7. Design for Ethical Production

Some products are made under increasingly competitive and unethical conditions where companies churn out goods without thinking of slave labour or worker's rights. This strategy aims to support fair trade;  promoting international standards of ethical productions, labour and environmental policies in the trading of goods and commodities. This includes payment at a fair price, gender equality and sanitary working conditions. The materials used also need to sourced ethically. Fair trade products include chocolate, coffee, cotton, gold, etc. 

After watching the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, where diamonds are mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts profiting warlords and diamond companies all over the world I have always been aware of the importance of fair-trade goods. Set at the time of the Sierra Leone Civil War it follows the story of Archer and Solomon; a white smuggler and a fisherman, who show the injustice of the country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces. It showcases the atrocities of the war, amputation, rape and murder all in the hopes of finding diamonds to sell to the rich upper classes for excessive amounts of money ignorant of the suffering endured along the way.

I have always felt strongly about fair-trade and believe that all products ought to be sourced ethically. I thought I would look into sourcing of chocolate as I'm busy munching through some at present so feel it's only right to understand exactly where it came from. 


Kuapa Kokoo are a group of 50,000 cocoa farmers that work hard to ensure they are:
- farming in a way that is kind to humans and the environment
- making working conditions safe

- banning child labour
- ensuring women's voices are heard in making decisions 

The extra money the farmers receive on top of the Fairtrade price of cocoa is used as a community towards building wells for drinking water, building public toilets and a mobile clinic to visit member's villages. Therefore it profits not just us as a consumer but the farmers themselves.

"Fairtrade is a good thing. Things you take for granted may be hard to come by in Ghana. Fairtrade is good to the farmer and makes us happy. We would like to sell more cocoa to Fairtrade so more farmers can taste a better life."
Comfort Kwaasibea, cocoa farmer