Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev
Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev
Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
concluded that, <strong>in</strong> West <strong>Africa</strong>’s s<strong>in</strong>gle-channel systems (which to that time hadbeen far more successful than systems <strong>in</strong> Anglophone countries), “privatization<strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>put distribution . . . should be considered only with the greatest caution,due to the need to l<strong>in</strong>k distribution with credit <strong>and</strong> output market<strong>in</strong>g” (Lele,Van de Walle, <strong>and</strong> Gbetiobouo 1989: 31). This review further cautioned aboutthe potential “collapse <strong>of</strong> the cotton <strong>in</strong>dustry <strong>in</strong> francophone <strong>Africa</strong>” if research<strong>and</strong> extension were moved out <strong>of</strong> exist<strong>in</strong>g s<strong>in</strong>gle-channel systems withoutviable alternative <strong>in</strong>stitutional approaches to ensur<strong>in</strong>g the cont<strong>in</strong>uity <strong>of</strong> theseactivities. With<strong>in</strong> Francophone <strong>Africa</strong>n countries, one important basis foropposition to reform has been fears that <strong>in</strong>put credit <strong>and</strong> extension would beunderm<strong>in</strong>ed.In both the subsidies debate <strong>and</strong> the debate on structural reform <strong>of</strong> cottonsectors, little attention has been paid to countries <strong>of</strong> East <strong>and</strong> Southern <strong>Africa</strong>(ESA). Yet production <strong>in</strong> ESA has been grow<strong>in</strong>g steadily, <strong>and</strong> reached nearlyhalf a million tons <strong>of</strong> l<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> 2004/05. Serious structural reform <strong>of</strong> cotton sectors<strong>in</strong> ESA, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the elim<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> exist<strong>in</strong>g s<strong>in</strong>gle-channel systems,began <strong>in</strong> the early 1990s <strong>and</strong> much has been learned about the process. Reform<strong>in</strong> countries <strong>of</strong> WCA has been slower for a number <strong>of</strong> reasons: the s<strong>in</strong>gle-channelsystems were very strongly established <strong>in</strong> many WCA countries; stakeholderscould po<strong>in</strong>t to substantial successes <strong>in</strong> addition to clear <strong>and</strong> mount<strong>in</strong>g problems;<strong>and</strong> the sheer number <strong>of</strong> farmers <strong>in</strong>volved—<strong>and</strong> the size <strong>of</strong> the publiccompanies serv<strong>in</strong>g them—made reform difficult from political, social, <strong>and</strong>commercial perspectives. The developed-world subsidies referred to earlieralso fueled <strong>in</strong>ternal resistance to reform. Yet nearly all countries <strong>in</strong> WCA havemade substantial <strong>in</strong>cremental changes <strong>in</strong> their systems, <strong>and</strong> some have undertaken(or will soon undertake) structural reforms. To date, few attempts havebeen made systematically to br<strong>in</strong>g together <strong>and</strong> assess reform experience fromboth regions <strong>of</strong> the cont<strong>in</strong>ent. This analytical gap, <strong>and</strong> the potential benefitsfrom such an exercise, provides the fundamental rationale for this study. 7This comparative analysis is based on detailed case studies <strong>in</strong> n<strong>in</strong>e countries<strong>of</strong> ESA <strong>and</strong> WCA: Ben<strong>in</strong>, Burk<strong>in</strong>a Faso, Cameroon, <strong>and</strong> Mali <strong>in</strong> WCA; <strong>and</strong>Mozambique, Tanzania, Ug<strong>and</strong>a, Zambia, <strong>and</strong> Zimbabwe <strong>in</strong> ESA (figure 1.1).Dur<strong>in</strong>g the period 2004–08, these countries produced an average <strong>of</strong> 0.98 milliontons <strong>and</strong> accounted for 70 percent <strong>of</strong> SSA’s cotton production (1.35 milliontons dur<strong>in</strong>g that period). In 2005/06, the n<strong>in</strong>e countries <strong>in</strong> the sample togetherproduced more than 1 million tons <strong>of</strong> cotton l<strong>in</strong>t, the majority <strong>of</strong> which wasexported. This figure represents 60 percent <strong>of</strong> total <strong>Africa</strong>n production <strong>and</strong> 68percent <strong>of</strong> SSA production. The four WCA countries accounted for 70 percent<strong>of</strong> total production <strong>of</strong> countries <strong>in</strong> our sample <strong>in</strong> 2005/06. 8 Figure 1.2 showsaverage cotton production for major <strong>Africa</strong>n cotton producers dur<strong>in</strong>g 2004–08(<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the n<strong>in</strong>e countries analyzed <strong>in</strong> this study).Each case study <strong>in</strong>volved a literature review plus a two-week visit to thecountry 9 by researchers who already had several years <strong>of</strong> experience <strong>in</strong> the sector.In addition to compil<strong>in</strong>g st<strong>and</strong>ard <strong>in</strong>formation on the historical background,6 DAVID TSCHIRLEY