bush warehouse, where cocoa beans from various 3) to a pisteur through the pick-up truck farmers are bought and collected before drivers. they are transported to the traitant’s central In the assessed area, the farmers own small collection point. The number and composition cocoa farms (between 2-10 hectares), and of the bush warehouse staff depends up on may also produce other commercial crops the volume of the cocoa beans procured; such as rubber or coffee, and food crops like however, pisteurs almost always recruit yams, rice, cassava and corn. cocoa handling staff and a lead officer or commis, who receives the cocoa beans in With the support of two main tier-1 the warehouse, weighs the beans, issues exporters, the traitant has traced around 30 receipts and updates the register of farmers. percent of its cocoa farmers, until the time On the day when the beans are delivered of this assessment. This represents 15,851 to the central warehouse in Soubré, the www.fairlabor.org 16 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

cocoa farmers, of whom 10,777 are UTZ bounty of the harvest. Some family members or Rainforest Alliance (RA) certified. The are engaged as sharecroppers by their own remaining 5,074 traced farmers are not yet parents. They receive the rate set for the involved in any certification or sustainability sharecroppers (one-third of the farm’s cocoa program. The certified farmers receive a income). premium for the cocoa, along with training A helping group is a group of farmers in the and awareness-building programs, and are same community who work together on each audited by external auditors appointed by other’s farms on a rotating basis. This does the certification bodies. The 5,074 traced not involve any compensation but exchange farmers not yet involved in sustainability of services. program are profiled and are awaiting the opportunity to get involved in a sustainability Contractual workers are hired workers program. The part of the supply chain that including sharecroppers, occasional workers, remains untraced at the traitant level provides seasonal workers, annual workers, and daily 70 percent of the volume to the traitant. workers. They are engaged on either a verbal Nevertheless, information about this large or written contractual basis and are paid majority of cocoa producers is available in the according to the terms and conditions as manually maintained registers available at the agreed upon. pisteur and collector level. Service Providers, Producer Relay, and Cocoa Farm Workers Support Personnel The farmers maintain their farms with the A service provider in this context is a person support of workers. In the assessed farms, the or organization that is not directly involved farmers work with: in the production or procurement of cocoa beans, but provides services to support the 1) family members, cocoa production and sourcing. For the 2) community based helping groups, or assessed supply chain, service providers include ANADER, the Global Business 3) contractual workers. Consulting Company (GBCC), Intertek, and Family workers usually include the spouse the tier-1 supplier’s internal sustainability staff. (husband or wife) of the farmer, sons and The service providers support the assessed daughters, cousins, nephews and nieces, traitant’s sustainability team, which includes brothers and sisters, in-laws and other family a project coordinator, group administrators, members. Family workers can be permanent data entry operators, and traceability agents. workers working all year round, temporary The project coordinator is responsible for the workers working during vacations, or casual sustainability team at the traitant level. He workers working for a specific task such leads all sustainability programs, manages the as harvesting or cocoa pod opening. The sustainability team, and advises the traitant’s family workers do not have a contract or any general manager in sustainability matters. formal compensation. The income from the The group administrator is responsible for farm serves the household needs. In some the implementation of the certification instances, some family workers benefit from programs. The assessed traitant has five a gift or an impromptu amount provided by group administrators. The data entry operator the family head. This is dependent upon the helps the group administrators in data entry

www.fairlabor.org 17 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Exporters External Service (Multi-nationals) providers Tier 1 Suppliers (Tier 1 Supplier sustainable staff, Intertek, GBCC, Anader)

CCC Regional Traitant and staff Sustainability staff Administration, Delegation of Soubré at Traitant Handling, Drivers Project Coordinator (1), (Permanent, Seasonal, Group Administrators (5), Occasional, Daily) Data entry operator(1), Traceability agents (4)

Pisteurs and staff Producer Relays (104),

Officer (“commis”), Service providers handling, drivers Applicators

Truck-Drivers Collectors

Certified Traced Non Certified Untraced Farmer Farmer Traced Farmer Permanent/Occasional Certified (Utz/RA)

Workers: Family Workers: Daily, Based on task, Casual, Permanent, Casual, Vacation, Annual, Seasonal, Annual, Sharecroppers, (Wife, husband, son, daughter, cousin, Helping Group nephews, brother, sister, brother in law, sister in law…)

Figure 5: Traitant’s Supply Chain Actors

tasks and the five traceability agents are The assessed traitant system comprises responsible for the traceability of cocoa a total of 104 producers relays working beans. They maintain documents on the with pisteurs to implement certification volume and origins of the beans came from programs at the farm level. The producer which grower and which community. The relays are responsible for the providing traitant also employs keepers of the central training, awareness building and monitoring warehouse who receive the delivery of the for farmers. They report to the group cocoa beans. administrators. The applicators are responsible for spraying chemicals at the Similarly, at the pisteur’s level, service farms. They are paid by the farmers for the providers such as producer relays and service they provide. applicators are involved in the supply chain. www.fairlabor.org 18 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

c. Cocoa Bean Procurement certain designated collectors or pick-up truck and Transportation in Traitant’s drivers are allowed to collect certified beans, Supply Chain while in other areas this is not the case.

The assessed traitant currently receives At the time of collection, the collector or the cocoa beans from 692 pisteurs and driver weighs the cocoa beans in presence of collectors licensed by the CCC. As the the farmer or his representative. The collector main contact points for the farmers in all provides payment (farm gate prices as set communities in the Soubré’ area, they are by the Ivorian Government) and a receipt responsible for building a loyal supplier directly to the farmer. On arrival at the base to guarantee cocoa supply, and for pisteur’s bush warehouse, the cocoa beans collecting and delivering beans to around are weighed again and checked for quality. 90 bush warehouses in the communities In some communities where collectors are and a buying center in Soubré. The FLA not appointed, farmers appoints ‘convoyeur’ assessment found that almost all farmers (usually one farmer in the community) to who currently supply to the assessed transport the beans to the bush warehouse in traitant have been doing so regularly and order to verify the weighing and checking. form a loyal supplier base. The pisteurs At the pisteur’s bush warehouse the and their staff report that they know most “commis” and the handling staff arrange the these farmers, many of whom come from bags according to their certification status15— families that have lived in the same cocoa Utz-certified cocoa beans; Rainforest- communities for generations, but they Alliance-certified cocoa beans; and standard maintain no formal suppliers’ lists. Thirty cocoa beans. Upon reaching sufficient stock, percent of the farmers who form the the pisteur or the traitant will appoint a permanent supplier base have been formally truck driver to convey the stock from the traced and recorded in the traitant’s system. bush warehouse to the central warehouse Pisteurs maintain individual contacts with in Soubré. At the central warehouse, the cocoa farmers via that establish terms for warehouse keeper and the traceability bean collection by pick-up truck drivers agents receive the lading (‘connaissement’—a or collectors. After opening the cocoa shipping document that contains information pods opening, farmers inform the pisteur’s about the weight, certification status, quality, representative (the collector or the pick-up and origin of the cocoa beans). The handling truck driver) when to collect the wet cocoa staff unloads the bags of cocoa beans for beans and transport them to the village or weighing and checking and stores the bags camp where the cocoa will be dried. The according to their certification status. If the officer (“commis”) or the pick-up truck stock is sufficient, the traitant appoints a driver then plans to retrieve the dried cocoa truck driver to transport the cocoa beans to beans once the drying process is complete. the exporter’s buying center, usually located Pisteurs provide storage bags to the farmers in Abidjan or San-Pedro. according to the category of beans (certified versus non certified), but the management of the traceability of the certified cocoa beans varies among pisteurs. For example, 15 The quality and certification status of the farm is checked before the cocoa is accepted as certified cocoa and this happens before the in Allakabo, one of the visited zones, only bags are issued to the growers for bagging cocoa.

www.fairlabor.org 19 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

TABLE 4: PROFILE OF THE ASSESSED FARMS

ITEMS ALLAKABO SARAKADJI KROHON ZOGBODOUA TOTAL

NUMBER OF INTERVIEWED FARMERS 33 28 26 23 110

ESTIMATED COCOA BEANS VOLUME PROVIDED BY 69.8 38.5 59.8 53.1 221.2 INTERVIEW FARMERS (IN TONS)

TOTAL FARM SIZE ACCORDING TO INTERVIEWED 108 64.6 131 92.5 396.1 FARMERS (IN HECTARES)

FAMILY WORKERS 65 55 54 61 235 NUMBER OF WORKERS CONTRACTUAL WORKERS 25 14 27 21 87

NUMBER OF CHILDREN (5-15 YEARS) IN INTERVIEWED 64 124 66 63 317 FARMERS’ HOUSEHOLDS

NUMBER OF CHILDREN WITHOUT BIRTH CERTIFICATE IN 39 20 18 24 101 INTERVIEWED FARMS’ HOUSEHOLDS

NUMBER OF CHILDREN ATTENDING SCHOOL* 37 86 41 31 195

NUMBER OF CHILDREN PRESENT IN FARMS DURING 9 8 6 0 23 FARMS VISITS

NUMBER OF CHILDREN OR YOUNG WORKERS 6 3 4 0 13 PERFORMING FARM WORK

NUMBER OF FARMERS ATTENDING TRAINING SESSIONS 14 11 14 15 54

** Children can be enrolled and attend school without a birth certificate. However, when they reach the 6th grade it is compulsory for them to provide a birth certificate, lack of which could lead to their expulsion from the school.

d. Farm Profile of the Assessed Farms of the assessed farms.

