WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
1 March  2021 
(21-1115) Page: 1/56 
Sub-Committee on Cotton  Original: English  
 
  
DIRECTOR GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON  
COTTON BY -PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICAN LDCS  
Joint c ommunication from the International Trade Centre (ITC)  and the United Nations Conference 
and Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  
The following communication, received on 21 December  2020, is being circulated at the request of 
the ITC and UNCTAD . 
 
_______________  
 
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS  
PROJECT BRIEF  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  3 
1   BACKGROUND & CONTEXT ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
1.1   Summary  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
1.2   Situation analysis  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  5 
1.3   Lessons learned from past projects  ................................ ................................ ................  7 
1.4   Project origin  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  9 
2   RELEVANCE  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  10 
2.1   Needs assessme nt ................................ ................................ ................................ ......10 
2.2   Coherence with partner government policies and strategies  ................................ ............. 11 
2.3   Competitive analysis  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...12 
3   STRATEGY  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  13 
3.1   Implementation  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 13 
3.2   Coherence with other interventions  ................................ ................................ ............... 19 
3.3   Project sustainability and local ownership  ................................ ................................ ......20 
3.4   Inclusiveness (gender and youth)  ................................ ................................ ................. 21 
3.5   Reducing income inequality ................................ ................................ .......................... 22 
3.6   Environmental conservation  ................................ ................................ ......................... 22 
3.7   Exit strategy  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 22 
4   BUDGET  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  23 
4.1   Narrative  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 23 
4.2   Project budget  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 23 
5   MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE  ................................ ................................ .............  24 
5.1   Programme Steering Committee  ................................ ................................ ................... 24 
6   RISK ANALYSIS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  25 
7   EVALUATION  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  26 
8   COMMUNICATION  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 26 
ANNEX 1 - REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE  ................................ ................................ .........  29 
ANNEX 2 - LOGICAL FRAMEWORK  ................................ ................................ ..................  40 
ANNEX 3 - RISK MATRIX  ................................ ................................ ................................  44 
 
TABLE OF FIGURES  
Figure 1 – Selected uses of the parts of the cotton plant  ................................ .................  6 
Figure 2 - Theory of change  ................................ ................................ ...........................  18 
Figure 3 - Project governance structure  ................................ ................................ .........  25 
 
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  PROJECT BRIEF  
Project Title  African LDCs: Cotton By -Product Development  
Beneficiary country(ies)  Africa  Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mozambique, United Republic of 
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia  
Project outcome  Improved competitiveness and increased revenue for stakeholders from cotton 
by-products, especially for smallholder and women farmers  
Contribution to SDGs  Goal 1 Target 1.2  
"By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of 
all ages li ving in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions " 
Goal 9 Target 9.b . 
"Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in 
developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, 
inter alia , industrial diversification and value addition to commodities " 
Goal Target 5 5.a . 
"Undertake refo rms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well 
as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, 
financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with 
national laws ". 
Implementing agencies 
and pro grammes  ITC Global Programme for Fibres, Textiles and Clothing  
UNCTAD Commodities Branch  
Project officers  KNAPPE Matthias, Programme Manager, ITC  
TERAUDS Kris, Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD  
Start date  01-Jan-2021 
End date  31-Dec-2024 
Duration  4 years  
Total project budget  USD 11,234,469  
Project origin type  Formal request for assistance  
Requesting party  Focal points of the requesting parties  
1. Benin: Mr. Euloge Houngbo, Coordonnateur National CIR_Bénin; Mr. Eloi 
Laourou, Coordonnateur du C4 . 
2. Zambia: Ms. Lilian Bwalya, Director, Foreign Trade and EIF Focal Point, 
Government  of Zambia . 
3. Chad: Mahamat Touka Saleh, Coordonnateur National CIR, Unité de Mise 
en Oeuvre du Cadre Intégré Renforcé_Tchad (UMOCIRT) . 
4. Mozambique : Amilcar Arone, National Director of External Trade, Ministry 
of Industry and Trade, Government of Mozambique . 
5. Tanzania : Mr. Marco Mtunga, Director General, Tanzania Cotton Board, 
Government of the United -Republic of Tanzania . 
6. Burkina  Faso: Mr. Seydou Ilboudo, Conseiller des Affaires Economiques, 
Spécialiste en Affaires Internationales, Direction Générale de Commerce, 
MCIA, Gouvernement du Burkina Faso . 
7. Mali: Mr. Boucadary Doumbia, UMOCIR, Gouvernement du Mali . 
8. Uganda: Mrs. Jolly Sabune, Executiv e Director, Cotton Development 
Authority, Government of Uganda . 
 
