Cotton Market Structure

Cotton Market Structure

Cotton supports the livelihoods of millions of rural households in West and Central Africa where it is a typical, and often dominant, smallholder cash crop. Cotton also has macroeco-nomic significance in several countries of the region, as it accounts for approximately 40 percent of total merchandise export earnings in Benin and Burkina Faso, and 30 percent in Chad and Mali. Cotton producers are under pressure from declining prices, competition from chemical fibers, stagnant per capita demand, and domestic policies. A resolution to these problems must involve a comprehensive package of global trade reforms and development assistance, ...