According to the tier-1 supplier, the assessed Assessors found that the percentage of traitant delivers about 150,000 tons of children enrolled in school in the visited cocoa each year to its buyers. The traitant areas (61.51 percent) is equal to the was not able to provide data to confirm this national average16. However, in general the number to the assessment team, but was communities were found to be lacking proper able to demonstrate that during the last school infrastructure and facilities. In addition, season (2013-2014) the traitant delivered 31.86 percent of children interviewed in about 87,000 tons (including both certified farmers’ households lack birth certificates—a and standard) of beans to the assessed tier- pre-requisite for school attendance. 1 supplier alone. The traitant has traced the supply chains leading back to around 30 e. Risks Assessment of the percent of its suppliers (15,851 farmers), of Internal Management System which 10,777 are UTZ or Rainforest Alliance at the Traitant Level certified. The remaining 5,074 are yet to be involved in any sustainability program. These This section presents an analysis of the traced farmers include 469 female farmers of Internal Management System within whom 375 are certified. The traced farmers the assessed traitant’s supply chain and produce cocoa on 74,237.02 hectares of land, which is divided into 16,665 traced farms. 16 According to UNICEF, the net enrollment rate in primary school in 2008-2011 is about 61.5 percent. See http://www.unicef.org/french/ Table 4 provides detailed statistics and profile infobycountry/cotedivoire_statistics.html www.fairlabor.org 20 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

elaborates on current risks related to the are covered by the certification codes, in standards of the FLA Workplace Code of addition to other policies on environment, Conduct17. FLA’s previous assessments18 have agronomics, integrated pest management reported on the tasks and risks in the overall etc. Nevertheless, the assessment team cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire, which also determined through its interviews that apply within this standard supply chain. in spite of availability of CoC, the service providers and internal supply chain actors The assessed traitant holds a license from focus primarily on issues of bean quality the CCC to conduct cocoa trading in Soubré, and Good Agriculture Practices (GAP). which means the traitant can legally source The visibility of the certification policies from all farmers producing cocoa in the at the field level is low. Only the farmers Soubré area19. Since 2012, to better meet who participate in the certification training certification requirements, the traitant with programs are made aware of these policies, the support of the assessed tier-1 supplier which is less than 30 percent of the entire and Global Business Consulting Center supply chain. The farm level workers are (GBCC), started organizing its supply chain not part of these training programs22. by introducing an Internal Management During the farm level data collection, System based on the UTZ and Rainforest the assessment team recorded very few Alliance certification standards. This Internal instances of all policies being made visible Management System (IMS) covers only the to workers. When the assessment team did farmers that are currently involved in the find instances of policies made visible to certification programs (around 30 percent of workers (such as loose sheets of papers with the total supply chain). “Stop Child Labor” written on them), these communications were found to be of limited 1. Presence, Content and Visibility of use, as the majority of community members Policies cannot read. The assessed traitant does not have an internal Code of Conduct (CoC) and the FLA The assessment team found limited or no assessment team did not find the Nestlé’ evidence of certification policies being CoC or the tier-1 supplier CoC in use at the implemented either at the central buying farm level. The CoC and policies that are in center in Soubré or in the communities. use within the traitant’s system are those of No pictograms, brochures, or posters of the certification bodies Utz certified20 and the buyer’s CoC or the certification bodies’ Rainforest Alliance21. All FLA CoC elements policies were posted or readily available to farmers, family members or workers.

17 www.fairlabor.org 18 http://www.fairlabor.org/report/assessment-nestle-cocoa-supply- chain-ivory-coast 22 Three central training sessions per zone are organized per year for the farmers participating in RA certification program. Four central 19 Other traitants are also provided the license to source from Soubré, training sessions per zone are organized per year for those who so it is not an exclusive regional license and there if competition are participating in Utz certification program. In addition to these amongst the various tier 1 suppliers and traitants to secure a loyal central training sessions, Producers Relays hold additional training supplier base in the region. session through Farmers Field School for those who participate in Utz 20 https://utzcertified.org/attachments/article/26584807/FR%20 certification program. According to the document review based on the UTZ%20Core%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20Group%20 attendance lists, an average of 88 farmers participate in the central Certification%202014.pdf training sessions and 38 in the farmers field school training sessions. 21 http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/agriculture/documents/norme_ag_ The assessment could not find information on the the total number of durable_fr_Juillet2010.pdf trained farmers per zone to calculate the percentof participation. www.fairlabor.org 21 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

2. Implementation, Training and Internal When non-compliances with the certification Monitoring bodies’ policies are found, the farmer is The assessed traitant is currently in the expected to implement corrective actions. process of implementing the certification The traitant staff supports the farmers in bodies’ policies through certain procedures, implementing corrective actions by sharing meetings, farmer field schools, awareness policies and procedures with them or by sessions, and monitoring. As needed, general providing guidance to them during the meetings take place time to time at the training sessions. The traitant’s sustainability pisteur’s bush warehouses to discuss supply staff maintains a Standard Operating 23 chain issues, such as quality of the cocoa Procedures Manual that elaborates beans, child labor elimination, safe chemical the internal monitoring and remediation application, and good agriculture practices. processes. Upon completion of its corrective In addition to these meetings, each zone actions, the farm receives an additional conducts a number of centralized training internal monitoring visit by the producer sessions. For example, according to the relays before the farm is recommended for an traitant’s internal staff, each zone receives at external certification audit. This is to ensure least three central training sessions (managed that the farmer does not fail the certification by the traitant or tier-1 supplier) during audit. Certification bodies then audit these the year. These training sessions cover the farms annually to check their compliance with certification’s provisions, and issues related certification standards. to sustainable development of cocoa. In The traitant maintains this process for the addition, the zones that participate in the 30 percent of the farmers in the traitant’s Utz certification program organize additional supplier database who are working towards training sessions through Farmer Field certification. The FLA assessment team Schools. Other awareness building activities concluded that training sessions at these consist of farm visits by the producer relays farms remain insufficient, as they primarily (PRs) appointed by the pisteurs to ensure cover Good Agricultural Practices and appropriate application of GAP. If farmers are seldom cover social and labor issues. Training found to be unaware of or not implementing sessions are not held regularly and the Farmer GAP, suitable advice is provided to them by Field Schools are sometimes located far from the PRs. the farmers’ communities. FLA assessors also Monitoring of workplace conditions for found that farms are not regularly monitored certified farms occurs in two stages. Producer to ensure labor standards. Baseline and relays conduct a baseline assessment at the other internal monitoring is done with the farms before the farm is pre-approved to use of a checklist that primarily covers Good participate in a certification program. During 23 The SOP Manual covers the procedure of admission and this baseline assessment, the producer relays codification of the farmers in the program; the procedure of initial or ANADER’s field agents appointed by inspection; the procedure of annual internal monitoring; procedure the pisteurs assess the Good Agricultural of approval; sanction and removal of farmers; procedure of appeal; Practices and the labor standards with an procedure to prepare for of external audit; procedure of communication on corrective measures; process of communication; procedure of Internal Monitoring Template checklist. Based chemical application; procedure of certification cost distribution into on the findings of this baseline assessment, the buying center’s members; and procedure for documentation the farmer is trained and advised how to management. The internal staff has access to this manual that was improve the conditions at his or her farm. developed by the GBCC and is used by the ADGs and PRs for farmer training and sensitization. www.fairlabor.org 22 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Agricultural Practices aspects, and FLA Soubré, oversees these activities through assessors found that the internal monitors regular visits, training, and assistance of completing the checklist were insufficiently the traitant’s staff. In addition, the assessed trained to conduct monitoring activities. traitant maintains its own team responsible The assessment team did not come across for the implementation of the certification any plans by the tier-1 supplier or traitant programs at the field level through to progressively roll out a monitoring and trainings, awareness building, meetings, remediation program to cover the remaining and monitoring. Some pisteurs have also 70 percent of the supply chain. provided motorbikes to the traitant’s sustainability staff (primarily producer The traitant’s sustainability staff maintains relays) to aid their field activities. various documentation such as the Rainforest Alliance and Utz COC, a Standard Operating In the current system, the number of Procedures Manual, training-related producer relays in proportion to the number documentation (attendance lists, training of farmers they oversee remains small. plans, training minutes), a premium payment Each PR must oversee 103 certified farms, register, farmers’ folders including the in addition to other non-certified farms. contract between the farmer and the traitant, The FLA assessment team determined that the additional MoU concerning premium the current numbers of producer relays are payment, the mapping of the farmer’s farm, insufficient to ensure proper monitoring and the reports of baseline and internal and remediation activities if the number monitoring. This documentation covers of farms they must oversee increases. The farmers currently involved in the certification assessment team also found discrepancies program. Other documentation related to the in the availability of resources to the PRs. advances paid to the pisteurs for the volume While in some cases the PRs are well of cocoa beans sourced and delivered by the equipped, in other cases PRs lacked means traitant is available at the traitant level and of transportation to the farms and some managed by a separate team. Pisteur staff were not regularly paid for the past five maintains the register of farmer suppliers months by the traitant. and the purchase receipts documenting the volume of beans and the purchase price 4. Indicators and Results for all farmers. Farmers retain the purchase The main indicators used by the certification receipt. Additionally, farmers participating in programs to determine a traitant’s success certification programs retain a copy of their are; 1) full traceability of the delivered contract and additional MoU on premium cocoa beans, 2) quality of the cocoa payment. beans, 3) proper maintenance of farms, and 4) respect for environment and labor 3. Resource Allocation standards. The assessment team did not find The traitant and its partners (tier-1 any reports or documentation that could suppliers) have allocated resources such as verify if and how these indicators are being staff time, motorbikes, and training manuals met. Therefore, based on the data collected to conduct field-level activities that will help during this assessment and field visits to the meet the requirements of the certification farms, the team provides its own analysis of programs. The sustainability staff of the results for each indicator and views of the tier-1 supplier, based in Abidjan and the community-based stakeholders.