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  1  BACKGROUND & CONTEXT  
1.1  Summary  
1.1.  This proposal furthers the joint initiative among WTO, UNCTAD and ITC on cotton by -products. 
The initiative and this proposal respond to requests from cotton -producing LDCs in Africa – notably 
the Cotton Four (C4) countries1 – for technical assistance to develop value addition and markets for 
cotton products, including by -products.  
1.2.  The WTO Secretariat has already advanced the work by implementing a firs t phase project, 
funded by the EIF, to conduct feasibility studies in eight African LDCs on the potential for developing 
cotton by -products in each country, with a focus on those that can benefit cotton farmers.2 Under 
the joint initiative, UNCTAD and ITC  have supported the WTO throughout the implementation. The 
first phase project, comprising the studies and validation workshops, will identify the priority cotton 
by-products in each country, as well as some of the main policy and capacity -building require ments 
to enable their development. The WTO expected to finalise the final project document in late 2020, 
for validation at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Kazakhstan, initially scheduled 
for June 2020. Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic,  MC12 was postponed indefinitely, with no 
ulterior date decided at the time of writing.  
1.3.  However, at the request of the C -4 countries, on behalf of all African cotton -producing LDCs, 
WTO Members are currently discussing a General Council Declaration on supp ort for cotton 
by-products development in LDCs, expected to be adopted at the last session of the WTO General 
Council in 2020. The joint initiative will continue to update Members on its work – including results 
from its first phase project, the present pr oposal for a second phase of work, and other plans – 
through the cotton discussion at the WTO. This will respond to Members' requests and provide 
political backing for the joint initiative, up to the ministerial level at MC12.  
1.4.  According to the WTO -UNCTAD -ITC initiative, UNCTAD and ITC now propose a second phase 
project, with a four -year calendar of capacity -building activities in eight African LDCs: Benin, Burkina 
Faso, Chad, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These activities will contribute t o five 
outputs, arranged around a targeted outcome of: "Improved competitiveness and increased revenue 
for stakeholders from cotton by -products, especially for smallholder and women farmers ". The logical 
framework, including objectives and activities, can be found in Annex 2. UNCTAD and ITC will jointly 
implement this project, with each agency responsible for delivering activities and outputs according 
to their complementary areas of expertise. The project will also rely on substantive support from the 
WTO,  donors, South -South cooperation partners and other relevant institutions.  
1.5.  Overall, the programme is responsive as it focuses attention on the most vulnerable countries, 
all of them LDCs, while supporting them in diversifying into improved and additional b y-product 
development in parallel to fibre value -addition. It is market -led as only commercially viable cotton 
by-products will be targeted for each beneficiary country. The overall objective and expected impact 
of the programme is the development of viabl e cotton by -product industries in the selected countries 
that contribute to poverty reduction through value addition and ensuring income generation. 
Additional income opportunities, especially for farmers and women, can contribute to secondary 
objectives, such as gender equality, income equality and rural development. Furthermore, by 
utilizing organic residues in the cotton value chain, by -products can contribute to environmental 
objectives, such as forest conservation and waste and emissions reductions.  
1.6.  At outcome level, the project will increase revenue from cotton for stakeholders, especially 
smallholder and women farmers, by developing and adding value to cotton by -products. This is 
expected to be achieved by ensuring five outputs, as follows:  
Output  1: Increased engagement of public and private sector stakeholders in commercial 
initiatives to add value to cotton by -products  
 
Output  2: Enhanced capacity of farmers to collectively add value to their cotton by -products  
 
1 Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.  
2 Project site, "The Cotton By -Products Project - Unlocking the Hidden Value": 
https://unctad.org/en/Pages/SUC/Commodities/SUC -Project -Cotton -by-Products.aspx . WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Output  3: Strengthened capacities of f armer representative groups to negotiate appropriate 
remuneration for produced fibres and by -products . 
 
Output  4: Enhanced capacity of cottonseed processors to improve oil recovery rates and 
market by -products effectively . 
 
Output  5: Improved capacity of policy makers to formulate evidence -based policies and ensure 
policy coherence in support of the development of cotton by -products . 
 
1.7.  UNCTAD and ITC will jointly implement the project on equal terms, each one focussing on their 
comparative advan tage. The project builds on the two organisations ' complementary experience and 
expertise.  
1.8.  The project follows ITC 's de-commoditization and value addition approach in the cotton sector 
and is aligned to ITC 's Value Added to Trade (VA2T) programme, helping farmers and MSMEs to add 
value to their products through valorising by -products that so far have been underutilized, thus 
depriving MSMEs from additional income streams. ITC has implemented a number of cotton 
value -addition programmes at farm and hand -weaving communities focusing on fibre value addition, 
including in Burkina Faso, Mali and Zambia. Moreover, ITC has worked with farmer and ginner 
associations of all eight beneficiary countries.  
1.9.  For UNCTAD, this project fits with its Breaking the Chains of Co mmodity Dependence 
programme. The programme assists developing countries in reducing their reliance on the exports 
of raw commodities. Responding to requests from Member States, UNCTAD 's Commodities Branch 
has implemented a variety of research, consensus -building and technical assistance projects to assist 
commodity -dependent countries in: a) developing value -added activities in the commodity sector; 
b) establishing development linkages between the commodity sector and the wider economy; 
c) diversifying to non-commodity activities; d) and integrating into global and regional value chains. 
This project bolsters the programme 's value addition work stream and carries forward UNCTAD 's 
recent technical assistance work on cotton by -products in Africa, building the  capacity of policy 
makers, stakeholders and entrepreneurs to develop value -added cotton by -products businesses .3 
This proposal is an important next step in accompanying existing beneficiary countries – Uganda, 
Tanzania and Zambia – on the implementation of their national action plans to develop cotton 
by-products; as well as extending similar assistance to five new countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, 
Chad, Mali and Mozambique.  
1.2  Situation analysis  
1.10.   Cotton remains a strategic crop for many countrie s in Africa, generating income and 
employment for millions of rural families on the continent, as well as export revenues for producing 
countries. Cotton is grown mainly for its fibre, or lint, the raw material for producing cotton textiles 
and apparel.  
1.11.   Due to a variety of reasons, cotton fibre value addition industries collapsed in sub -Saharan 
Africa as of the 1990s, meaning producing countries, on average, export over 95% of the raw lint 
they produce. Limited value addition means the producer prices paid to farmers are calculated, 
almost exclusively, on the export price for raw lint, factored from the international lint price.  
1.12.   Faced with low margins and high volatility in seed cotton prices, as well as weather risks, 
farmers move in and out of cotton depen ding on its price the previous season, relative to other 
crops. For farmers to sustainably continue growing cotton, they need additional income generating 
opportunities from cotton, ideally year -round. This includes utilizing the fibre to produce hand -spun 
yarn and using the yarn to produce handwoven fabrics for their own consumption and for sales in 
the domestic, regional and international markets. It also includes adding value to cotton by -products 
and ensuring that farmers receive a fair seed cotton pric e that remunerates them for the value of 
the seed. A farmer who continues to grow cotton will also be better placed to absorb yield 
 
