South-South cooperation makes Africa a stronger competitor in the international cotton trade
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Cotton is one success of Zambia’s turn towards a market economy and offers a powerful tool for poverty reduction. Until recently, the industry had been dominated by the foreign-owned private sector that dictated prices and marketing arrangements for over 300,000 smallholder farmers in contract cotton production, with almost exclusive access to policy discussions and formulation. With knowledge gained from farmer groups in China, India, Senegal and Turkey, the Cotton Association of Zambia (CAZ) was able to change the fundamental power structures whereby cotton farmers now have a greater say in critical issues affecting the industry, such as pricing and contract negotiations. In 'Business Focus' Joseph Nkole, national coordinator of CAZ, explains how and which changes came about to the cotton sector. Such as that 34 districts showed an increase of seed cotton prices by 40% in the past two seasons. This price increase was shown in real terms and related to the incomes generated by smallholder farmers. In total approximately 270,000 cotton farmers have benefited from higher producer prices negotiated by CAZ.
As farmers rotate cotton with food crops, the capacity built among farmers will also enhance the production of crops such as maize or cereals and thus contributes to food security in the country.
The complete article on the development of the cotton value chain in Africa and south-south cooperation is available below.
Developing_the_Cotton_Value_Chain_in_Africa_Forum2011.pdfNews list