www.fairlabor.org 23 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Traceability not possible to know which bag came from The assessed traitant has a farm traceability which farmer, so similar to the cooperative system in place, as required by the CCC24, system, farm level traceability is lost, though utilizing both manual and electronic methods. certification accuracy is maintained. However, According to the CCC, each farmer must because the system is not 100 percent be registered and buyers must be licensed. reliable, there could be some risk of beans Following this requirement, all pisteurs coming from non-certified farmers into the and collectors are licensed and farmers are certified supply chain but as part of this registered when they sell their cocoa. The assessment it was difficult to determine if that pisteurs maintain registers that document the is happening and to what extent. names of all farmers and the quantity of cocoa Quality collected from those farmers, though this In spite of a number of trainings in the information is not available from the traitant. field on GAP and quality, the assessment Around 30 percent of farmers are currently team found a need for additional training registered in the traitant’s electronic system. efforts, especially for farmers who are yet At the community and farm levels, cocoa not involved in any certification program. beans are sorted according to their Even trained farmers were found to be not certification status and farmers package their respecting the prescribed techniques for beans accordingly in bags printed with the harvesting, drying, harvesting and fermenting certification logos provided by the traitant. the cocoa. For example, all interviews found Therefore, when cocoa arrives at the bush that farmers dry their cocoa on the ground, warehouse, the collector or “commis” is able although GAP recommends the use of to differentiate between standard cocoa, and “Claih”25 for cocoa drying. In many cases, this cocoa certified by Utz or Rainforest Alliance. technique allows rain to impair proper drying In some zones, further steps are taken to and deteriorates the quality of the beans. ensure more certain traceability. For example, Farm Maintenance in Allakabo, different pick-up methods are used to ensure that certified and non- The research team found that farmers are certified cocoa remains separate. Farmers making visible efforts to maintain their cocoa deliver standard cocoa to collectors while the farms. This effort is reflected on the volume certified cocoa is directly collected by pick-up of beans harvested each year. Farmers truck drivers and transported to the central report that the producer relays provide bush warehouse. Each warehouse includes strong support for proper farm maintenance specific storage areas for different kinds of by providing advice, about maintenance beans, with the status of the cocoa beans methods and techniques. Assessors found (number of bags / volume of cocoa) noted the farms to be clean, and found that cocoa and updated on the wall. During unloading trees were planted the proper distance apart. of cocoa beans in Soubré, the handling staff According to the interview with traitant’s directly segregates the bags according to staff, in 2014 the traitant distributed enough the certification status of the cocoa inside cocoa seedlings to plant 140 hectares of land after the traceability agent checks it. In this to farmers in 40 communities. During 2015, system, once all the bags are collected, it is the traitant’s staff reports they will distribute

24 http://www.conseilcafecacao.ci/docs/TRACABILITE_ET_ 25 The “claih” is a traditional instrument made from palm branches AMELIORATION_DE_LA_QUALITE.pdf used for drying cocoa beans so as to ensure the quality of dried beans. www.fairlabor.org 24 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

enough seedlings to plant 200 hectares of workers, 104 seasonal workers, and 22 land, although farmers report they will need occasional workers. Employment decisions even more seedlings, as many plantations are are based on referrals made by the existing getting old and need to be renewed. workforce, educational qualification, and on the physical abilities required for particular f. Labor Risk Assessment jobs. The traitant maintains documentation on these workers’ employment at the central In this section we highlight risks at various buying center, including written contracts and levels of the supply chain benchmarked payment receipts. against the FLA’s Code of Conduct. The relationship between the traitant and the 1. Employment Relationship pisteurs is supported by MoU and “Mandats.” The traitant advances interest-free credit FLA CoC: Employers shall adopt and adhere to the pisteurs, at the beginning of each to rules and conditions of employment that season. This credit is made through a written respect workers and, at a minimum, safeguard agreements (“Mandats”) that specify the their rights under national and international advance amount, the expected volume of labor and social security laws and regulations. cocoa to be delivered, and the time period of Written contracts and in some cases delivery. This money is used by the pisteurs to Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) exist pay to the growers. between: At the farm level, many workers are family − Nestlé and it’s tier-1 supplier; members and no agreements are made with them. No monetary compensation is paid to − The tier-1 supplier and the assessed any family members except for some cash traitant; from time to time to meet personal needs. − The traitant and pisteurs; According to the family members, the head of the family is responsible for managing the − Pisteurs and collectors and commis; farm and for covering the family’s basic needs − The traitant and farmers who are involved such as food, clothing, shelter, education, in certification programs. medical expenses, and so on. Farmers also employ sharecroppers to maintain their farms. These contracts cover the labor standards In most cases a verbal agreement in the requirements at the workplace. At the farm presence of a trusted witness is made. As per level, most contracts between farmers and the mutual agreement between the farmer sharecroppers and contractual workers are and the sharecropper, the sharecroppers verbal. Only farmers participating in the receives one third of the total farm’s income certification programs maintain contracts when the harvest is sold. This represents with pisteurs. In some cases, informal verbal his compensation and no monthly salary agreements govern the relationship between payment or other types of compensation is pisteurs and farmers. For example, some farmers report verbally agreeing with pisteurs to sell their cocoa only to the pisteur they use for transporting wet cocoa beans.

The traitant’s buying center in Soubré employs 194 workers including 68 permanent

www.fairlabor.org 25 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

provided through out the year26. Very few The certified farms in the traitant’s supply farmers employ annual or seasonal workers27. chain follow certification standards that prohibit forced labor, with farmers trained on Farmers involved in the certification programs this code element. The other 70 percent of establish clear written contracts with their the farmers supplying cocoa to the assessed workers. According to the interviews, workers traitant are not trained on the prohibition working on the certified farms receive the of forced labor. Assessors found that prevailing compensation rate in the region, advancement of interest-free credit by the which is between FCFA 150,000 - 200,000 pisteurs to the farmers did not exhibit any (equivalent to US$ 300–350) per year. major threat of forced labor in the assessed Given the labor shortage in the rural areas farms and helps farmers to pay their medical and exodus of younger people to cities, the expenses and school fees, and conduct numbers of farmers engaging in self-helps production activities. group is increasing. These groups consist of farmers residing in the same village or camp However, during interviews, a farmer reported who agree to work on each other’s farms to the assessment team that the salary of his on a rotational basis without a contract. The workers would go to the workers’ parents, employment status of some other categories in a neighboring village, rather than directly of workers involved throughout the supply to the workers, which would violate the FLA chain is not clearly established or defined. Workplace Code of Conduct. Moreover, the These include apprentices, and pick-up truck assessors found it difficult to determine the drivers who work for the pisteurs. Most of risk of forced labor for the family members the contracts at the farm level are verbal who work without payment or contract. and workers say they feel free to enter and Finally, in the traitant’s internal monitoring terminate a contract at will. system there is no process in place to monitor, report, and remediate cases of forced labor at 2. Forced Labor the farms or the risks of forced. The traitant’s FLA CoC: There shall not be any use of implementation staff demonstrated limited forced labor, including prison labor, awareness of what constitutes forced labor. indentured labor, bonded labor or other forms of forced labor. 3. Child Labor FLA CoC: No person shall be employed under the age of 15 or under the age for completion 26 For example on an average a farmer in the Ivory Coast produces cocoa of 3 hectares of farm. 1 hectare produces around 500 kilograms of compulsory education, whichever is higher. of cocoa. Therefore, each year, the farmer has the potential to earn FCFA 1,275,000 (US$ 2,550). From this income, one-third directly goes A number of child labor initiatives were to the sharecropper and the remaining is used to take care of family found to being implemented in the region needs as well as maintain the farm. of Soubré. For example, the ILO/IPEC 27 Annual or seasonal workers are different from sharecroppers and program Public Private Partnership with they are engaged for a specific duration at the farms or for sepcific Mars is visible in the community of Krohon activities. Their compensation is calculated based on working hours, on the activity they perform and on the prevailing regional wage rate. For through a placard posted in the community. example generally speaking, a seasonal worker receives US$ 170 for At Sarakadji, UNICEF in collaboration with six months of work and an annual farm worker receives US$ 400 for local civil society organizations such as ASA one year of work. However, this rate. varies from one region to another and FEMAD implement a child labor program and the numbers presented here are the maximum the asssesors have come acorss. The casual workers are engaged for specific tasks and that consists of training, awareness building, are paid based on the tasks or working hours. and monitoring. A Child Labor Committee www.fairlabor.org 26 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

assessment, the traitant displayed placards explaining the prohibition against the child labor policy in the visited zones. According to the interviews with the traitant’s staff and the tier-1 supplier staff - the traitant is currently profiling all children living in certified farmers’ households, to identify the number of children at risk of child labor, and to provide intervention or support for families.

