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African cotton-producing countries have called for the WTO to find a solution to cotton trade “distortion” caused by industrial countries. The top cotton-producing countries known as the Cotton 4 (C4 – Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad) say subsidies for the industrialised countries impact prices at home. Their call comes ahead of the ministerial meeting of the WTO opening in Abu Dhabi on Monday (26th February).
African cotton producers are among the world’s most competitive, but they face lower prices and unfair competition due to heavy subsidies in richer countries. Cutting subsidies would boost cotton prices and incomes for poor farmers, and lead to a significant shift in production to African countries.
The distortions caused by the cotton trade have continued to compromise the lives of millions of cotton producers in Africa for over two decades, stated Chad’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Ahmat Abdelkerim, told a press conference on Sunday in Abu Dhabi on behalf of the C4. The C4 also called for reparations for damages caused so far, and for the cotton issue to be removed from the agricultural dossier to move discussions forward.
Côte d’Ivoire and the C4 submitted a draft decision on cotton to the World Trade Organisation in preparation for the conference in the United Arab Emirates starting on Monday. However, the Chadian minister said this draft decision has not been taken into account even though cotton is important not only for job creation but also for food security. It will contribute enormously to peace in Africa, he added.
The cotton sector employs more than 20 million people in the C4 and is worth USD 2 billion. The issue is one of equity and economic justice, added Mali’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Moussa Alassane Diallo, at the same press conference.
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WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino announced Saturday that the two organisations would strengthen their partnership on cotton and called for African countries to be helped to participate in cotton value chains.
