Coffee and Human Rights Abuses

Widespread and Systematic Human Rights Violations Have Been Documented in the Coffee Industry Over the Last 20 Years

Over the past two decades, NGOs, union, investigators, and journalists have consistently uncovered and documented widespread, severe, and systematic human rights abuses and environmental degradation in the coffee industry.

The problem is not restricted to certain geographies but rather, spans the world, including the coffee-producing countries of Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uganda, and Vietnam.

Documented violations are connected to major certification schemes (such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and 4C) and major coffee companies (such as Casemex, EGOS, Merino, Cooxupé, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Falcon Coffees, Lavazza, McDonalds, Nespresso, Nestlé, JDE, and Starbucks). Many of these certifications and companies are members of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP), which is itself a member of coffee industry groups that lobbied to derail vital human rights and environmental regulations (such as the Deutscher Kaffeeverband). These and other companies named in the reports listed below bear significant responsibility for the rights abuses and extreme poverty in their supply chains.

The extent of abuses documented in these reports illustrates that most large multinational coffee corporations knew or should have known about the high risk for human rights abuses in coffee production. As such, we believe they ought to have undertaken robust due diligence procedures to identify and prevent abuses, and should have made significant efforts to comply with applicable law (slavery, child labor, and illegal deforestation are all crimes in coffee-producing countries and have long been so). Unfortunately, the reports referenced below show that many corporations and certification schemes have failed for the past two decades to ensure that all the coffee in their supply chains was produced in compliance with the law. Most of the coffee industry has fundamentally failed to take decisive action to transform its harmful practices, resulting in coffee supply chains that are neither ethical nor sustainable.

Child labor

Overview: One of the most egregious human rights violations in the coffee industry is the well-documented and widespread prevalence of child labor. The coffee industry ranks fourth¹ among all industries associated with child labor according to International Labor Organization (ILO) statistics. Child labor often results from the reliance of small family farms on their children’s labor for survival, due to the fact that many adult smallholder farmers do not earn a living income and many farmworkers do not earn a living wage. This practice, while deeply rooted in economic necessity, perpetuates a cycle of poverty and limited opportunities for younger generations.

