Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev

METHODOLOGY AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:A TYPOLOGY OF AFRICAN COTTON SECTORSThis comparative study was undertaken to examine the complex issues raisedabove, with a view to bringing fresh insights to inform and guide decisionsrather than fueling old controversies. To implement its study, the World Bankbrought together a large and diverse team of experts and researchers withextensive experience in cotton sectors across the continent. The review wasbased on detailed case studies in nine of the main cotton producing countriesof Sub-Saharan Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Mali inWCA; and Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in ESA.The study analyzes systematically and thoroughly the relations between sectororganization and sector performance and outcomes, with the aim ofestablishing evidence-based causality links between a given sector organizationand a series of performance indicators. Conversely, it does not pretendto provide detailed prescriptions to guide further reform processes in individualcountries. Stakeholders in the various countries will need to drawimplications from the comparative analysis and apply pertinent lessons totheir local circumstances.The study followed a four-step process. It first drew on available experienceto develop a conceptual framework that would generate testable hypotheses.Next, it developed an analytical framework that included the characterization ofclearly distinct sector types—based on the market structure and associatedframework for seed cotton—and a set of empirical performance indicators withwhich to test the hypotheses. Third, the team used the country case studies,together with a broad range of information sources (literature review, historicalanalysis, key informant interviews, focus group interviews, secondary quantitativedata, and newly collected data), to “tell the story” of reform in each countryand to inform the comparative analysis. This story entailed computing the indicators;benchmarking performance, past and current, by country and sectortype; and drawing conclusions on the major drivers of that performance, particularlywith regard to sector structure.The conceptual framework for this comparative analysis of cotton sectors restson the idea that economic systems benefit from both competition and coordination,but that in the real world of imperfect markets and weak states there is likelyto be a trade-off between them. Conventionally produced cotton is an inputintensivecrop, so Africa’s frequently failing input and credit markets present aparticular challenge to its development. National quality reputation for cottonalso remains important, providing a second major justification for sector coordination.Competition is important to ensuring efficiency and equitable sharingof benefits between buyers and sellers. Yet, too much competition will makeit difficult or impossible for stakeholders to engage in the coordination neededto provide important services such as quality control, input credit, research,and extension. A well-functioning cotton sector is one that strikes a balanceEXECUTIVE SUMMARYxxv