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

shares belonging to governments, and a minority retained by CFDT. 30 Most ofthese companies 31 entered into long-term technical assistance contracts withCFDT. These companies were usually granted a legal monopoly on the purchaseand processing of seed cotton and on lint marketing, and were obliged topurchase all seed cotton production at a fixed price set by the government.Ginning was based on large units using saw gin equipment.During the 1980s, the national cotton companies expanded their activitiesconsiderably, often with the assistance of internationally funded developmentprojects: they increased ginning capacity, further developed input creditschemes, invested in transport for seed and lint cotton, and created their ownextension services to disseminate technical packages. 32 As in the past, thenational cotton companies continued to guarantee purchase of the crop at afixed, panterritorial price announced before planting. In some cases (Mali and,to some extent, Cameroon), the companies were also given responsibility forrural development activities in the cotton areas. Cotton production grew rapidlyas a result of these investments, based on an increasing number of cotton farmersand increased farm yields and ginning outturn ratios. Lint quality alsoimproved. Yields increased dramatically in most countries until the mid-1980s,thanks to intensified use of fertilizer (made possible through input credits),development of animal traction, and development of new varieties with higheryield potential, as well as higher ginning outturn ratios. Most varieties were developedin cooperation with Institut de Recherches sur le Coton et les Textiles, orIRCT (the French public Cotton and Textile Research Institute, which latermerged into Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développementor CIRAD, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development).Meanwhile, to cope with increasing seed production, large-scale cottonseed processing units designed to supply domestic markets with quality refined oilwere built, often as part of the cotton companies (in Cameroon and Mali).Strengths and Weaknesses of the WCA ModelDuring the three decades following independence (1960–90), cotton developmentin WCA was widely regarded as a success story, with impressive andsteady growth and outreach to nearly every farmer in cotton zones. However,the rapid growth of the cotton companies put increasing strain on their managementcapacities, and most of them lacked adequate control and supervisionsystems. Aware of the risks, most WCA governments introduced in the1980s a new monitoring instrument called performance contracts, to benegotiated between the state, the cotton company, and, in some cases likeMali in the early 1990s, with the cotton farmer organization. The overallobjective of the performance contracts was to make cotton companies moreaccountable to governments and stakeholders. Specific objectives includeduntangling commercial activities from public service activities and securingseparate funding for these activities, as well as establishing financial performance32 GERGELY AND POULTON