• A 2012 study by Verité surveyed 372 coffee workers in Guatemala. Of the 372 workers interviewed, 99% reported there were minors working on the last coffee farm they worked in and 87% reported that they observed children between the ages of eight and 13 working on coffee farms.²
• Another 2012 report on child labor in Guatemalan coffee found that approximately 507,000 children ages 7-14 are engaged in some form of “work” across all sectors. This staggering number equates to one out of every five Guatemalan children in that age range. Guatemalan law prohibits workers under the age of 14, with some exceptions for “apprenticeships” and/or extreme poverty. But enforcement of child labor laws is limited, especially in agricultural sectors – such as coffee production.³
• Child labor is widespread and systematic on the small-scale farms in Nicaragua. A 2011 report by a civil society group found that children often work long hours, face health and safety risks, and miss out on vital education. Factors such as labor shortages, lack of accessible schools in rural areas, poverty, and lack of enforcement on small farms all exacerbate the scourge of child labor. Efforts like the “Educational Bridges” program—launched by the League against Child Labor and NGOs in 2010—have aimed to reduce child labor by keeping schools open during harvest season and expanding access to rural areas. With 23 coffee producers participating, the program has helped around 1,370 children stay in school and out of labor.⁴
• A 2016 Danwatch report uncovered alarming evidence of children as young as five to seven years old working on coffee plantations. These vulnerable young children are forced to sacrifice their childhoods, education, and health in order to help their often-impoverished families. In turn, these children are unable to go to school, instead working in harsh conditions, thereby irreparably damaging their future prospects and likely perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exploitation.⁵
• The 2022 “Impact x Nightline” documentary⁶ investigated evidence of child labor on multiple ethically-certified coffee farms in southern Mexico, despite claims by coffee companies that their beans are produced under humane conditions. The report found children as young as six working on a Rainforest Alliance-certified farm in Chiapas, Mexico in 2021. The documentary also shows adult farmers from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms admitting that child labor is common, with some farmers estimating that up to 20 children are working in just one community.
• In Uganda, a study conducted by several NGOs in four eastern districts found an overall child labor prevalence of 48%, with the subset consisting of 51% young boys and 42% young girls. From this subset, four out of every 10 children ages five to 17 were engaged in “hazardous” work. This “hazardous” work included using sharp tools, working extremely long hours, being exposed to agrochemicals, and carrying extremely heavy loads. Overall, 54% of the children in this study reported experiencing at least one work-related injury or illness in the preceding 12 months, with an additional 38% percent reporting that they had been punished for making mistakes as well as for failing to fulfill required tasks. This study revealed that child labor in the Ugandan coffee industry is widespread, with the worst offenders being Kapchorwa (65% child workers) and Bududa (50% child workers).⁷
• A 2023 report on Starbucks’ supply chain in Brazil noted that there were at least two instances of child labor, on the Messas Farm and on Cedro-Chapadão Farms. The work demanded of these children consisted of handling coffee bags that weighed up to 60 kilos (approx. 130 pounds). This grueling task has been included on the “List of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.”⁸
• Coffee Watch's own reports and investigations have uncovered child labor in Chinese, Mexican, Brazilian, and Colombian coffee supply chains.
  • In China, child labor was observed on coffee farms that supply to Starbucks and Nestlé. While not widespread, child labor appears normalized during school breaks, with children helping on family farms. Hazardous exposure is a concern, as homes are often close to work areas where agrochemicals are used. School dropout rates after age 12 are high due to limited access to education. These practices violate China’s labor laws, international labor standards, and both companies’ own ethical codes.
  • In Mexico, child labor remains widespread in Mexico’s coffee sector, especially in Veracruz and Chiapas, where rates exceed the national average. Driven by poverty and low wages, families often rely on children to supplement household income. National data from 2022 shows 3.7 million children (13.1% of those aged 5–17) engaged in child labor, with many working unpaid or earning below-minimum wages. In agriculture—including coffee—child labor is especially common, particularly among small producers and day laborers paid by harvest volume. Despite public denouncements, certification bodies and corporations have done little to address the root causes or improve oversight.
  • In Brazil, forced child labor and hazardous child labour remain a common issue. There have been cases of the Brazilian Government rescuing 13-year-old children, who were undocumented, underpaid and lacking safety equipment as required by law. These children are required to handle coffee sacks weighing 60 kilograms, work in dangerous weather conditions, and live in inhumane conditions.

Slave Labor & Forced labor

Overview: In addition to child labor, many case studies and reports have found that working conditions on coffee farms are often analogous to slavery. As seen in the reports below, workers on coffee plantations frequently endure grueling conditions such as unreasonably long working hours and lack of access to basic necessities. This type of labor is usually the result of debt bondage. Migrant workers are especially vulnerable in these scenarios, as the lack of formal contracts and legal protections leave them at the mercy of unscrupulous employers.

When workers are rescued from these conditions, farm owners ideally will face legal and financial repercussions. For example, in Brazil⁹ , employers can be added to the “Dirty List,” which is a register of employers who were found to have retained workers in slave-like conditions. Being listed can result in fines and penalties, suspension or cancelation of certifications, difficulty accessing government subsidies, and loss of international business partnerships.

While rescues of workers does occur, this does not mean governments are adequately addressing the issue. For example, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enacted its own program from December 2012 to December 2018 called “Consolidating and Disseminating Efforts to Combat Forced Labor in Brazil and Peru” (CDECFL). The goal of this program was to address the prevalence of both forced labor and child labor in Brazil and Peru. The DOL found that even when Brazil has enacted “robust laws, policies, and a labor inspection system . . . workers continue to be subjected to forced labor”.¹⁰

Similarly, Peru has “workers from indigenous communities and rural areas [whom] are vulnerable to forced labor . . . [even when] the government of Peru has implemented policies to address forced labor”.¹⁰ In reviewing Peru’s policy implementations, the DOL found that the country had failed to allocate sufficient resources to combat forced labor. As seen by this report, even when countries enact legislation to address this problem, it still is not enough to squarely root it out. More must therefore be done to adequately combat the prevalence of slave labor in the coffee industry.