3 Project site, "Promoting cotton by -products in Eastern and Southern Africa": 
https://unctad.org/en/Pages/SUC/Commodities/SUC -Project -1617K.aspx . WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  improvement trainings and will likely have a better yield in the future compared to a farmer who 
only grows cotton when pric es are high.  
1.13.   Aside from lint, opportunities exist to derive value -added by -products from other parts of the 
cotton plant. Figure 1 depicts some of the possible uses of the cotton plant, including for the primary 
product, lint, as well as for industrial res idues and the other parts of the plant, grouped under "cotton 
by products ". 
Figure 1 – Selected uses of the parts of the cotton plant  
 
 
1.14.   In most producing countries in Africa, an established industry exists to extract edible oil from 
cottonseed, which is the secondary product of the ginning process. Crude cottonseed oil can be 
refined for human consumption. Products from the cottonseed oil industry include: edible oil for 
human consumption, seed cake for animal consumption and soap from the residue of the refining 
process.  
1.15.   In most cotton -producing countries in Africa, more value is added to ginned cottonseed than 
to cotton lint. Nevertheless , opportunities are underdeveloped, as cottonseed oil producers often 
struggle to compete with other edible oils, particularly imported palm oil. Reasons for their lack of 
competitiveness include, for example: insufficient supply of raw materials to achiev e economies of 
scale, low oil recovery rates due to obsolete techniques or machinery and duty -free imports 
undercutting VAT -liable local production.  
1.16.   Cottonseed processors occasionally also struggle to find a market for their seed cake, which 
can represent 50% or more of their production, by volume. Due to the presence of the enzyme 
gossypol, cottonseed cake can only be fed to ruminants, such as cattle and goats. Pen -feeding cattle 
is typically only a large market in a few East African countries. Throughout the continent, 
non-ruminants, such as poultry, fish and pigs, represent a larger feed market. Microbial treatments 
exist to remove gossypol from cottonseed cake, but they are not developed in Africa. As a result, 
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  cottonseed producers typically only have a reliable market for their cake during drought conditions, 
when pastures are too dry to grass -feed cattle, representing a considerable business risk.  
1.17.   Other cotton by -products are less developed or inexistent in African countries. For example, 
cotton stalks comprise, on average, more than 75% of the total mass of the cotton plant. To 
capitalize on the characteristics of cotton stalks, which are similar to other hard woods, technologies 
exist to process them into, for example, fuel briquettes and pellets, part icle board or substrate for 
growing mushrooms. However, no commercial examples of these technologies or products exist in 
Africa, where nearly all stalks are destroyed in the field to comply with pest management regulations.  
1.18.   Industrial residues in the cott on value chain are another family of raw materials with potential 
for value addition. These include, for example, waste fibres from the ginning and spinning industries, 
which can be processed into household absorbent cotton wool products, such as ear buds or cotton 
balls, or into surgical dressings for medical applications.  
1.19.   From the cottonseed oil industry, underutilized residues include the parts of the seed removed 
before oil extraction. Linters are the short fibres that remain on cottonseed after ginning  – once 
removed their high cellulose content make them a valuable raw material for a variety of applications, 
including currency paper, food packaging and film. Hulls, or husks, are the outer shell covering the 
oil-rich kernel of the seed – if removed prio r to oil extraction they can be used in animal feed or as 
substrate for growing mushrooms.  
1.20.   Examples of profitable cotton by -products businesses and industries now exist in many 
cotton -producing countries, including China, India and the United States of Ame rica. In general, the 
processing technologies that underpin these industries are available for sale, many of them suitable 
in scale and price for adoption in African countries.  
1.21.   Despite the availability of suitable, affordable technologies, and despite thei r potential 
economic benefits, these industries are under - or undeveloped in cotton -producing countries in sub -
Saharan Africa. This is due  to several impediments, including: a lack of awareness and capacity 
among stakeholders, especially farmers, to capita lize on cotton by -products opportunities; 
insufficient supply of raw material to achieve economies of scale; inadequate downstream 
infrastructure; obsolete cottonseed oil extraction technologies; insufficient policy coherence, from 
cotton production, to va lue addition, to consumption and trade, including for by -products; poor 
market information for cotton by -products; and a lack of data to evaluate and plan investments in 
cotton by -products businesses.  
1.3  Lessons learned from past projects  
1.22.   UNCTAD implemented a  capacity building project on "Promoting cotton by -products in Eastern 
and Southern Africa " from 2016 -20, in partnership with Common Market for Eastern and Southern 
Africa (COMESA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The project was 
funded by the United Nations Development Account. The four project countries included Zimbabwe, 
as well as three LDCs included in the present proposal: Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania 
and Zambia.  
1.23.   The project aimed to: a) improve the capacity of  stakeholders to evaluate and pursue 
opportunities in cotton by -products; and b) to improve the capacity of policy makers to support the 
development of cotton by -products industries with evidence -based policies. Project activities 
included: i) surveys on e xisting cotton by -product activities and impediments to further 
development; ii) national capacity -building workshops to evaluate opportunities and agree on a 
National Action Plan to develop cotton by -products; iii) a study visit to the Central Institute f or 
Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT) in India, to learn about viable processing technologies and 
profitable cotton by -products businesses there; and iv) drafting investment profiles for priority 
cotton by -products.  
1.24.   The main lesson from the UNCTAD proj ect was the need to establish a cost -effective raw 
material supply chain for any new cotton by -products business. All the by -products evaluated by the 
project countries involve relatively simple processing technologies, business models and cost 
structures.  The key challenge for all the businesses was securing enough raw material at a feasible 
cost to operate a profitable business throughout the year.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  1.25.   By extension, any value addition strategy, for fibre or by -products, must look at how to 
increase cotton pro duction and improve its reliability from season to season, as the raw material 
supply that sustains processing businesses. Reviving incentives for African farmers to grow more 
cotton is therefore core consideration for developing cotton by -products.  
1.26.   With r espect to marketing, evaluations carried out by countries established that cotton by -
products are typically substitutes for imports. For example, all project countries had trade deficits 
for fossil fuels, edible oil and absorbent cotton products. In this c ontext, even if countries ' prioritized 
cotton by -products – e.g. biomass fuels from stalks, cottonseed oil and absorbent cotton from waste 
fibres – are fully adopted as substitutes and achieve a maximum market share, they would be 
entirely consumed locally , i.e. not exported. As a result, trade policy is less relevant for exports of 
cotton by -products, but could be explored to build regional value chains with sufficient scale, 
especially for those by -products for which the raw material supply is insufficien t in individual 
countries.  
1.27.   Cottonseed oil is the most valuable cotton by -product, in Africa and in other cotton -producing 
