By Carlo Ladd, Freedom United

Supply chain

Ben & Jerry’s pledges to pay cocoa farmers living wage

In a bold move to address longstanding issues of exploitation and poverty in cocoa supply chains, ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's has committed to paying cocoa farmers in West Africa a living wage. The effort, which is supported by partnership with Fairtrade America, will pay farmers a premium to supplement the low wages they receive for their labor.

Last week, I spoke at an online event in Italy on the importance of ratifying the Forced Labour Protocol. Forced labor in Italy—bolstered by organized crime—has become an increasingly serious problem over the past decade.

Despite having the highest rate of modern slavery among E.U. founding member states, it will soon be alone among these allies in its failure to ratify the Protocol; Luxembourg, the other outlier, is currently in the process of ratifying.

My comments were part of the online event “Mafia Vecchie e Nuove” (New and Old Mafias), itself part of Legalitria 2020, an annual national anti-mafia festival. Other speakers include Rosa Brignone, director of Freedom United partner organization Time for Equality, and Dino Mangialardi of Amnesty International.

Watch the event in Italian here (English subtitles available).