Child labor, forced labor, and other labor violations remain a persistent problem within Ghana’s cocoa supply chain. Moreover, women as well as girls aged 15–17 remain particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Girls make up over half of the child laborers in the cocoa supply. They are more often burdened with additional unremunerated housework than their male counterparts. Lack of access to education also places girls at an even greater risk for exploitation in this sector.

Ghanaian women and girls of legal working age who participate in cocoa production often lack access to land, resources, information, and training that could increase their productivity, profitability, and financial independence. While men typically take the final product to market, negotiate prices, and ultimately control the profit from the sale of the product, women and girls are more constrained from access to, and a role in, working with local markets.