countries. It attracts the highest price per unit of volume/mass and generates the greatest total 
value, after cotton lint. In most Af rican countries, cottonseed oil has a share below 10 per cent of 
the total edible oil market, with distinct characteristics and uses from, for example, sunflower, 
soybean or coconut oil. Palm oil is produced in some African countries, such as Uganda, but p alm oil 
sold on the market is predominantly imported. In discussing how to develop their cotton by -products 
industries, all countries in the UNCTAD project were confronted with the paradox of, on one hand, 
import deficits of edible oils and, on the other h and, large excess capacity in their domestic edible 
oil industries, with average capacity utilization rates at 30 per cent or lower over the previous 
decade. Despite unmet demand for edible oils, locally produced edible oils are unable to compete 
with impo rts, mainly of palm oil from East Asia.  
1.28.   This competitiveness gap has commercial factors, such as obsolete oil extraction machinery 
and practices and domestic policy factors, such as the application of value -added tax (VAT) to locally 
produced edible oils, while imports enter duty -free. There are also trade policy factors, with 
widespread anecdotal evidence suggesting that semi -refined palm oil, imported into major African 
ports, is rebottled and sold duty -free within regional free trade areas as locally pro duced crude oil. 
If accurate, this rules -of-origin cheating doubly undercuts local production: the imported palm oil 
evades duties and, as semi -refined product, is cheaper to refine. Although cottonseed oil occupies a 
relatively small place in this edible oil competitiveness gap, policy makers must address the wider 
industrial and trade policy factors, while this proposal aims to assist cottonseed oil producers in 
evaluating their competitiveness profiles and devising business and investment plans to addres s 
them.  
1.29.   Another lesson from the UNCTAD project was the degree to which project countries gravitated 
to the clean fuel advantages of biomass briquettes and pellets, including from cotton stalks. In 
general, UNCTAD had framed the arguments for cotton by -products around their potential economic 
advantages and, indeed, increased incomes for farmers resonated. But stakeholders in all four 
countries quickly seized on the potential for biomass briquettes and pellets to replace more polluting 
fuels. Farmers saw th ey could replace the smoke -related health hazards of firewood in their homes. 
Businesses recognized the value of replacing the dust and ash associated with using charcoal or coal 
in their boilers. Policy makers gravitated to the potential for reducing trad e deficits for imported 
fossil fuels. Most emphatically, stakeholders in all four countries saw biomass briquettes and pellets 
as a substitute for rampant deforestation, driven by growing populations, over -reliant on firewood 
and charcoal.  
1.30.   ITC had implemented an important pilot project on cotton value addition in Zambia, together 
with the Cotton Association of Zambia (CAZ) and the Cotton Board of Zambia (CBZ). Farmers were 
exposed to the cotton to clothing value chain and learned that textil es and clothing quality starts at 
the farm gate. Moreover, farmers linked up with other cotton farmers in Africa, China, India and 
Turkey and learned how their fellow farmers are organised and what they do with their cotton. As a 
result, CAZ implemented se veral of the lessons learned. Farmers and other shareholders, including 
CAZ, then set up the farmer -owned ginnery, Mumbwa Farmers ' Ginning and Pressing 
Company  (MFGPCo), with finance from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Committee. ITC has 
been supporting  the ginnery with market linkages and capacity building in seed -cotton grading and 
lint classification. In addition, ITC implemented a pilot activity to support farmers in the Mumbwa 
area to support local fibre transformation so that farmers were able add value to their own cotton WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  by introducing hand -spinning and weaving operations in Mumbwa and Lusaka, with help from 
Ethiopia and India. This created resilience among farmers against weather and price shocks as they 
have additional income earning opportuniti es during the entire year. The majority of the targeted 
farmers were women.  
1.31.   The project showed that farmers were more likely to grow cotton even if cotton lint prices 
were low or the harvest below expectations. Products were sold at the local and regional markets. 
In fact, demand outnumbered supply, showing the potential for increasing production at local, and 
often farm, level. In addition, value addition at farm level created spillover effects, including the 
creation of new activities, such as the fabrica tion of handlooms. Therefore, the pilot project showed 
that value -addition at farm level had lasting impacts on participating farmers.  
1.32.   Other lessons learned were that farmers needed capacity building to really understand the 
value chain of cotton to clothi ng, how other farmers around the world are organised to increase 
income form cotton and how to calculate and negotiate seed cotton prices. These lessons will be 
applied also to CBPs, as a potential new income stream for farmers.   
1.33.   These lessons have informe d the objectives and activities contained in this proposal.  
1.4  Project origin  
1.34.   WTO, UNCTAD and ITC are partnering on a joint initiative on cotton by -product development. 
In 2018, the three agencies drafted a concept note on the joint initiative, which was presented and 
approved by Member States at the November 2018 WTO Cotton Days meetings .4 Member States 
requested the WTO secretariat to develop work – in close cooperation with UNCTAD and ITC – to 
support the creation of additional value from the production, transformation and trade of cotton by -
products in African LDCs. Since then, the three agencies have worked together to respond to this 
request by designing, proposing and implementing technical assistance projects.   
1.35.   The three agencies proposed a first phase of work on the initiative from 2019 to 2020, 
consisting of a feasibility a ssessment for the development of cotton by -products in cotton -producing 
countries in Africa. The WTO secured funding for the first phase through the new mechanism of the 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for regional projects. Eight LDCs formally request ed WTO to 
benefit from the EIF project, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, 
Uganda and Zambia.  
1.36.   At a later stage, two additional LDCs – Malawi and Togo – requested similar assistance. The 
EIF approved funding for separate feasibili ty assessments for the two countries, with UNCTAD as the 
implementing agency. As at September 2020, complications related to the coronavirus pandemic 
have precluded beginning the Malawi and Togo assessments.  
1.37.   The WTO is the implementing agency for the first  phase project, with support from UNCTAD 
and ITC. Implementation began in 2019, with the final feasibility assessment reports expected in 
early 2020, for validation at MC12 in Kazakhstan. MC12 was initially scheduled in June 2020, but 
the Government of Kaz akhstan postponed it indefinitely due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. At 
the time of writing, no ulterior date has been decided.  
1.38.   In 2019 the agencies reported to Members on the progress made at the WTO's biannual 
Cotton Days in June and November, at a pa rtners Conference during World Cotton Day in October 
and at the 78th Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in 
December.  
1.39.   By agreement, the three partner agencies will incorporate the findings from the first phase of 
feasibil ity assessments into a proposal for a second phase project, consisting of a five -year calendar 
of capacity -building activities in the original eight African LDCs, with UNCTAD and ITC as 
implementing agencies, supported by the WTO.  
1.40.   From this background, UN CTAD and ITC are pleased to present this project proposal. The 
following sections of this document explain the project 's relevance (section 2), the agencies ' 
 
