The human cost of chocolate

Seven years after the industry agreed to abolish child labor, little progress has been made. Seventy percent of the world's cocoa beans are grown in West Africa, where working and living conditions are brutal and many workers are underage.

By Christian Parenti. Photographs by Jessica Dimmock

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At Campent Joseph, a village on the main road leading to the port town of San Pedro, cocoa farmers live in conditions equally poor to those deep in the bush. Here, the Burkinas moved to farm cocoa as part of Boigny's invitation to foreigners.

Last updated February 15 2008: 9:52 AM ET

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The human cost of chocolate

Seven years after the industry agreed to abolish child labor, little progress has been made. Seventy percent of the world's cocoa beans are grown in West Africa, where working and living conditions are brutal and many workers are underage.