Global Compact International Yearbook 2009

Best Practice
Human Rights
The project has already made a difference
for thousands of children in Ghana and
at the same time has been an important
learning process for Toms. This project
in Ghana was a first for Toms. It has
given Toms hands-on experience from
the supply chain and, at the same time,
spread a sense of satisfaction amongst
the company’s employees about this
corporate responsibility initiative.
Toms has always sourced most of its
cocoa from Ghana. Although Toms
is the largest confectionery manufacturer
in Denmark, its cocoa purchase
is equivalent to less than one percent
of Ghana's total cocoa export. Though
Toms is a somewhat small player in the
international cocoa market, the company
decided to make a commitment to the
Ghanaian cocoa producers corresponding
to the size of its purchases. The education
project is one expression of this
commitment.
One of the biggest issues to consider
when buying cocoa from Ghana is the
issue of child labour. Due to its commitment
to the Global Compact, Toms
wishes to dissociate itself from all cases
of child labour. However, the issue of
child labour in the cocoa supply chain
is complicated, as it is intertwined with
poverty and cultural traditions.
Cocoa in Ghana is produced by approximately
850,000 small family farms. Many
of these families are very poor and have
their children assist them to generate
more income. How best to be a cocoa
farmer is traditionally passed on from
generation to generation, and it is therefore
very important to the parents to
make sure that their children will be
able to take over the farm one day.
The problem is not that children help
their parents farm cocoa. But when helping
the parents prevents the child from
attending school, or when it harms the
child physiologically or mentally, it is
considered to be child labour.
The project that Toms has embarked
upon addresses the goal of protecting
children, and consists of several components.
The project seeks not only to ensure
that children attend school; it also seeks
to ensure that they stay in school. The
quality of education in rural schools is
often so poor that it demotivates both
children and parents, who are unsure
what good will come out of attending
school. The poor quality stems from
both outdated teacher education and,
more commonly, a basic lack of teachers.
Very few teachers wish to work in
remote areas, like the cocoa producing
areas, and so teaching in village schools
is often undertaken by young boys or
girls with no formal training. Though
the young untrained teacher’s efforts
are an attempt to give the children some
kind of education, the quality is often so
poor that parents choose to keep their
children at home.
As a result of this vicious circle, the main
component of the project addresses the
teachers. The Ghanaian Government
already has an education system set up
in these areas but is faced with many
challenges, among other things due to
a lack of resources. The project therefore
feeds into the existing governmental
structure.
In the districts encompassed by the
project, about 400 trained teachers and
350 untrained teachers have been supported,
either by updating their teaching
capabilities or providing actual teacher
training.
So far, the outcome of the training as well
as the commitment from the teachers
has been overwhelming. For example,
the untrained teachers spend almost
all their spare time and vacations at
the training college, overjoyed in their
eagerness to receive formal training.
Most importantly, the feedback from
the teachers themselves shows that the
project benefits the children in more
than only academic ways. One of the
teachers reported no longer hitting the
children, as his training has equipped
him pedagogically to refrain from corporal
punishment when situations arise
in the classroom. The same teacher also
explained how the children now confide
in him, because he has realized that his
responsibility is not only to teach but also
help the children and prepare them for
a future outside of school.
As in many places in Africa, the schools
have no or only very few educational
materials. As part of the project and as
a way of supporting the teachers, the
project also supplies such materials to
the schools.
The project takes a holistic approach.
Accordingly, it not only focuses on the
teachers but also the parents. As a result,
a local NGO has been engaged in the
project to support existing or start up
new Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs)
as a means of involving the parents in
their children’s education and as a way
of addressing the issue of child labour.
Furthermore, radio programmes have
been produced and broadcasted locally.
The programmes are primarily addressed
at the parents and are yet another way
of engaging parents on the issues and
dilemmas also discussed in the PTAs.
In addition to the actual project in Ghana,
Toms has decided to share the experience
from the project with Danish students.
Every year, approximately 15,000 students
visit Toms to gain an insight into
the company and chocolate production.
Toms wishes to use this opportunity to
communicate with the visitors about
the company and its supply chain. The
students will therefore be introduced to
the way of life and challenges of children
in the cocoa producing areas.
The education project has enjoyed success
and strives to ensure that all children
in the cocoa supply chain are treated
properly. Similarly, Toms’ engagement
in the cocoa supply chain is a sign of its
commitment to responsible and proper
management.
Global Compact International Yearbook 2009 75