Box 13: Cotton in the Sahel

Over the past 50 years, and particularly in the past two decades, cotton has become a key export crop for many Sahelian countries. Although cotton is a plantation crop in the European Union and the United States of America, in the Sahel it is grown almost exclusively on small farms. Moreover, this success has not been achieved at the expense of foregone cereal production. Cotton production has contributed to higher incomes, improved livelihoods and better access to social services such as education and health.

Mali is one of the largest cotton producers in the region, and indeed in all of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2006, roughly 200 000 Malian smallholder farmers produced cotton for sale on the international market. Over the past 45 years, cotton production has increased by more than 8 percent per year, providing an average income of US$200 per household for over 25 percent of Malian rural households.

Mali’s cotton farmers traditionally cultivate cotton in rotation with coarse grains, particularly maize and sorghum. Contrary to popular fears that cash crops may have a negative effect on food-crop production and household food security, cotton production has actually boosted coarse grain production in Mali. Unlike coarse grains produced outside the cotton zone, cereals grown by cotton farmers beneﬁt from greater access to fertilizer and from the residual effects of cotton fertilizers procured and ﬁnanced through the region’s cotton-based input/credit system. Cereal ﬁelds also beneﬁt from improved farming practices made possible through the use of animal traction obtain higher yields in both cotton and coarse grains than the semi-equipped and manual producers (Dioné, 1989; Raymond and Fok 1995; Kébé, Diakite and Diawara, 1998). Well-equipped cotton farmers, likewise, are more able to satisfy the demanding husbandry requirements of maize production, including timely planting, frequent ploughing and regular weeding (Boughton and de Frahan, 1994). They also tend to sell more cereals to the markets. In general, farmers using animal traction account for the majority of cereal sales, primarily because of their higher per capita production.

Historically, an important factor in the success of cotton farmers with both cotton and cereals has been the extension support provided by the Compagnie Malienne de Développement des Textiles (CMDT). The CMDT’s construction and maintenance of regional feeder roads has also facilitated the collection and transport of seed cotton. This beneﬁts food-crop marketing by helping to lower marketing costs and improve market integration in the zone. The Malian cotton experience highlights the importance of investing in agriculture if biofuels are to become an engine of agricultural growth.

Cotton also illustrates the impact of OECD countries’ subsidies to production and exports and tariffs on imports of farm-based commodities. Anderson and Valenzuela (2007) estimate that the removal of current distortions affecting cotton markets would boost global economic welfare by US$283 million per year and raise the price of cotton by about 13 percent. Moreover, West African cotton farmer’s incomes would rise by 40 percent.