WB adds to West African cotton woes

GENEVA – Poor cotton farmers in West Africa face new pressures from low commodity prices and from privatisation programs advocated by donors like the World Bank, the charity Oxfam said in a report yesterday.

The report on the West African country coincides with a special meeting on the cotton trade until today at the World Trade Organisation. Africa’s major cotton producing countries, including Mali, have accused rich countries, particularly the United States, of failing to live up to commitments they made to progressively remove cotton subsidies in wider global trade talks.”Mali’s three million cotton farmers have been squeezed by American cotton subsidies and now they have to worry about World Bank privatisation policies too,” said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam’s fair trade campaign.”Instead of improving the livelihoods of cotton farmers, a new price-setting mechanism could destabilise cotton as a source of income for millions of farmers and increase poverty rates by five per cent,” she added.Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali say they have suffered from the decline in cotton prices under the weight of cheaper subsidised cotton from rich nations like the United States.The new mechanism set up in Mali in 2005 exposes farmers to depressed world prices, removes government support and removes the direct link with production costs, according to Oxfam.The report called on donors, including the World Bank, to set up a price stabilisation fund to help farmers and other stakeholders cushion the risks inherent in producing raw commodities for export.Oxfam said it would help food security, rural development, health and education.The US government last August repealed part of its cotton subsidy programme that had drawn the threat of billions of dollars in sanctions from Brazil in a dispute that is still ongoing at the WTO.Nampa-AFPAfrica’s major cotton producing countries, including Mali, have accused rich countries, particularly the United States, of failing to live up to commitments they made to progressively remove cotton subsidies in wider global trade talks.”Mali’s three million cotton farmers have been squeezed by American cotton subsidies and now they have to worry about World Bank privatisation policies too,” said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam’s fair trade campaign.”Instead of improving the livelihoods of cotton farmers, a new price-setting mechanism could destabilise cotton as a source of income for millions of farmers and increase poverty rates by five per cent,” she added.Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali say they have suffered from the decline in cotton prices under the weight of cheaper subsidised cotton from rich nations like the United States.The new mechanism set up in Mali in 2005 exposes farmers to depressed world prices, removes government support and removes the direct link with production costs, according to Oxfam.The report called on donors, including the World Bank, to set up a price stabilisation fund to help farmers and other stakeholders cushion the risks inherent in producing raw commodities for export.Oxfam said it would help food security, rural development, health and education.The US government last August repealed part of its cotton subsidy programme that had drawn the threat of billions of dollars in sanctions from Brazil in a dispute that is still ongoing at the WTO.Nampa-AFP