????可可產(chǎn)量的提高還能以其他方式造福當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)。例如，可可樹會(huì)消耗土壤營(yíng)養(yǎng)成分，因此與其他作物間種時(shí)長(zhǎng)勢(shì)更好。這意味著，與可可樹健康生長(zhǎng)有利益關(guān)系的廠商需要與當(dāng)?shù)卣头钦M織合作，從整體上去鼓勵(lì)可持續(xù)農(nóng)業(yè)，而不是只盯著可可。

????扶持當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)的教育事業(yè)也會(huì)幫助巧克力廠商。世界可可基金會(huì)總裁比爾?古伊頓表示，可可種植者的平均年齡大概是50歲。在理想情況下，教育計(jì)劃可以保證，20年之后將有整整一代可可種植者為這些公司效力。

????教育是雙向的?！疤孤实卣f(shuō)，我們?cè)谖鞣堑膶?shí)際存在沒(méi)有達(dá)到應(yīng)有的水平，”好時(shí)公關(guān)副總裁麥克科米克稱，不過(guò)，可可鏈中就包含了在西非設(shè)立研發(fā)中心的計(jì)劃?！盀榱搜兄菩碌漠a(chǎn)品配方，我們對(duì)可可進(jìn)行了許多研究。我們將會(huì)用好旗下的種植園，使我們的科學(xué)家能與農(nóng)民和土地更緊密地聯(lián)系起來(lái)?！?/p>

慈善與企業(yè)利益能否兼得？

????對(duì)巧克力廠商來(lái)說(shuō)，上述措施顯然具有商業(yè)上的價(jià)值，可對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民來(lái)說(shuō)，究竟有多大幫助呢？巧克力行業(yè)在西非的歷史并不光彩。世界可可基金會(huì)成立之際，也就是2000年左右，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)獲得的報(bào)告顯示，西非可可種植園存在嚴(yán)重違反反童工法的現(xiàn)象。某些案例中，有第三方用卡車將兒童成批運(yùn)地送到生產(chǎn)可可的地區(qū)。據(jù)報(bào)道，許多兒童遭到壓榨，被迫工作卻拿不到報(bào)酬。還有一些從事可可種植的家庭鼓勵(lì)孩子一起到園中工作，揮舞砍刀、接觸農(nóng)藥，往往使孩子們置于危險(xiǎn)的境地。

????僅靠巧克力廠商確保反童工法頗為困難，但它們有義務(wù)為此付出努力?！捌髽I(yè)應(yīng)該在童工問(wèn)題中發(fā)揮一定的作用，他們也確實(shí)在這么做，”蓋伊頓說(shuō)?！斑@是企業(yè)與非洲各國(guó)政府以及存在問(wèn)題的地區(qū)共同的責(zé)任。”

????不過(guò)，共擔(dān)責(zé)任可能會(huì)使標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的推行相當(dāng)困難。如果當(dāng)?shù)卣疀](méi)有滿足美國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的反童工法律，情況就更為復(fù)雜了。消費(fèi)者和非政府組織對(duì)企業(yè)提高透明度的呼聲越來(lái)越強(qiáng)烈，因此大公司（在這方面）的投資對(duì)公司有好處。從生意角度來(lái)看，這些公司承擔(dān)不起訴訟和負(fù)面報(bào)道的后果。

????尼日利亞大學(xué)（the University of Nigeria）經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授、布魯金斯非洲增長(zhǎng)中心（the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative）的研究員奧斯塔?奧格布指出，財(cái)富500強(qiáng)中那些渴求可可的公司可以成為有益的力量。他說(shuō)：“一切有助于提高可可種植者生產(chǎn)效率，既能提高農(nóng)村居民收入，同時(shí)又致力于解決環(huán)境問(wèn)題的東西我們都?xì)g迎?！?/p>

????此外，成功推行慈善事業(yè)也要求營(yíng)利性組織、非政府組織、當(dāng)?shù)厝嗣窈驼献?，而這正是巧克力行業(yè)追求的。

????不過(guò)，只有巧克力廠商拓展思路，不再局限于幫助農(nóng)民，而是開始在當(dāng)?shù)厣a(chǎn)巧克力，可持續(xù)發(fā)展才能取得真正的進(jìn)展。奧格布指出，只有這樣才能為西非國(guó)家?guī)?lái)更多利潤(rùn)，創(chuàng)造更多就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)?！坝袥](méi)有可能，可可種植者的子女不再當(dāng)農(nóng)民，而是在巧克力工廠工作？”他認(rèn)為，那將標(biāo)志著真正符合可持續(xù)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的Kiss問(wèn)世。

????譯者：小宇

????Improving cocoa yields can help communities in other ways. For example, the crop depletes the soil of nutrients, so it grows best on plots with other plants. This means that companies with a vested interest in healthy cocoa need to work with governments and NGOs to encourage sustainable farming in general, not just for cocoa.

????Companies also benefit from supporting education in local communities. The average age of cocoa farmers is about fifty, says Bill Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation. In an ideal situation, education programs can ensure that there is a generation of cocoa farmers for these corporate players to work with 20 years from now.

????Education goes both ways. "Candidly, we don't have as big of a physical presence in West Africa as we should," says Hershey's McCormick. But part of COCOALINK involves setting up research centers in West Africa. "We're doing a heck of a lot of cocoa research for future product formulations," he says. "We're going to use our farm to get our scientists closer to the farmers and the farm."

Philanthropy vs. taking care of business: room for both?

????There's clearly a business case for companies, but how far will these efforts go towards helping farmers? The chocolate industry has an ugly history in West Africa. Around 2000, when the WCF formed, Congress received reports of serious violations of child labor laws on West African cocoa farms. In some cases, third parties were trucking children in to cocoa-producing regions and reports said that many kids were exploited and forced to work without pay. In other cases, cocoa-farming families encouraged children to work with them in the fields, often putting them in dangerous situations: wielding machetes, exposure to pesticides.

????It can be difficult for companies alone to enforce child labor laws, but they will have to push to do so. "Companies do need to play a role in the child labor issue and they are," Guyton says. "It's a shared responsibility with the African governments and also the communities where it happens."

????But sharing responsibility can make it difficult to enforce standards, especially when governments don't have child labor laws that meet U.S. standards. Big corporate investment could deliver benefits because of increased transparency demands from consumers and NGOs. From a business standpoint, these companies can't afford lawsuits and bad public exposure.

????Fortune 500 cocoa-hungry companies stand to be a force for good, says Osita Ogbu, an economics professor at the University of Nigeria and a fellow with the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative. "Anything that improves the productivity of cocoa farmers that increases the rural income, and at the same time addresses environmental scarcity, is welcome," he says.

????And successful philanthropy often requires for-profit organizations, NGOs, local people and governments to work together, a path that the chocolate industry is pursuing.

????But the real step towards sustainability will come when companies expand their thinking beyond helping farmers and start to manufacture chocolate locally. That's where you'll start to see significant profit margins for West Africans and job creation, says Ogbu. "Is it possible that the sons of daughters of cocoa farmers will not be cocoa farmers but will work in chocolate factories?" That, he says, will mark the beginning of a truly sustainable Kiss.