ILRF did a report a few years ago focusing on the affect of World Bank policies on Cote d'Ivoire.  This country, which used to be the symbol of prosperity in West Africa, started dealing with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 1989.  As part of accepting loans form the WB and IMF, Cote d'Ivoire had to liberalize the coffee and cocoa sectors, reduce government expenditures on services like schools and health and devaluate its currency. 

All of these changes led to economic instability for farmers, lower incomes from growing cocoa, less access to essential services and a general decline in living standards.  Farmers had to cut costs in their cocoa production to survive, so they had to use their children to work on the plantations.  Some farmers even used forced trafficked child labor from other West African countries which were experiencing similar changes.  It is estimated that 70% of child labor in the world is in the agricultural sector.

Clearly, World Bank and IMF policies have had a negative impact on living and working standards for farmers and agricultural workers.  These policies have resulted in serious problems like abusive child labor and now, a global food crisis.  It's time for us to tell these international financial institutions, the governments that support them and the corporations who benefit from these policies that enough is enough!

I also highly recommend checking out Walden Bello's recent article in The Nation titled "Manufacturing a Food Crisis."  It explores the connections between the food crisis and WB/IMF/WTO policies.

ILRF has posters you can download focusing on the problems with World Bank and IMF loans.  You can also contact us at laborrights[at]ilrf.org to order bigger, fancier versions of the poster.