During this assessment, the assessment team did not find any hired child workers, however, a number of children from farmers’ households were involved in farm work. The assessment team observed 23 children in farms. Of these, 13 were performing tasks that could be categorized as child labor. Many children were working because the school was closed for vacation, but interviews reveal that some of them do not attend school at all. During the assessment the team could not calculate the total hours of work spent by children and youth working on the farms each day. Some children were observed doing light work such as babysitting, or drying or sorting cocoa. Others were performing hazardous28 tasks such as cleaning the farm, fetching firewood, collecting pods, or breaking pods with machetes.

The risk of child labor is real and prevalent A young school boy helping his parents during school vacation in the visited communities. In some remote camps there are no schools and children also have no birth certificates, as required to was established in the same village as part attend school. of the UNICEF project to continue building According to interviews with the parents, awareness and conduct monitoring activity, their children are present in the farms to which was found to be still active and learn farming and production processes and functional at the time of this assessment. In Ossérié, the traitant has built a school of six 28 On January 19, 2012, Côte d’Ivoire officially defined all hazardous classrooms to make schools accessible to tasks for children (ARRETE no 009. Du 19/01/2012 révisant l’arrêté more children. The certification codes include no 2250 du 14 mars 2005 portant détermination de la liste des a clause against employment of child labor. travaux dangereux interdits aux enfants de moins de dix huit ans). Farmers participating in the certification The handling of machete and sickle are not included in this list but are considered hazardous by international organizations such programs are trained on the prohibition as the ILO, multi-national companies including Nestlé and local civil against child labor. Prior to the FLA’s society organizations. www.fairlabor.org 27 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

not to perform hazardous tasks, although grievance mechanism is available to farmers assessors observed that young people and workers to report such behaviors. perform all types of work including using Some farmers noted that the Farmer Field dangerous equipment such as machetes Schools are located far from their living and sickles. Some community members and quarters to easily access without a better farmers say they are aware of the child labor transportation system. Others raised policy and wish to comply, but face certain grievances related to lack of fertilizer, labor shortages driven by, 1) the low income chemicals, or credit, or related to the quality provided by cocoa, which causes farmers to of interactions with their local pisteur or move on to more lucrative crops like rubber, “commis.” The current internal monitoring palm oil, or bananas, 2) the aging of the system lacks a mechanism for farmers to current workforce, 3) the departure of many raise these grievances directly to the traitant youth to nearby towns for better education, or report non-compliances. Additionally, vocations, and job opportunities. Faced farms lack policies on non-retaliation and with such circumstances, when no one is progressive disciplinary measures. These gaps available to work on the farms, the families increase the risk of harassment and abuse in stop sending their children to school and put the supply chain. them to work. Finally, the assessment team found that there is no child labor monitoring, Although no formal complaint was made reporting, and remediation mechanism in during the assessment, the situation of family place in the assessed traitant’s system, apart workers working with out a contract and from the certification audits. compensation in all visited villages should be further investigated. Families constitute the 4. Harassment and Abuse (H&A) majority of the workforce (the interviewed FLA CoC: Every employee will be treated 110 farmers work with 235 family members) with respect and dignity. No employee will be and conditions for these workers are entirely subject to any physical, sexual, psychological based on the will of the family head. or verbal harassment or abuse. 5. Non-Discrimination The certification standards available in the No person shall be subject to any traitant’s supply chain prohibit harassment FLA CoC: discrimination in employment, including and abuse, and certified farmers are trained hiring, compensation, advancement, on the prohibition of sexual harassment and discipline, termination or retirement, on the abuse. No cases of harassment or abuse basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, were observed or reported by the farmers sexual orientation, nationality, political against pisteurs or the traitant. In one zone, opinion, social group or ethnic origin. community members stated that they faced harassment and abuse from a “commis” The certification standards available in the working for a pisteur. Farmers reported that traitant’s supply chain prohibit discrimination the “commis,” demanded a commission from in the 30 percent of the traitant’s supply the farmers to be included in the list of loyal chain that is traced and certified. The suppliers, and failed to weigh the cocoa assessment team came across many ethnic properly. At the time of assessment this groups employed in the supply chain, who particular commis was no longer working with were employed regardless of background and the pisteur, but field interviews reveal that no origin and paid equally for their work. The

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traitant advances credit to pisteurs based on Chemical handling their capacity to collect cocoa, and assessors Farmers use a variety of herbicides, observed that pisteurs conduct business with pesticides, and other chemicals in cocoa all types of farmers, including both men and cultivation, and the staff of the certification women. bodies advise them to handle these with proper protection. To avoid mishandling of The assessment team observed some products by farmers, pisteurs in each zone situations in the field that pose the risk of appoint applicators to spray chemicals at all discrimination. No female pisteur, collector, or farms that pay for this service. The 70 percent producer relay was observed in the assessed of farmers who are not in the certification traitant’s supply chain, and no women were programs receive no chemical training, or any identified among the 194 staff members applicator service from the pisteurs. During working for the traitant. At the community farms visits, researchers observed empty level, of the 15,851 traced farmers, 469 are chemical containers in some of visited farms female. According to the interviews with that were not properly disposed of. the traitant’s staff, no provision in the hiring practices prevents women from becoming a Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) pisteur, but women do not apply. Assessors Some supplier farmers understand how to found that women working on the farms use personal protective equipment (PPE) and workers who cannot read had less while conducting farm work, however, access to the training and capacity building many young workers and women are not opportunities. properly equipped with protective footwear appropriate to farm work. To visit farms, 6. Health, Safety and Environment producer relays most often ride motorbikes FLA CoC: Employers shall provide a safe without using a helmet. At the central and healthy workplace setting to prevent warehouse, cocoa-handling staff do not have accidents and injury to health arising out of, access to nasal protection against the cocoa linked with, or occurring in the course of work dust and debris. or as a result of the operation of employer facilities. Employers shall adopt responsible Hazardous work measures to mitigate negative impacts that Many cocoa bean production tasks are the workplace has on the environment. hazardous and some of them are particularly hazardous to children and young workers The certification standards available in the found to be performing them. During farms traitant’s supply chain cover provisions for visits, the assessment team observed children health, safety, and environment protection and young workers handling machetes. Other (HSE), but are only applied in the 30 percent children were found fetching firewood, alone, of the traitant’s supply chain that is traced in the absence of a supervisor or guardian. and certified. During internal inspections and At the central warehouse level, workers must external certification audits, HSE issues form carry very heavy beanbags. the bulk of verification assessment points and therefore, assessors found farmers to be Access to medical care quite knowledgeable about HSE provisions. Lack of access to health care is a long- Nevertheless, a number of non-compliances standing and widespread issue for rural and risks were identified during this communities in Côte d’Ivoire. Three of the assessment. four visited “central” communities lack a www.fairlabor.org 29 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

health center. In all cases the farmers and problems in joining the organization of their workers must travel long distances to reach own choosing. In the communities most farms the nearest health center, and transportation are family-run farms where the majority of is seldom available to them. In most of the the workforce is made up of family members visited farms, there in no first kit available and sharecroppers. The average size of the for farmers and workers. First aid kits are farms is less than five hectares. None of maintained at the bush warehouses of zones these interviewed workers were part of any and at central warehouse in Soubré mainly for workers’ orgnanization or labor union. There the workers working in the bush warehouse. is no functionnal workers’ organization in the visited communities. At the community Hygiene, sanitation, and potable water and farm level, interviewees report that there Hygiene and sanitation issues are included are no perceived differences between the among the Rainforest Alliance. Some of the workers, sharecroppers, and farmers, because visited communities were found to be clean some workers and sharecroppers also own with suitable sanitation facilities, while others their own farms while working for other lacked basic hygiene and sanitation. Of the farmers to earn more money. The agreement visited communities, assessors described between workers and farm owners covers the four were as being in poor condition. Some worker’s tasks to be performed and the terms of the visited communities were severely of payment. Workers are free to organize lacking in clean water supply, with the their working hours. situation in Renékro (Zone–Krohon) and Angbi-Kouakoukro (Zone–Sarakadji) was 8. Hours of Work found to be critical. These communities FLA CoC: Employers shall not require source un-treated water directly from ponds workers to work more than the regular and and wells, and the traitant has been working overtime hours allowed by the law of the to address this issue by installing foot- country where the workers are employed. The pumps that draws ground water—which is regular workweek shall not exceed 48 hours. comparatively cleaner—to some communities Employers shall allow workers at least 24 such as Allakabo and Sialoukro. Similar consecutive hours of rest in every seven-day efforts to provide clean water and schools are period. All overtime work shall be consensual. underway in the community of Sialoukro in Employers shall not request overtime on the Zogbodoua zone. a regular basis and shall compensate all overtime work at a premium rate. Other than 7. Freedom of Association and in exceptional circumstances, the sum of Collective Bargaining regular and overtime hours in a week shall not FLA CoC: Employers will recognize and exceed 60 hours. respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The certification standards available in the traitant’s supply chain cover provisions The certification codes currently in use in for hours of work but are only applied 30 percent of the traitant’s supply chain sporadically in even the 30 percent of the cover freedom of association and collective traced and certified supply chain. At the bargaining. The interviews held during this visited farms that have received hours-of- assessment did not highlight any issues work training, the assessors could not gather around the supply chain actors facing any any evidence of hours of work being tracked,