4 https://www.wto.org/engli sh/news_e/news18_e/cott_07dec18_e.htm . WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  implementation strategy (3), the proposed budget (4), its management and governance (5), as well 
as summaries of a risk analysis (6), evaluation (7) and communication plans (8) for the project. The 
detailed logical framework and risk matrix are included as annexes.  
2  RELEVANCE  
2.1  Needs assessment  
2.1.  Cotton is grown mainly for its fibre, or lint - the raw mater ial in cotton textiles. Nevertheless, 
commercial applications exist for other parts of the cotton plant, such as the stalks, husks, 
cottonseed and short -staple fibres. In some countries, such as China, India and the USA, by -products 
from the non -lint parts  of the plant have been commercialised, adding value and income, as well as 
reducing waste in the cotton value chain. In other countries, especially in Africa, due to a variety of 
constraints, there exist fewer commercial cotton by -products, often only oil  and meal from crushed 
cottonseed.  
2.2.  Cotton by -products therefore represent an often untapped opportunity for producing countries 
to increase the benefits they derive from their cotton production. These benefits can include:  
• New income streams for farmers an d processors;  
• Through new income streams, increased resilience of farmers against external shocks and 
reduced income inequality;  
• Increased domestic value added;  
• Access to new markets;  
• Improved trade balance, through increased exports or import substitution ; and  
• Reduced waste in the cotton value chain.  
2.3.  Through these benefits, value addition, including through cotton by -products, can contribute 
to poverty reduction, inclusiveness, and enhanced sustainability of the cotton sector and cotton 
processing technolo gies in LDCs.  
2.4.  In order to benefit from cotton by -product valorisation, countries need to address the following 
constraints:  
• Inappropriate processing technologies and know how;  
• Weak capacities and knowhow of cotton stakeholders, and especial, cotton farmers to add 
additional value to their cotton at source;  
• Weak or non -existent institutional infrastructure, including for the replication of value -addition 
technology were applicabl e; 
• Weak or non -existent sustainable and inclusive supply and distribution networks;  
• Weak or non -existent policies to support cotton by -product valorisation.  
2.5.  Cotton is identified as an important or vital sector in the DTIS of the 8 pilot LDCs of this projec t 
in respect of employment, exports, import substitution and (potential, in most cases) local value 
addition. Indeed, cotton stands out as a sector where local processing and local value addition and 
revenue diversification should be pursued more prominent ly. DTIS also highlight the difficulties 
encountered by the countries of the C -4 region to develop cotton to textile value chains, further 
supporting the rationale of building on the cotton economy for revenue diversification based on CBPs. 
The DTIS in que stion are the following:  
• Burkina Faso, 2014.  
• Chad, 2013.  
• Mali, 2015.  
• Mozambique, 2015.  
• Tanzania, 2005.  
• Uganda, 2013.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  • Zambia, 2014.  
2.2  Coherence with partner government policies and strategies  
2.6.  The LDC Group and the C4 stressed the importance of cotton and by-product development in 
official meetings. Speaking on behalf of the LDC group at the WTO's General Council meeting of 
12 December 2018, the representative of the Central African Republic stressed that cotton is a real 
driver of development, as well as a n essential source of income, contributing to the food security of 
the LDC populations. He said that cotton remained undeniably strategic and vital for LDCs as it 
contributes significantly to agricultural production, the economy, trade and employment and i s an 
indisputable lever in the fight against poverty, particularly in rural areas (please refer 
to WT/GC/M/175 of 20 February 2019, para. 5.15).  
2.7.  The representative of Benin, speaking on behalf of the C -4 and the other cotton -producing 
countries at the 29 N ovember 2018 meeting of the WTO's Consultative Mechanism on cotton, 
reaffirmed the support of African countries for an initiative on cotton by -products, aimed at 
responding to a request for technical assistance expressed by African countries, and in partic ular 
LDCs.5 He noted that such initiative would have made it possible for those countries to develop new 
value chains using the by -products of cotton production and transformation, such as food and feed 
ingredients (e.g. cottonseed oil, cakes) and handicr afts or construction materials made of husks and 
stalks. He highlighted that enhanced attention to the sector of cotton by -products would bring value 
addition in terms of new sources of income for farmers and processors, an increase in local value 
addition , LCDs' ability to access new markets, and improved trade balances thanks to more exports 
or import -substitutions of like products, and also reduced waste in cotton value chains. He affirmed 
the necessity of technology transfer and know how to understand t he appropriate processing 
techniques for cotton by -products, as well as the need to establish networks between suppliers and 
distributors and relevant enabling policies. These considerations, he added, supported the 
importance of technical assistance and t ransfer of technology for cotton production towards 
industrial development, including with the involvement of the private sector.6 
2.8.  The project ensures that the most vulnerable part in the value chain, namely smallholder 
farmers will earn a fair share of a dditional revenues from cotton by -products. To do that, they must 
be able to participate directly in value addition, by organizing into commercially viable cooperatives 
or other forms of farmer organisations. Channelling additional revenue to farmers will give them 
incentives to grow more cotton, helping overcome the raw material challenge faced by those 
processors in Africa. Most importantly, since cotton farmers are among the more vulnerable 
populations in many countries, additional revenues will contribu te to reducing poverty and 
transforming people 's lives. The project therefore emphasizes smallholder farmers in every output 
and devotes a full range of activities to them, such as:  
• Sensitizing them to value addition opportunities;  
• Building their capacity to add value themselves; and  
• Devising policies and pricing formulae that ensure they receive a fair share of additional 
revenues in the chain.  
Contribution to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)  
 
