Pricing Farmers out of Cotton:

The costs of World Bank reforms in Mali

With global trade talks stalled at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), rich-country cotton subsidies remain unabated, hurting poor cotton farmers. World Bank led reforms to privatise the Malian cotton sector, including the adoption of a new price- setting mechanism, are further exacerbating the dire conditions in cotton-producing communities. A minimum level of price stability is vital for income security in the cotton sector and to prevent further slides into poverty. The wider donor community should provide adequate funds to finance a cotton-sector support fund, as well as invest in rural extension services and sustain capacity building of farmers to enable them to maximise their returns from new market opportunities.

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Summary

Mali is one of the world’s poorest countries, with over two-thirds of the population – mostly in rural areas – living on less than a dollar a day. Mali is also the second largest cotton producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Burkina Faso.

Cotton production is generally heralded as a success story in much of West and Central Africa, providing a critical development strategy for poor African countries such as Mali and enabling both governments and farm households to access income. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the wider donor community have also recognised the importance of cotton in reducing poverty and supporting the country’s economy. However, in recent years, much of this success has been undermined by depressed and volatile cotton prices, partly as the result of unchecked US subsidies, and the downward trend of commodity prices.

Since 2003, the government of Mali, along with the governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Chad (called the C4), has been battling at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to end trade-distorting cotton subsidies in industrialised countries that suppress world prices. This effort has renewed debate around the role of cotton in economic development and poverty reduction in West Africa and the need for support to the sector to achieve these ends.

Against the background of stalled global trade talks, and persistent use of trade-distorting cotton subsidies, the World Bank and the IMF continue pressuring Mali to implement policies started in the late 1990s of promoting cotton-sector reform through privatisation. This paper examines in detail one element of this reform: the new price-setting mechanism agreed in January 2005. Instead of improving the livelihoods of cotton farmers, this particular measure is destabilising cotton as a source of revenue for millions of farmers.

The new price-setting mechanism essentially transmits the downward trend in world cotton prices direct to the cotton farmer, with a strong likelihood of increasing poverty in rural Mali by up to five per cent. With cotton producer prices now 20 per cent lower than in previous years, cotton-growing areas of Mali are increasingly facing rising indebtedness and food insecurity. This undermines not only their productive capacity but also their capacity to provide basic education and health care. As cotton-dependent communities face these challenges, there are also wider implications for the overall agricultural economy and growth, since the knock-on effects of the fall in cotton prices could slow GDP growth by as much as five per cent in coming years. Cotton-sector reform strategies should be reviewed in the light of the importance of cotton to overall growth and poverty reduction in Mali.

While reform may create economic opportunities for cotton producers, such as the chance to negotiate a higher share of the world price and participate in the management of the sector, producers cannot manage the risks associated with depressed, volatile, and generally declining prices. Transferring the risks of a highly volatile world market down to the bottom of the chain may benefit the ginning companies and exporters, but only at the expense of poor farmers. It also begs the question of why those least capable of managing these risks are increasingly expected to pick up the responsibility. At the very least, price risk should be shared between the farmers, the ginning companies, and the traders. Government and donor communities should intervene in cases of extreme or sustained risk, in line with public-policy goals.

Maintaining minimum price guarantees for cotton farmers is critical if the trend of increasing rural poverty in Mali is to be slowed or halted, especially as farmers face greater uncertainty from sectoral reforms. National level support or insurance funds which underpin minimum prices are essential for preventing increased poverty. Constituting or replenishing these funds will require significant contributions from governments and donor agencies to complement those contributions made by farmers. The current price-setting mechanism should also be reviewed to ensure that it is effective and coherent, with a properly functioning support fund.

More broadly, as privatisation proceeds in the Malian cotton sector, enhanced technical assistance and capacity building for farmer organisations is critical to ensuring their effective participation in the management of the sector in advance of privatisation. In particular, sustained support is required to ensure that producers develop their capacities to manage co-operative enterprises, diversify their activities and negotiate with finance institutions and suppliers at local level. Otherwise, the fragile, newly formed local co-operatives risk being undermined by indebtedness, falling literacy rates, and associated social tensions.

Further, a renewed commitment and strategy for reviving rural development and extension services previously undertaken by the Compagnie Malienne du Développement des Textiles (CMDT) is desperately needed from both government and donor agencies.

Date of publication: March 2007