www.fairlabor.org 30 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

as the majority of farmers and workers cannot basic needs and provide some discretionary read and do not maintain any records. This income, each employer shall work with the situation is exacerbated because farmers FLA to take appropriate actions that seek to allocate work by activity rather than by hour, progressively realize a level of compensation with are no supervisors who monitor the that does. hours worked. Assessors found that farmers The certification standards available in the and sharecroppers manage their own time, traitant’s supply chain cover compensation and take rest when they wish to. provisions but are only applied in 30 percent According to the interviews, from September of the traced and certified supply chain. The to November (the busiest season) the CCC has made compensation a priority issue. farmers and farm workers work for 10 to All farmers were paid the price set by the 11 hours for five to six days per week while government (FCFA 850 per kilo of cocoa they are harvesting cocoa. Overall, farmers beans), and certified farmers received their and farm workers told assessors that they certification premium as agreed. According take two rest days per week (the market to a MoU signed with the traitant, certified day and the day of prayer). Issues related farmers receive FCFA 25 per kilogram as to excessive overtime continuing for many a premium. The premium payment for the weeks were not noticed in the visited farms. certified cocoa is usually around FCFA 100 In the households, women are often subject per kilo (US$ 0.2). In the assessed traitant’s to longer hours of work in order to fulfill system, the premiums are divided into four their responsibilities both at home and at the parts: (1) a share for the pisteur to cover farms. Women often do not have any rest services to the farmers, (2) a share for the days as they use them for marketing their farmer, and (3) two shares for the traitant to food crops or doing household chores. At the cover the charges of certification audit visits, warehouse, according to interviews, handling maintenance of the sustainability staff, and staff and drivers sometimes have to work training-related expenses. Under the Nestlé more than 12 hours per day during harvest Cocoa Plan supply chain, the cooperative period from September to December, when keeps 50 percent of the premium amount and there are cocoa beans to be transported. the farmer receives the remaining 50 percent No interviewed personnel raised the issue of (refer to Annex 1 for detailed breakdown), a overtime, and stated instead that they do not larger portion than in this set-up, in which the have enough work for the rest of the year. farmer receives 25 percent of the premium.

9. Compensation Workers at the buying center are paid on time according to the agreed-upon compensation Every worker has a right to FLA CoC: rate that is always higher than the state- compensation for a regular work week that prescribed minimum wage (FCFA 333 per day is sufficient to meet the worker’s basic needs for agricultural workers). The administrative and provide some discretionary income. staff likewise receives more than the state- Employers shall pay at least the minimum prescribed minimum wages. At the field level, wage or the appropriate prevailing wage, the assessment team found that some workers whichever is higher, comply with all legal are not properly compensated. For example, requirements on wages, and provide any some of the pisteurs’ drivers have no formal fringe benefits required by law or contract. salary structure or contract, and receive their Where compensation does not meet workers’ pay at the discretion of the pisteurs.

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Producers relays are paid for six months by its tier 1 supplier to ensure access to tier 2 the traitant and for the remaining six months supplier or other intermediaries. The existing the pisteur pays them, because the PR works supply chain tracing system of the traitant for the traitant for six months while preparing needs to be strengthened and Nestlé could farmers for certification. Normally the play a role by supporting documentation contract with the traitant ends when the farm efforts (electronically) at the traitant and the is certified, whereupon the pisteur engages Pisteur level. In this way, the entire supply the PR to continue with the same activities chain of the traitant could be easily traced for the rest of the year. In some zones, and organized. pisteurs were found to not pay their PRs the Farmers and agreed upon amount or on time. Currently, Internal Management Systems: sharecroppers report satisfaction with several the traitant’s system does not conduct any the supply chain management systems type of monitoring and remediation activities introduced by the traitant and the pisteurs on this issue. including advancement of interest-free credit, Cocoa farm workers receive the prevailing transportation of wet and dry cocoa beans, compensation rate in the region, which is aid to achieve certification status, and other between FCFA 150,000–200,000 (equivalent services through the Farmer Field Schools. to US$ 300–350) per year. This compensation Farmers also highlighted transportation is higher than the state-prescribed minimum services provided by the traitant as an wage for the agricultural sector, which is advantage, and added that in case of illness about FCFA 333 per day (or FCFA 121,545 per in the villages or camps, pisteurs often offer year, equivalent to US$ 245 per year). their truck for transporting the sick person to the hospital, and will sometimes pay for their medication. The traitant reports that VI. CONCLUSIONS this system helps to develop a loyal supplier base an ensure supply of very high cocoa Supply Chain Traceability: The assessed volumes. Some local community members traitant is one of the biggest cocoa traitants reported that they prefer this system to being operating in Côte d’Ivoire and delivers to part of a local cooperative, which they find a number of international companies who unorganized and lacking in service provision, are tier 1 suppliers to several chocolate despite the service charges deducted by companies. The FLA assessment found the traitant and pisteurs from the premium that the assessed traitant has supply chain payouts to the certified farmers. The traceability mechanisms installed up to the assessment could not determine, however, farm level, and that complete information whether all farmers are aware of and agree about supplier farmers is documented by to the premium allocation under the traitant’s the pisteurs. This information, however, is system; the FLA recommends that Nestlé not always shared with the traitant, the further investigate this issue. tier-1 supplier, or Nestlé. Pisteurs consider the information about supplier farms to Working Conditions: The FLA assessment be “business critical” and are reluctant to team reports that overall working conditions provide full information to the traitant, the found during this standard supply chain tier-1 supplier, or Nestlé. In order to conduct assessment mirror those found in the farms any future evaluation of the standard supply under the Nestlé Cocoa Plan supply chain. chain, Nestlé will need to work closely with This assessment found some awareness at

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the farmer level about certification standards VII. RECOMMENDATIONS good agricultural practices, but child labor, During this assessment, the FLA team found health and safety problems, lack of effective tangible efforts made by the traitant and its grievance procedures, and lack of effective partners to organize a portion of their supply internal labor standards monitoring and chain and install a management system to remediation systems remain as prominent build farmers’ awareness about certification issues. The traitant’s system is particularly requirements. The FLA recommends the weak around systematic and sustainable following to the existing internal management remediation of non-compliances found at system, as well as improvements at the the field level, with its efforts to uphold labor community and farm level to foster labor and environmental standards limited to the standards compliance. 30 percent of the suppliers from whom the certified beans are procured. Assessors a. Improvements in the Internal found no strategic plan upholding labor or Management System environmental standards in the remaining 70 percent of the supply chain. 1. Further enhance supplier registration and information management into The FLA recommends that collectors, an electronic database: The FLA who are well-acquainted with the farmers, recommends that Nestlé work with may be employed to conduct monitoring the tier-1 supplier and the traitant to activities along with the producer relays. introduce an electronic registration What’ Yet, having dedicated staff with system of all supplier farms—the data clearly defined roles and responsibilities that is currently maintained at the and exposure to the requirements of the pisteur level in manual registers by certification bodies can help expedite the the commis. Appropriate technology process of rolling out an effective internal and database platforms should be monitoring and remediation system with in discussed and introduced. Electronic the entire traitant’s supply chain. supplier registration should be One of the most prominent findings of the included as an element in the existing assessment is the opportunity for Nestlé contract between the traitant and to have a large-scale impact on working the pisteur. conditions in the cocoa farms through 2. Develop a time-bound strategic plan a single intermediary. Given that 15,851 to cover the 70 percent of the supply farmers have been traced and another 70 chain that is not monitored by any percent could be easily mapped with some certification systems: Nestlé along additional efforts, working together with the with its tier-1 supplier and the traitant tier 1 supplier and the traitant to strengthen should discuss and develop a five- the existing system and roll it out in the year plan to progressively role out an remainder of the 70 percent of the supply internal monitoring and remediation chain, Nestlé could help the tier 1 supplier system in that part of the supply chain and traitant potentially cover 50,000 more that currently has no programs in place cocoa farmers and their families under the and discuss how certain sections can NCP in the short–medium term. be rolled under the Nestlé Cocoa Plan activities.