2.9.  This project will also support and reinforce the efforts to increase African regional trade under 
the umbrella of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Trade has the potential to 
create jobs and foster peace and stability. It is partly due to these reasons that the Africa C ontinental 
Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been created - to promote regional trade, reduce unemployment and 
commodity export dependence and increase value added exports for the African market. Increasing 
intra-African trade will provide economic and social b enefits for micro, small and medium -sized 
enterprises (MSMEs), women and youth. As one of the priorities under the AfCFTA, the African Union 
identified the cotton -to-clothing value chain, which includes value -added cotton by -products. 
 
5 https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news18_e/cott_07dec18_e.htm . 
6 See paragraphs 2.3  - 2.4 of the Report of the 30th Round of the WTO Di rector -General's Consultative 
Framework Mechanism on Cotton, 29 November 2018 (WT/CFMC/58), published 14 February 2019, 
https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/di rectdoc.aspx?filename=q:/TN/AG/SCCW30.pdf . 
See also the official WTO press release: 
https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news18_e/cott_07dec18_e.htm . WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Regional trade in cot ton by -products could therefore be a quick win to demonstrate AfCFTA 's 
expected benefits for economic development, especially for women and youth . 
2.3  Competitive analysis  
2.10.   ITC is a highly recognized player in supporting African cotton development. ITC has been  
visible in the WTO on cotton since 2004 and regularly reports on its work during the Cotton Days at 
the WTO. ITC was also one of the five partner organizations to organize World Cotton Day. 
ITC participates regularly in C4 Ministerial meetings and developed various projects for the C4, 
including the Route du Coton. In the past ITC implemented a number of cotton projects in Africa. 
This included regional cotton sector strategies for Eastern and So uthern Africa together with 
COMESA, for West Africa together with UEOMA and for Central Africa together with ECCAS. In its 
Cotton Promotion and Value Addition projects, ITC worked with fifteen SSA countries, including 
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, C ôte d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo from West and Central Africa as well 
as Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe from Eastern 
and Southern Africa. In these projects, ITC worked with the major ginners of the respective countries 
to improve quality, better understand market requirements and promote market linkages with Asia 
spinners. Many of these ginners also had oil extracting facilities.  
2.11.   Moreover, ITC worked with farmers and famer associations/groups for them to better 
understand  the value chain, value addition opportunities and to learn from cotton growing farmers 
in Africa and Asia on how they are organized and are able to make a living from cotton production 
and value addition. In Zambia, ITC worked extensively with the Cotton Association of Zambia on 
cotton value addition through, a) the farmer -owned ginnery in Mumbwa, b) supporting farmers to 
add value to their own cotton by developing hand -spinning and weaving operations that provide 
income opportunities all year round.   
2.12.   UNCT AD's Commodities Branch is the focal point in the United Nations system for industrial 
agricultural crops, including cotton. Its comparative advantage lies in several areas consonant with 
its capacity in research, policy analysis and advocacy; its convenin g power in regional and 
international consensus building; and, its experience in technical assistance on diversification and 
development provided to commodity dependent developing countries. More specifically, these pillars 
have permitted UNCTAD to support  cotton -producing countries over several decades in building a 
sustainable cotton sector that contributes to economic development and poverty reduction.  
2.13.   In this vein, UNCTAD launched and contributed to the drafting of the Pan -African Cotton Road 
Map, based  on extensive consultations with: key industry stakeholders in the African cotton sector, 
member State Governments, the African Union, the Steering and Monitoring Committee of the 
EU-Africa Partnership on cotton (COS -cotton), the Common Fund for Commoditie s (CFC), and the 
International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), among others. The Pan -African Cotton Road Map 
defines a concise strategy to strengthen regional cotton value chains for poverty reduction in Africa 
in which the expected accomplishments of th is project are embedded.  
2.14.   UNCTAD has also developed specific expertise on cotton by -products in Africa, through its 
capacity -building project on "Promoting cotton by -products in Eastern and Southern Africa ", with 
funds from the United Nations Development Ac count. UNCTAD is implementing the project from 
2016-20, in partnership with COMESA and UNECA, in Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and 
Zambia. The project has its originated from a request from the COMESA Secretariat, on behalf of its 
member States, to help operationalize recommendations from 2009 Regional Cotton -to-Clothing 
Strategy, namely the need to improve incentives for farmers, by developing cotton by -products as 
a source of new income opportunities for the sector.  
2.15.   As described in the section o n lessons learned from other projects, the expertise developed 
through the UNCTAD project has informed the design of this project proposal, as well as that of the 
joint WTO -UNCTAD -ITC initiative, in general. For these reasons, ITC and UNCTAD cooperated in 
developing this joint project, in partnership with the WTO.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  3  STRATEGY  
3.1  Implementation  
3.1.  The project aims to contribute to poverty reduction in beneficiary countries through the 
development of viable cotton by -products industries. This impact would also contrib ute to the 
achievement of three UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets, namely:  
SDG target 1.2 :  Reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages 
living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions  on 
eradicating poverty (primary)  
SDG target 5.a :  Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as 
access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial 
services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws 
(secondary)  
SDG target 9.b :  Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in 
developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, 
inter alia , industrial diversification and val ue addition to commodities (secondary)  
 
