Article
Gates Foundation grant for cocoa group raises a rights issue
When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation granted $48 million last week to help West African cocoa and cashew farmers, it stepped into an industry that has a bitter history with child-labor problems. Its $23 million grant to a cocoa-industry group is raising questions about labor rights...Hershey, Kraft Foods and Mars, along with Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill, were among those contributing $42 million in cash and in-kind donations to the Gates project. Starbucks was also one of the corporate sponsors.