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3. Strengthening of contractual mechanisms, and institute grievance- relationship with farmers through handling procedures. Collectors and pisteurs: Nestlé along with its tier-1 other staff working for the pisteurs supplier should encourage the traitant who are most closely associated with and its pisteurs to develop more robust the farmers should be invited to these contracts that: training sessions to start building their a. require compliance with labor awareness around these labor standards. standards requirements, 6. Explore the role that the collectors can play in gathering information about b. list services provided to the farmers labor standards at the farms: The FLA along with seedling distribution recommends training collectors to c. provide grievance mechanisms for gather basic labor information from the farmers and farm workers, and farms, such as:

d. guarantee to buy cocoa from the a. the number of hired workers at the farmers. farm, b. the number of family members working This would lead to formalization of at the farm the business relationship between the pisteur and the farmers and creation of c. the number of children involved in farm supplier lists. activities and hazardous tasks

4. Distribution of Nestlé’s Illustrated d. information on any health and safety Supplier Code: Since no code is issues, and currently being disseminated to the e. reported grievances. farmers, pisteurs could attach the Nestlé’s Illustrated Code of Conduct to The FLA recommends that information their contracts. In this context, Nestlé gathered by the collectors be shared should ensure printing and distribution with producer relays who can then of the Nestlé supplier code to the take appropriate corrective actions. traitant and the pisteurs. Preference Nestlé should facilitate the training and should be given to farmers who are capacity building of the internal staff currently not involved in any certification and collectors through its tier-1 supplier. systems and the code should be posted at the bush warehouses and the 7. Strengthen the existing internal collection center in Soubré. monitoring and remediation system at the traitant level: The assessed 5. Training of traitant internal traitant lacks a comprehensive internal sustainability staff and collectors on monitoring and remediation system, with labor standards: There is an existing inspection activities limited to certified staff of 116 people (including producer farmers. Nestlé and the tier-1 supplier, relays) involved in sustainability work for based on their experience setting up the traitant. The traitant should organize internal monitoring and remediation trainings for tehse staff members on how programs with the cooperatives, should to remediate instances of child labor, facilitate a supply-chain-wide program introduce greater health and safety

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at the traitant level that could include available. Nestlé should explore with the the following: tier-1 supplier and the traitant how these i. Defining clear program objectives and could be established in the assessed expected outcomes with milestones; communities in the Soubré region. 9. Implement programs that can help ii. Defining policies and procedures; increase farmers’ income: Many farms iii. Building an implementation plan in the visited locations are more than that establishes the frequency of 25 years old and in need of renovations, monitoring visits, depth of information new cocoa seedlings, and expanded to be gathered, personnel responsible, use of fertilizers and plant nutrients to tools for data collection and data increase yield and earnings. Training analysis, and required follow-up on good agriculture practices and actions; proper drying methods29 could also enhance yields and decrease waste. iv. Establishing a mechanism for The traitant and pisteurs should devise reporting non-compliance with an intervention plan to address these Nestlé’s Workplace Code of Conduct, agronomical needs, thereby increasing along with a grievance-handling farmers’ and sharecroppers’ income. mechanism that allows workers, growers, and family members to report 10. Increase community members’ non-compliance issues; awareness about labor standards and general health and safety: Given v. Investing in database to collect and their existing infrastructure and reach manage information about suppliers, within the sourcing communities, working conditions, and corrective certain immediate steps can be actions. This database should be able taken by the traitant and pisteur to to analyze persistent non-compliances improve the awareness of community and highlight the priority regions and members (cocoa farmers, workers, and areas for intervention; their families) about labor standards (particularly child labor and health vi. Ensuring access to trainings for and safety issues). These steps could farmers, workers, and family members; include (but would not be limited) to vii. Exploring alternatives to cash- painting messages on the walls of the payments to the farmers to diminish buying centers and the bush warehouses the risk of armed robbery for both and other prominent buildings in the pisteurs and farmers. community, or distributing the Nestlé illustrated code to community leaders. b. Improvements at the community and Existing training sessions should be farm level to foster labor standards compliance 29 The traitant and its partners could address improper drying by, (i) engaging agronomists to promote other methods of drying that are 8. Access to Farmer Field Schools: During available to farmers, since the material to design the “Claih” is no the assessment many farmers reported longer accessible; (ii) encouraging and organizing farmers in a group they have no access to Farmer Field and train them on planned harvesting so that the same drying material Schools because not all communities can serve more farmers; (iii) introducing modern drying systems in the communities, which can also create income generating activities for have the facilities for such schools youth or women www.fairlabor.org 35 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

extended to all community members access to suitable PPE. The traitant who wish to attend these sessions. should provide suitable PPE to the central warehouse staff handling huge 11. Improve the existing mechanisms to volumes of dry cocoa. address child labor in communities: Based on the example of the Child Labor ii. The traitant should train the farmers Monitoring Committee established in how to apply chemicals properly, or Sarakadji by UNICEF, the traitant should the pisteurs should make the services explore similar interventions in other of the trained applicators available to communities30 with the help of the all farmers regardless of certification. pisteurs and producer relays. Nestlé The traitant should also train farmers could facilitate the capacity building on the proper storage, handling, and of the internal staff and facilitate disposal of chemical containers. setting up of these committees and their capacity building. The assessed iii. The traitant should ensure that traitant has already started profiling all producer relays have access to growers and their families (the ones in helmets while riding their motorbikes. the certification program) to assess the iv. The traitant and his partners should risk of child labor in its supply chain. collaborate to ensure the availability These efforts of the traitant could be of first aid kits and trained medical bolstered by training his staff on follow personnel in each community. up activities and devising a plan on what Collectors who are residents of the needs to be done as and when child communities could maintain the kits labor are identified in the farms and and be trained on first aid. communities. v. The traitant could extend ongoing 12. Improve health, safety, and efforts to provide foot pumps for environmental conditions in the communities that lack potable water, communities and farms: The FLA like Renékro and Angbi-Kouakoukro. recommends the following interventions to address the health, safety, and environmental issues identified at the farms. i. The traitant and the producer relays should conduct specific awareness building sessions on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for women and young workers involved in farm work, and facilitate

30 At Sarakadji, UNICEF in collaboration with local civil society organizations such as ASA and FEMAD implement a child labor program that consists of training, awareness building, and monitoring. A Child Labor Committee was established in the same village as part of the UNICEF project to continue building awareness and conduct monitoring activity, which was found to be still active and functional at the time of this assessment. www.fairlabor.org 36 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

ANNEX 1 Programs (STCP)33. Some curricula is designed for trainers (“training of trainers” Process followed by assessed Tier-1 supplier courses), other courses are designed for the to participate in Nestlé Cocoa Plan (NCP) cooperative management, or farmers (farmer Cooperatives that are covered by the NCP field schools). Tier-1 staff and Nestlé staff- are selected from an online supplier database approved consultants perform induction, maintained by the tier-1 supplier. This platform education, and training. Some training is also manages information about the suppliers handled by the cocoa sustainability team of along with their certification status31. The the tier-1 supplier. supplier information is based on an annual For Fair Trade certified farmers, the tier- assessment carried out by a third party 1 supplier pays the entire premium to the audit firm against the tier-1 supplier code cooperative (or producer group). For UTZ that evaluates the suppliers on cooperative and Rainforest Alliance certified cooperatives, governance, quality management, social the accumulated program premium payout responsibility, and environmental protection. is contractually split equally between the Nestlé can choose the number and size of cooperative (or producer group) and the cooperatives from which they wish to source. farmers. The cooperative (or producer The target volume and quality of the cocoa groups) use 35 percent of their portion of to be supplied to Nestlé are defined, so are the premium for operational activities, farmer the premiums that will be paid by Nestlé and training, or building reserves, and spend the the training and management costs that the remaining 15 percent on social projects within upstream supplier will incur (and settled by the producer group community. Nestlé is kept Nestlé). informed of the social projects and is invited Traceability up to the cooperative level to the inauguration of the projects in the is assured by the tier-1 supplier’s existing communities. administrative system, which tracks the volume of cocoa sold, the price of the cocoa, quality of beans, bonuses and premium provided to suppliers per crop cycle, credit extended to suppliers, audit results, training, number of visits, and other variables. In the current system, mass balance32 is used. Nestlé could request segregation and tracking of the certified beans on making additional payments to its tier-1 suppliers to administer the process.

Supplier trainings conducted at the field level are based on Sustainable Tree Crop

31 Certification status hereby refers to UTZ, Rain Forest Alliance or Fair Trade. 33 https://www.devex.com/impact/partnerships/sustainable-tree-crop- 32 http://www.nestlecocoaplan.com/mass-balance-vs-segregation/ program-stcp-445 www.fairlabor.org 37 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

ANNEX 2

Community Profiles (4)

COMMUNITY I: ALLAKABO

1 Assessment date June 18, 2015

Allakabo (this information is only applicable to the community of Allakabo and 2 Community name not for the others communities visited in this zone.)

Community address 3 Distance to Soubré Zone D, 22 kilometers from Soubré Zone B/C

4 Number of people interviewed in the community 53

Pisteur, Producer Relays, farmers, Collector, President of School 5 Brief profile of people interviewed in the community Management Committee

6 Name of the monitor / assessor / expert Jean Baptiste APPIA/Kevin BOSSON

FLA Affiliate for which the assessment is being conducted Nestlé

Presence of bush warehouse Yes X No - 7 If yes, name and contact of the bush warehouse keeper Sawadogo Moumouni 09 20 68 20

Name and contact of the Pister Sawadogo Moumouni 09 20 68 20

Total size of the community (number of households / number of residents) Around 102 inhabitants. This number does not include the camps attached to 8 approx. Allakabo

Most prominent areas of work for the community Agriculture 9 Total number of farms registered 1551 farms/10857ha

10 Presence of local infrastructures in the community

10.1 Functional Municipality (Y/N) No

Traditional Chiefs manage local governance. The leadership is composed Local Governance Structures 10.2 of the heads of the three large communities (Baoule, Dioula, Mossi). But the (Please specify) (Y/N) main leader is the Chief of Baoule

Functional Primary School (Y/N) Yes. A primary school with three classrooms built with the use of wood and 10.3 (please specify the distance from the community) bamboo by the villagers themselves.