Workers in Brazil have been found trapped in debt bondage. Employers illegally withhold necessary documents from the workers such as their ID cards and/or passports. It is a common practice within the coffee industry for employers to refuse to provide proper contracts and payment stubs to their workers, thus making it nearly impossible for aggrieved workers to voice their complaints. These types of practices clearly violate Article 149 of the Brazilian Criminal Code, which states that it is illegal to “reduce someone to a condition analogous to slavery, either by submitting [them] to hard labor or [an] exhausting journey or subjecting them to degrading working conditions or restricting by any means, locomotion due to debt incurred with the employer or agent”.¹¹

• In 2015, Danwatch reported that from 2009 to 2015 approximately 101 workers were rescued from slavery-like conditions from six different plantations in Nestlé's supply chain. Among other documented conditions, workers did not have access to clean drinking water or toilets at their workplace.¹²
• In 2016, Repórter Brasil published a monitor bulletin regarding working conditions on certified coffee farms. The monitor examines three examples of labour violations on three certified coffee farms in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The violations observed ranged from failure to provide workers with formal employment contracts to failing to properly store agrochemicals, and illegally deducting wages which resulted in workers receiving half the minimum wage. These abuses were connected certifications like UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, and companies like Ecom, Nestlé and Starbucks.¹³
• In July 2018, Brazilian labor inspectors found six employees working in conditions analogous to slavery. These violations included: 17-hour work shifts, unhygienic housing conditions, and lack of proper toilets and kitchen facilities.¹⁴
• In 2018, the NGO Conectas Human Rights along with ADERE-MG filed 5 complaints with the OECD detailing instances of workers who faced slave-like conditions which working on coffee farms supplying to McDonald's, JDE, Nestlé, illycaffé, and Starbucks. A more detailed summary of these complaints is found in Coffee Watch's section 307 petition.
• In 2019, Repórter Brasil reported on the involvement of major coffee companies Nespresso and Starbucks in purchasing coffee from a farm that was caught using slave labor in Brazil. Labor Tax Auditors found six workers on the Cedro II Farm (owned by Helvécio Batista) in conditions “similar to slavery.” Specifically, workers were subjected to exhausting workdays, usually lasting from approximately 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. While at workstations, workers often lacked bathrooms and kitchens for meal preparation. Notably, Cedro II Farm held certification schemes from both Rainforest Alliance and UTZ. In an update to that article, UTZ clarified that it had supposedly certified a neighboring farm managed by Batista, not the one cited in the article. As a result of the intervention from the Labor Tax Auditors, Cedro II Farm was placed on the “Dirty List”.¹⁵
• A 2019 Reuters article reported that over 300 workers throughout Brazil were rescued from slave-like conditions on various coffee plantations, the highest number in the prior 15 years. This article further states that in just one night, over 50 workers were rescued from just two plantations in Minas Gerais.¹⁶
• A 2021 ADERE report addresses widespread forced labor in the Brazilian coffee industry, particularly in southern Minas Gerais – an area which accounts for the largest number of cases of labor “analogous to slavery” among Brazilian coffee farms. Between 2015 and 2019, at least 495 workers were rescued from conditions “analogous to slavery” on coffee plantations. Common violations listed within the report includ human trafficking, degrading working conditions, retention of worker’s documents and wages, inhumane housing, and exhausting working hours.¹⁷
• A 2021 article published in Mongabay notes that in 2020, “140 workers were rescued from slave-labor-like conditions at coffee plantations, all of them in Minas Gerais.”¹⁸
• In 2021, Oxfam Brasil released a short film documenting multiple accounts from victims of slave labor detailing their experiences. Workers explained that they were lured into working at coffee plantations with promises of “good pay” including rent, food, and equipment. However, upon arrival at the farms all of these promises were broken. Workers were trapped into debt bondage - charged for tools, equipment, and supplies. Furthermore, the cost of their food and accommodations was illegally deducted from their pay. As a result of these unethical and illegal practices, workers were unable to leave the plantations due to the extreme amount of debt they suddenly owed.¹⁹
• In 2022, 17 workers -- including some minors -- were rescued from ‘modern slavery conditions’ at the Messas Farm in Campos Altos, Brazil. Similarly, at the Cedro-Chapadão Farm in Lecidea, a 17-year-old was rescued from “modern slave labor”, with 25 other workers were found in poor conditions. Rescues are primarily conducted by inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Employment. These government officials carry out inspection operations at farms where labor violations are either suspected or reported. When these officials find workers in conditions analogous to slavery and/or other severe labor violations, they rescue the workers from these situations.⁸
• A 2022 report by Brazilian journalists addresses how multinational coffee companies continue to purchase from suppliers linked to farms where slave labor was found. For example, List + Beisler, a German company specializing in premium coffees, imported two batches of coffee from Coopercitrus between December 2021 and January 2022 after workers were rescued from farms linked to Coopercitrus suppliers. Highlighting the prevalence of slave labor in the coffee industry, in 2021, labor inspectors rescued 310 victims of slave labor on 20 different coffee farms in Brazil, which is the highest recorded number since 2003.²⁰
• A 2024 report stated that from 1996 to 2023, Brazilian labor inspectors found 3,700 workers in slave-like conditions on coffee plantations throughout Brazil. Despite efforts to combat “modern” slavery in Brazil, cases continue to emerge, with the worst offenders in Minas Gerais, Brazil – which also happens to be the country’s primary coffee-producing state.²¹
• In 2024, Al Jazeera published a short documentary following Jorge, a former victim of slave labor in Brazil turned major activist against slave labor. Jorge receives “tips” and attempts to coordinate with local authorities to expose workers' rights violations. The video, documents poor working conditions and debt bondage. While workers who are rescued receive unemployment insurance and even “back pay,” they are often back in these horrible conditions due to their ongoing struggle to break the cycle of poverty.¹

