Cotton producers in crisis in Mali

Text by: Stanislas Ndayishimiye

Cotton producers in Mali will lose more than a fifth of their income during the 2020/2021 campaign. The guaranteed “field price” (producer price) guaranteed was fixed at 200 CFA francs per kilo instead of 275 CFA francs for the previous campaign. A decrease mainly related to the poor situation of the world fiber market, particularly affected by the economic consequences caused by the crisis of the new coronavirus.

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Textile factories shutdown in Asia, cargoes of fibers still awaiting export and the plunge, in early April, in the price of cotton at its lowest level since 2009, the low oil prices having made synthetic fibers more competitive than natural fibers ... It was enough for the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles (CMDT), which manages the sector, to decide to reduce the price to the producer. The CMDT expects a national production of 700,000 tonnes.

With this drop in earnings of more than 20%, some cotton growers could give up. But this is not the case for Tahirou Dembélé, producer of "white gold" in Koutiala, who even calls for improvement in yield.

“ For the moment, the best solution is to produce a lot on a small area, for example 2 t / ha, or 10 t over 5 ha. But when you farm on 20 ha and you can't even get 10 t, it's a huge loss. "

The Malian government should allocate the same subsidy to cotton producers as during the past campaign: 10 billion CFA francs. The CMDT and the other players in the sector have already decided to redirect the use of this sum. Previously intended for inputs, this time it will be used to ensure a bonus of 15 CFA francs per kg for producers.

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• Mali
• Africa

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