Functional Secondary School (Y/N) 10.4 No (please specify the distance from the community)

Vocational School 10.5 No (please specify what kind and the distance from the community)

Legitimate Financial Institutional / Lending Bodies (not private) 10.6 No (Please specify)

Functional Health Services Institution Not in the village. The nearest health center is in the village of Johin, 2 10.7 (please specify) kilometers from Allakabo

Insurance Providing Institutions (health / weather etc.) 10.8 No (Please specify)

10.9 Farm inputs services (chemicals, nets, tools etc.) No

Extension Services 10.10 There are 8 Farmer Field Schools for farmers’ training. (knowledge about agronomics, farm productivity, plant science etc.)

Irrigation Facilities 10.11 No. The area is rain fed. (please specify the source of water for farms in the community)

www.fairlabor.org 38 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY I: ALLAKABO

Potable Water Facilities (please specify the water source that the community Yes. The assessed traitant built a village pump in the community for potable 10.12 members use for drinking purposes) water.

Number of programs /initiatives that promote empowerment of 10.13 rural women and girls (such as self-help groups, access to credit programs, No income-generating activities)

11 Access to Services

Do the farmers/ workers / women have access to health services in the There is no health center in the community. The nearest one is situated 2 11.1 community? kilometers away.

How much time does it takes for a workers / farmer / women to reach the 5 minutes by motorcycle to reach Johin (2 km far) or 40 minutes to reach 11.2 health services in case of an emergency? Soubré (22 kilometers away)

Do the farmers / workers / women avail the financial services present in the 11.3 No community?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail insurance schemes present in the 11.4 No community?

11.5 Please specify the most common type of insurance cover? N/A

11.6 Are there any self-help groups present in the community? Yes

11.7 Are there any saving groups / services present in the community? No

Number and percentage of women participating in community based 11.8 None empowerment programs

12 Interview with the Community School/s

12.1 Number of children enrolled in the school currently 110 including 15 from Allakabo

12.2 Number and percent of school age children who regularly attend school Data not available

Number and percent of children from farmer households currently enrolled in 12.3 15 children (from the community of Allakabo) primary education

Number and percent of children (girls) from farmer households currently 12.4 10 girls (from the community of Allakabo) enrolled in primary education

12.5 Do the children have to pay fees to attend the school? Yes. FCFA 3000 per year for School Management Committee

Do the children have to bear other costs / requirements to attend school (such 12.6 Yes, for birth certificates, school supplies, and school uniform as birth certificates / books / uniform / meal etc.)

13 Status of Adult Literacy in the Community

Number and percent of community members with basic reading and writing 36/102 according to the Pisteur 13.1 skills (please compare it to the national average) (35%, less than the national average which is 51%)

13.2 Number and percent farmers with basic reading and writing skills 6 out of the 33 interviewed farmers (18%)

Number and percentage of farmers male/female who have completed primary 13.3 3 out of the 33 interviewed farmers (9%) education

13.4 Number and percent of workers with basic reading and writing skills None

Other Comments: The zone of Allakabo is a small village made up of 7 communities (Allakabo, Kra N’guessankro, Petit Zuenoula, Houssoukonankro, Kaborédougou, Bagayogodougou, and Sidibégoudou) whose center is Kra N’guessankro. The population is composed of three main ethnic groups - Baoulé, Dioula and Mossi. Total farmers visited for assessment in Community I: 33 farmers www.fairlabor.org 39 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY II: SARAKAGUI

1 Assessment date June 23, 2015

2 Community name Sarakagui

Community address PoBox 1103 Soubré 3 Distance to Soubré Zone D, 25 kilometers from Soubré Zone B/C

4 Number of people interviewed in the community 50

Pisteur, warehouse keeper, Producer Relays, Farmers, Secretary of the chief, 5 Brief profile of people interviewed in the community School Director, farm workers, Community Chief, chemist, volunteer nurse, driver

6 Name of the monitor / assessor / expert Jean Baptiste APPIA/Kevin BOSSON

FLA Affiliate for which the assessment is being conducted Nestlé

Presence of bush warehouse Yes X No - 7 If yes, name and contact of the bush warehouse keeper Tanoh Kouamé Domique 48 63 42 65

Name and contact of the pister N’dri Germain 58 09 78 17

Total size of the community 8 Around 7000 inhabitants (number of households / number of residents) approx.

Most prominent areas of work for the community Agriculture 9 Total number of farms registered Data not available

10 Presence of local infrastructures in the community

10.1 Functional Municipality (Y/N) No

10.2 Local Governance Structures (Please specify) (Y/N) Local governance is composed of a Chief, Notables and Secretary of the Chief

Functional Primary School (Y/N) 10.3 Yes. A school of 12 classrooms (please specify the distance from the community)

Functional Secondary School (Y/N) 10.4 No. The closest secondary school is 25 kilometers, in Soubré (please specify the distance from the community)

Vocational School (please specify what kind and the distance from the 10.5 No community)

Legitimate Financial Institutional / Lending Bodies (not private) 10.6 No (Please specify)

10.7 Functional Health Services Institution (please specify) There is a public health center in the community

10.8 Insurance Providing Institutions (health / weather etc.) (Please specify) No

10.9 Farm inputs services (chemicals, nets, tools etc.) Yes. There are several small shops that sell chemicals in the community

Extension Services 10.10 There is 1 Farmer Field School for farmers’ training. (knowledge about agronomics, farm productivity, plant science etc.)

Irrigation Facilities 10.11 No. The area is rain-fed. (please specify the source of water for farms in the community)

Potable Water Facilities (please specify the water source that the community 10.12 There is only one village pump for 7000 inhabitants members use for drinking purposes)

Number of programs /initiatives that promote empowerment of rural women 10.13 and girls (such as self-help groups, access to credit programs, income- The NGO FEMAD organized women in a group for their empowerment generating activities)

www.fairlabor.org 40 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY II: SARAKAGUI

11 Access to Services

Do the farmers/ workers / women have access to health services in the 11.1 Yes community?

How much time does it takes for a workers / farmer / women to reach the 11.2 The public health center is in the community health services in case of an emergency?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail the financial services present in the 11.3 No community?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail insurance schemes present in the 11.4 No community?

11.5 Please specify the most common type of insurance cover? N/A

11.6 Are there any self-help groups present in the community? Yes

11.7 Are there any saving groups / services present in the community? No

Number and percentage of women participating in community based 11.8 15 members of Women’s association ‘’Eboyekon’’ empowerment programs

12 Interview with the Community School/s

12.1 Number of children enrolled in the school currently Around 400 students

12.2 Number and percent of school age children who regularly attend school Data not available

Number and percent of children from farmer households currently enrolled in 12.3 Data not available primary education

Number and percent of children (girls) from farmer households currently 12.4 Data not available enrolled in primary education

12.5 Do the children have to pay fees to attend the school? Yes. FCFA 4000 per year for School Management Committee

Do the children have to bear other costs / requirements to attend school (such 12.6 Yes. Cost of birth certificate, school supplies, and school uniform as birth certificates / books / uniform / meal etc.)

13 Status of Adult Literacy in the Community

Number and percent of community members with basic reading and writing Around 60 percent, according to the secretary of the chief (more than the 13.1 skills (please compare it to the national average) national average which is 51percent)

13.2 Number and percent farmers with basic reading and writing skills 12/28 interviewed farmers (42%)

Number and percentage of farmers male/female who have completed 13.3 07/28 interviewed farmers (25%) primary education

13.4 Number and percent of workers with basic reading and writing skills None

Other Comments: The visited communities of Sarakagui are composed to M’brakro, Angbikouakoukro and Sarakagui itself. Both Sarakagui and M’brakro are clean communities with a basic level of infrastructure. On the other hand, Angbikouakoukro is a large camp, difficult to access due to the absence of a proper road. The hygienic conditions in the camp are dirty. In Sarakagui, UNICEF has launched a program implemented by NGOs ASA (Afrique Secours Assistance) and FEMAD (Femme Actions Développement) to address child labor issues. This program consists in training, sensitization, monitoring and reporting. A village monitoring committee has been installed to conduct the monitoring and reporting activities. Total farmers visited for assessment in community II: 28 farmers www.fairlabor.org 41 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY III: ZOGBODOUA

1 Assessment date June 24, 2015

2 Community name Zogbodoua

Community address 3 Distance to Soubré In Zone C, 40 kilometers from Soubré Zone B/C

4 Number of people interviewed in the community 41

Pisteur, warehouse keeper, Producer Relays, farmers, farm workers, 5 Brief profile of people interviewed in the community Community Chief, Collector

6 Name of the monitor / assessor / expert Jean Baptiste APPIA/Kevin BOSSON

FLA Affiliate for which the assessment is being conducted Nestlé

Presence of bush warehouse Yes X No - 7 If yes, name and contact of the bush warehouse keeper Dipominin 08 86 91 38

Name and contact of the Pister Coulibaly Waoyégué

Total size of the community (number of households / number of residents) 8 Around 3000 inhabitants approx.