Wage theft & payments under the minimum wage

Overview: In addition to slavery-like working conditions, coffee workers who do get paid often face exploitation by receiving less than minimum wage and/or illegal wage deductions to pay for the cost of food, accommodations, or necessary equipment. Wage theft and payment of less than the minimum wage are closely linked to the prevalence of child labor. When adult workers are underpaid or have their wages stolen, families struggle to make ends meet, often forcing children to work to supplement household income.

• In Guatemala, even with family members helping, workers frequently earn far below the country’s minimum wage. For example, a 2016 Danwatch study found that a family of five needed about 13 times more than what some families reported earning to afford basic necessities.⁵
• A 2016 report from Finnwatch addresses wage theft and/or wages below the minimum wage in three countries: Brazil, Honduras, and India. In Brazil, wages were insufficient to afford even a basic living. In Honduras, serious wage violations included “piece-rate” pay often falling below the minimum wage. Specifically, workers earned less than half the minimum salary. Lastly, in India pay for seasonal migrant workers was below minimum wage.²²
• A 2019 Mongabay article, reported that Brazilian workers at Pedreira Farm in Minas Gerais state had up to 30% of their wages illegally deducted to pay for portable harvesting machines and fuel.¹⁴
• In Mexico in 2024, the Swiss NGO Public Eye found that coffee farmers report receiving prices for their coffee that are below their production costs, making it impossible to earn a living wage. They stated that they need around 40-50 pesos per kilo of coffee to make a “good living” but are currently receiving only 26 pesos per kilo.²³
• A 2023 report by Repórter Brasil, covered recent incidents of labor violations and slave labor on Rainforest Alliance-certified farms in Brazil. For context, Rainforest Alliance is a massive global certification scheme that verifies “good” practices on farms. There were approximately 1,047 certified farms and around 70,000 workers on these farms at the time of this report was published. In 2022, two farms certified by Rainforest Alliance had a total of 27 workers rescued from “conditions analogous to slavery.” While the report does not detail the conditions, locations, or names of these two farms, it makes the clear point that even certified coffee farms still contain slave labor.²⁴
• In a 2022 article, ABC News reported on a year-long investigation into ethically certified coffee farms in southern Mexico. During this investigation, ABC News found evidence of child labor and farmers living in poverty on multiple farms certified by organizations such as Rainforest Alliance. For example, investigators discovered children as young as six working on a Rainforest Alliance certified farm – which is in clear violation of the organization’s policy against child labor. When confronted with this evidence, Rainforest Alliance stated that they do not inspect all certified farms. However, it is important to note that Rainforest Alliance ultimately did pull its certifications from the farms where ABC News reporters reported these violations.⁶

Conclusion

The coffee industry has a long history of widespread and systematic tolerance of the use of child labor, slavery, forced labor, and forest destruction, including illegal deforestation in national parks. The industry knew or should have known about these abuses. The many reports presented above were written independently, in different geographies, by over a dozen credible organizations and news agencies, spanning two decades. These same reports indicate that certification has been no guarantee of compliance with local human rights laws or with a zero-deforestation approach to production. Clearly, the whole industry needs to clean up its act.