3.2.  Aligned with this impact, the project proposes capacity -building activities to improve the 
competitiveness and increase the revenues that stakeholders, especially smallholder and women 
farmers, derive from cotton by -products (outcome).  
3.3.  The project will begin with inception missions by the implementing agencies to each beneficiary 
country, to present the project to focal points and key stakeholders, solicit their input on the 
programme of activities and obtain their co operation. With these inputs, as well as the findings of 
the feasibility assessments undertaken in each country by previous projects ,7 the project team will 
implement five parallel work streams of activities, including one general track (under Output 1) 
engaging all stakeholders and four tailored to the needs of each of the main stakeholder groups 
implicated, namely: farmers (Output 2), f armers associations and cooperatives (Output 3), 
cottonseed processors (Output 4) and policy makers (Output 5).  
3.4.  ITC and UNCTAD will act as co -implementing agencies for the project. Rather than divide 
responsibilities by beneficiary country, which would ri sk limiting inter -agency cooperation, ITC and 
UNCTAD will divide implementation and budget management responsibilities at the output level of 
the project.  
3.5.  In the descriptions below of each output, the implementing agency – ITC or UNCTAD – is 
indicated in brackets in the title of each output. A detailed presentation of the logical framework can 
be found in Annex  2. 
Output 1:  Increased engagement of public and  private sector stakeholders in commercial 
initiatives to add value to cotton by -products (UNCTAD)  
 
3.6.  Under the multi -stakeholder track, the project will work with a national consultant to design 
and undertake national surveys (Activity 1.1) with a cross -section of stakeholders, to gather baseline 
data on the current utilization and markets for cotton by -products, as well as identifying the main 
challenges to their further development. With the government focal points, the project will then 
convene representa tives from all stakeholder groups for two -day national capacity -building 
workshops (A 1.2) to review the survey results and agree on national strategies to develop priority 
cotton by -products. These strategies will identify the priority cotton by -products for development, 
 
7 Feasibility assessments for  Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mozambique implemented by the 
WTO, in partnership with UNCTAD and ITC, under "The Cotton By -Products Project - Unlocking the Hidden 
Value", funded by the EIF, https://unctad.org/en/Pages/SUC/Commodities/SUC -Project -Cotton -by-
Products.aspx .  
Feasibility assessments for Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia implemented 
by UNCTAD under the project "Promoting cotton b y-products in Eastern and Southern Africa, funded by the 
UN Development Account, https://unctad.org/en/Pages/SUC/Commodities/SUC -Project -1617K.aspx . WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  as well as the means, resources and partnerships necessary to implement them. The strategies will 
be aligned with and, where possible, embedded within existing cotton sector strategies.  
3.7.  The three countries that benefited from the previous UNCTAD project – Uganda, the United 
Republic of Tanzania and Zambia – already completed national surveys and strategies to develop 
cotton by -products, as well as proposing specific commercial and research initiatives as part of these 
strategies. For these three countries, Activities 1.1 and 1.2 will be used to gather information and 
refine plans to advance these specific initiatives.  
3.8.  Based on countries ' priority cotton by -products, the project team will implement study 
visits (A 1.3) to learn about relevant  technologies and industries in other countries, with a focus on 
those with most relevance to the local context and identified knowledge gaps in project countries. 
For the priority cotton by -products identified in the national strategy, the project will pr ovide 
technical training and advisory services (A 1.4) to assist stakeholders in drafting business and 
investment plans for new commercial cotton by -products initiatives. The project will also assist 
stakeholders and policy makers in integrating cotton by -products into existing national cotton sector 
strategies (A 1.5), contributing to governance and policy coherence.  
Activity 1.1 : Undertake before -after surveys to establish baseline data and identify the main 
challenges related to developing value -added co tton by -products . 
Activity 1.2 : Facilitate multi -stakeholder capacity -building workshops to evaluate survey results 
and to identify priority cotton by -products for development . 
Activity 1.3 : Organize study visits to countries with established cotton by -products industries . 
Activity 1.4 : Conduct training and provide advisory services to draft business and investment plans 
for new commercial initiatives to add value to cotton by -products . 
Activity 1.5 : Update existing cotton sector strategies to include cotto n by-products, as well as new 
commercial initiatives . 
Output 2:  Enhanced capacity of farmers to collectively add value to their cotton by -
products (ITC)  
 