Most prominent areas of work for the community Agriculture 9 Total number of farms registered Data not available

10 Presence of local infrastructures in the community

10.1 Functional Municipality (Y/N) No

Yes, there is Local Governance Structure composed of Central Chief, 10.2 Local Governance Structures (Please specify) (Y/N) Notability, Chief of Quarters, Secretary of the Chief.

Functional Primary School (Y/N) 10.3 Yes. (please specify the distance from the community)

Functional Secondary School (Y/N) 10.4 No. The closest secondary school is 40 kilometers away in Soubré (please specify the distance from the community)

Vocational School 10.5 No (please specify what kind and the distance from the community)

Legitimate Financial Institutional / Lending Bodies (not private) 10.6 No (Please specify)

10.7 Functional Health Services Institution (please specify) No. The nearest health center is 5 kilometers away in Ohawa.

10.8 Insurance Providing Institutions (health / weather etc.) (Please specify) No

10.9 Farm inputs services (chemicals, nets, tools etc.) Yes. There are many shops that sell chemicals in the community

Extension Services 10.10 No (knowledge about agronomics, farm productivity, plant science etc.)

Irrigation Facilities 10.11 No. The area is rain fed. (please specify the source of water for farms in the community)

Potable Water Facilities (please specify the water source that the community 10.12 There are 5 village pumps in the community of which 3 are functional. members use for drinking purposes)

Number of programs /initiatives that promote empowerment of rural women 10.13 and girls (such as self-help groups, access to credit programs, income- None generating activities)

www.fairlabor.org 42 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY III: ZOGBODOUA

11 Access to Services

Do the farmers/ workers / women have access to health services in the There is no public center in the community. The nearest heath center is 5 11.1 community? kilometers away

How much time does it takes for a workers / farmer / women to reach the 11.2 It takes 15 minutes by motorbike or car and 40 minutes on foot. health services in case of an emergency?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail the financial services present in the 11.3 No community?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail insurance schemes present in the 11.4 No community?

11.5 Please specify the most common type of insurance cover? N/A

11.6 Are there any self-help groups present in the community? Yes

11.7 Are there any saving groups / services present in the community? No

Number and percentage of women participating in community based 11.8 None empowerment programs

12 Interview with the Community School/s

Data not available. The school authorities were not available, because of 12.1 Number of children enrolled in the school currently holidays.

12.2 Number and percent of school age children who regularly attend school Data not available

Number and percent of children from farmer households currently 12.3 Data not available (see 12.1) enrolled in primary education

Number and percent of children (girls) from farmer households currently 12.4 Data not available (see 12.1) enrolled in primary education

12.5 Do the children have to pay fees to attend the school? Yes. FCFA 3000 per year for School Management Committee

Do the children have to bear other costs / requirements to attend school (such 12.6 Yes, for birth certificate, school supplies, and school uniform as birth certificates / books / uniform / meal etc.)

13 Status of Adult Literacy in the Community

Number and percent of community members with basic reading and writing Around 30%, according to the Chief Secretary, less than the national 13.1 skills (please compare it to the national average) average (51%)

13.2 Number and percent farmers with basic reading and writing skills 5/23 interviewed farmers (21%)

Number and percentage of farmers male/female who have completed 13.3 3/23 interviewed farmers (13%) primary education

13.4 Number and percent of workers with basic reading and writing skills None

Other Comments: The visited community of Zogbodoua is composed of 4 villages - Sialoukro, Oupoyo-Bété, Dar- e-salam and Zogbodoua itself. Zogbodoua is a large village with potable water provided by three fountains. There is a primary school but no health center. Where as in Dar-e-salam there is neither potable water nor school. Sialoukro has a village pump and three school classes are in the process of getting constructed. The general hygienic condition in the communities is absent. Total farmers visited for assessment in community III: 23 farmers interviewed www.fairlabor.org 43 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY IV: KROHON

1 Assessment date June 20, 2015

2 Community name Krohon

Community address 3 Distance to Soubré In Zone D, 54 Kilometers from Soubré Zone B/C

4 Number of people interviewed in the community 43

Pisteur, warehouse keeper, Producer Relays, farmers, Secretary of the Chief, 5 Brief profile of people interviewed in the community President of School Management Committee, School Director, women’s associations’ presidents

6 Name of the monitor / assessor / expert Jean Baptiste APPIA/Kevin BOSSON

FLA Affiliate for which the assessment is being conducted Nestlé

Presence of bush warehouse Yes X No - 7 If yes, name and contact of the bush warehouse keeper Coulibaly Oumar 58 93 88 34

Name and contact of the Pister Coulibaly Djakaridja 06 21 90 54

Total size of the community (number of households / number of residents) 8 Not available approx.

Most prominent areas of work for the community Agriculture 9 Total number of farms registered Data not available

10 Presence of local infrastructures in the community

10.1 Functional Municipality (Y/N) No

Local governance is composed of a Chief, 4 Notable and 10 Chiefs of the 10.2 Local Governance Structures (Please specify) (Y/N) different communities

Functional Primary School (Y/N) 10.3 Yes. There are two primary schools with 6 classrooms each (please specify the distance from the community)

Functional Secondary School (Y/N) 10.4 No. The closest secondary school is 2 kilometers away in Méagui (please specify the distance from the community)

Vocational School 10.5 No (please specify what kind and the distance from the community)

Legitimate Financial Institutional / Lending Bodies (not private) 10.6 No (Please specify)

There is a private infirmary in the village. The nearest public health center 10.7 Functional Health Services Institution (please specify) is 2 kilometers away in Méagui

10.8 Insurance Providing Institutions (health / weather etc.) (Please specify) No

10.9 Farm inputs services (chemicals, nets, tools etc.) No

Extension Services 10.10 There is 1 Farmer Field School for farmers’ training. (knowledge about agronomics, farm productivity, plant science etc.)

Irrigation Facilities 10.11 No. The area is rain-fed. (please specify the source of water for farms in the community)

Yes. There are 6 improved village water fountains in the village built by European Union and the NGO Solidarité International. Nevertheless, the Potable Water Facilities (please specify the water source that the community 10.12 villagers are asked to pay a fee by the village committee for the use of these members use for drinking purposes) fountains. The fee is used to maintain the fountains. Therefore, many villagers still drinking water from the wells as they refuse to pay fee for water.

Number of programs /initiatives that promote empowerment of rural women 3 programs including one of Vision for Change (conducted by Mars) to 10.13 and girls (such as self-help groups, access to credit programs, income- improve women’s economic power generating activities) www.fairlabor.org 44 ASSESSMENT OF NESTLÉ’S STANDARD COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

COMMUNITY IV: KROHON

11 Access to Services

Do the farmers/ workers / women have access to health services in the 11.1 There is a private infirmary. The public health center is 2 kilometers away. community?

How much time does it takes for a workers / farmer / women to reach the 5 minutes by motorcycle or by car to reach Méagui (2km away). 11.2 health services in case of an emergency? 20 minutes on foot.

Do the farmers / workers / women avail the financial services present in the 11.3 N/A community?

Do the farmers / workers / women avail insurance schemes present in the 11.4 N/A community?

11.5 Please specify the most common type of insurance cover? N/A

11.6 Are there any self-help groups present in the community? Yes

11.7 Are there any saving groups / services present in the community? No

168 women of three Women’s Associations. −80 in ‘’Rel-Windé’’, Number and percentage of women participating in community based 11.8 −50 in ‘’KLOLEH’’ (President - Djê Tano epse Gueho 58 65 98 42) empowerment programs −38 in AFEDJROPA (President - SOREDJETE Céleste) All these associations work to enhance economic empowerment of women.

12 Interview with the Community School/s

12.1 Number of children enrolled in the school currently Around 200 students

12.2 Number and percent of school age children who regularly attend school Data not available

Number and percent of children from farmer households currently enrolled Around 95 percent according to the President of School Management 12.3 in primary education Committee.

Number and percent of children (girls) from farmer households currently 12.4 Data not available enrolled in primary education

12.5 Do the children have to pay fees to attend the school? Yes. FCFA 3000 per year for School Management Committee

Do the children have to bear other costs / requirements to attend school 12.6 Yes. Costs related to birth certificate, school supplies and school uniform. (such as birth certificates / books / uniform / meal etc.)

13 Status of Adult Literacy in the Community

Number and percent of community members with basic reading and writing 13.1 Data not available skills (please compare it to the national average)

13.2 Number and percent farmers with basic reading and writing skills 9/26 interviewed farmers (34 percent)

Number and percentage of farmers male/female who have completed primary 13.3 2/26 interviewed farmers (7 percent) education

13.4 Number and percent of workers with basic reading and writing skills None

Other Comments: The visited communities of Krohon are composed of Renékro and Krohon itself. Krohon is a large village, which has 6 fountains to provide potable water and a basic level of infrastructure (primary school and a private health center). Renékro, a large camp has no potable water or school. The drinking water sources are very unhygienic and the camp is dirty and unkempt. Total farmers visited for assessment in community IV: 26 farmers www.fairlabor.org 45