• Who are we?
  • In a nutshell
  • Our mandate
  • Our strategy
  • Our partnerships
  • CIRAD worldwide
  • Our values
• Research operations
  • Priority lines of research
  • Research Topics
  • Supply chains
  • Research units
  • Collective research tools
  • Research results
• Teaching & training
  • PhD training
  • Higher education
  • Available training
  • Scientific experience
  • E-learning
  • Grants
• Innovation & expertise
  • Partnerships for innovation
  • Skills and expertise
  • Products and services
  • Technology transfer
  • The CIRAD VIP newsletter
• Publications & resources
  • Documentary resources
  • Publications
  • Science for all
  • Vidéos
  • Website Directory

Report compiled for the 2006 Paris International Agricultural Fair

Various steps may be taken to avert crises or reduce their negative impact.

Boosting demand for cotton textiles

In recent years, an international initiative has finally been launched to boost consumer demand for cotton. It is being coordinated by ICAC, within the framework of the IFCP (International Forum for Cotton Promotion), launched in 2000.

The Americans have been the only ones working to encourage demand for cotton, since the start of the 1970s. The results speak for themselves, since average cotton textile consumption in the United States is higher than in any other industrialized country, and exceeds that of synthetic fibres. The wives of American cotton producers play a major role, notably by encouraging dress designers to use cotton in their collections. They are also involved in raising awareness among school pupils, based on the assumption that the young people of today will create the demand of tomorrow.

Fighting market distorsions

African countries have been protesting since 2001/2002 against market distorsion as a result of support policies in certain countries.

The impact of cutting or outlawing subsidies has often been estimated and is the subject of great debate. There seems to be a consensus that even if the resulting increase in world prices is only small, it will still be short-lived. In the long term, most observers agree that it is the countries with the greatest production resources and the ability to mobilize them at short notice that will come out on top. This should be the case with Brazil and Australia.

The financial impact of any increase in world prices depends on the production methods used. Farmers with just a few hectares can hope for a bonus of a few hundred dollars, while the main Brazilian growers with thousands of hectares will pocket several hundred thousand.

The liberal credo is powerful in that it has succeeded in encouraging hundreds of thousands of African producers to go into action, to the delight of a few hundred large-scale growers in Brazil and the despair of the country's landless farmers. Is this not a strange sort of solidarity?

Cotton commodity chain reforms

For many people, structural and organizational reform of cotton commodity chains is the only way of increasing production and ensuring greater competitiveness.

The English-speaking countries of Africa launched just such an institutional reform in 1985, with French-speaking countries following suit in the early 1990s. The reform was governed by the decision to privatize cotton firms and the supply of goods and services on which cotton production relied, and to liberalize. Putting the suppliers of the products and services required to grow cotton in competition with one another was supposed to improve the quality of those services and cut the cost for small-scale growers.

However, most of the English-speaking countries (Nigeria, Gambia, Tanzania, etc) have failed to see an increase in cotton production, and small-scale producers do not seem to be any better off. The positive effects seen in Zimbabwe for a time have now worn off, and while Zambia now tends to be quoted as an example, it only really has two cotton firms, and thus cannot be seen as a true example of liberalization.

The French-speaking countries have had varying and at the very least mixed results, no doubt because the methods used have varied considerably and have even sometimes strayed away from the spirit of privatization and liberalization.

Promoting increased productivity in the field

The proposal of a European initiative in support of African cotton, in 2004, was a positive step in that it put the spotlight on the technical aspects of cotton production.

Among the limited range of technical options, it is generally thought that genetically modified varieties are a good opportunity, often based on the somewhat simplistic assumption that if other countries have adopted them, African countries have no choice but to follow suit.

Encouraging coordination to promote quality

Some countries have conducted quite remarkable collective campaigns to promote the quality of their cotton to spinners.

It would be unwise to see the United States only as a country that subsidizes its cotton, whereas it has proved capable of implementing major marketing operations that could inspire other countries, albeit without the same financial resources. The Cotton USA label encourages textile manufacturers to use American cotton in their products, notably since there are tax benefits for imports of clothing made from it.

Australia is currently introducing its own cotton label, in the hope of highlighting its ecofriendly production techniques.

The inclusion of cotton in the UEMOA Quality Programme, with technical support from UNIDO, provides an opportunity to undertake specific operations to promote African cotton. CIRAD has helped UNIDO draw up a plan of action to this end.