3.9.  Under this output, the capacities of farmers, through their respective organisations, will be 
enhanced  to benefit from value addition of CBPs at farm level. The work will build on the 
achievements made and complement activities of output 1. This includes the national surveys that 
potentially will identify CBP value addition at farm level. In fact, national  surveys undertaken by 
UNCTAD in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia already identified potential for cotton stalk value addition 
at farm level.  
3.10.   Farmers in identified regional areas will be trained on how farmers could practically develop 
income from CBP valorisa tion at farm level. A step -by-step approach will be followed to set up 
"standard operation procedures " so that farmers can easily follow different options and engagement 
models for cotton stalks, starting from cutting stalks, to chopping them, to transporting them, to 
collaborating with a value addition plant such as for pellets, briquettes or particle boa rds. Where 
chopped stalks could be used as organic fertilizer to increase soil fertility this is also considered as 
a value addition method. Training would also include the economics of engaging in CBP value 
addition. Where farmers co -own ginneries such as  in Mumbwa, Zambia that would also include value 
addition at gin level for e.g. linters or cottonseed.  
3.11.   As farmers would need to have access to finance in order to add value to their stalks and 
other CBPs, the project would identify possible financing mecha nisms and will link farmers to them. 
Where feasible, self -help schemes such as saving schemes would also be activated so that farmers 
and their groupings could diversify their income -earning portfolio.  
3.12.   The project will then accompany farmer groups in the i mplementation of their investment 
decisions, for example with management and market development training, among others.  
3.13.   Special efforts will be made to address gender aspect and to link women farmers to identified 
opportunities and financing mechanisms.  
 WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Activity 2.1 : Raise awareness among farmers, including women farmers, of the potential income 
earning opportunities of small -scale value addition activities for cotton by -products and fibres.  
Activity 2.2 : Train and provide advisory services to farmer assoc iations/cooperatives/groups in 
identifying and evaluating value -addition opportunities at farm level.  
Activity 2.3 : Develop a group/cooperative strategy/action plan for the implementation of CBPs at 
farmer level.  
Activity 2.4 : Identify existing government, civil society and donor -funded training and credit 
resources devoted to farmers /women farmers and link them to farmer 
associations/cooperatives/groups as well as identify existing saving schemes that could be utilized 
CBP value addition.  
Activi ty 2.5 : Accompany farmer groups in the implementation of their investment decisions, for 
example with management and market development training  
Output 3:  Strengthened capacities of farmer representative groups to negotiate 
appropriate remuneration for pro duced fibres and by -products (ITC)  
 
3.14.   While each farmer is necessarily linked to a ginner, many farmers are not members or 
associated with a representative group or association. That weakens substantially their ability to add 
value to their cotton in either lint or CBP form. In countries where there is no representative body 
that transparently sets seed cotton prices, it also exposes them to ginners setting seed cotton solely 
on expected lint cotton prices in world markets, not necessarily taking the value of  the seed into 
account.  
3.15.   The output will address this weakness with regard to farmers and their negotiation power. It 
will first assess and then reinforce collective structures of farmers to understand pricing formula and 
the value of the seed, among others . Building on inputs generated under output 5 with regard to 
seed-cotton pricing formula, it will then equip farmer representatives with required skills and tools 
to more equally negotiate seed -cotton prices that take the full value of seeds into account, where 
applicable.  
3.16.   However, farmer associations/groups do not only require technical capacity building but need 
support to improve their organisational and management structures. These will be assessed and 
performance improvement roadmaps developed together  with them. That should help them to 
improve as an organisation to serve members in general, and to help them to add value to CBPs 
(and fibre) in particular. Moreover, a functioning management system with a stable membership will 
also be instrumental for f armer associations/groups to access or generate needed funding to invest 
in CBPs at small scale.  
Activity 3.1 : Assess the existing organizational structure of cotton farmers for joint activities and 
investments in cotton by -products  
Activity 3.2 : Reinforc e collective structures for farmers to create bargaining power vis -à-vis other 
cotton stakeholders such as ginners and the public sector  
Activity 3.3 : Train farmer associations/cooperatives/groups on techniques of policy advocacy and 
negotiation techniques  
Output 4:  Enhanced capacity of cottonseed processors to improve oil recovery rates and 
market by -products effectively (ITC)  
 
3.17.   Under this output, the project will work with a minimum of 24 cottonseed processors to 
improve their operations, improve oil reco very rates and market their oil and cake more effectively. 
The activity will start with a technical assessment of identified processors (oil mills), based on which 
a business plan to improve operations, including the marketing of oil and cake will be elabo rated for 
each processor. For improvements that require investments, a cost benefit analysis for the 
investment will be elaborated together with the processor.  
3.18.   In addition, the project will assess the market potential for cottonseed oil at national and 
regional level. Based on the findings, marketing capabilities of the processors will be strengthened 
individually and collectively, and marketing campaigns launched in the local and regional market to 
inform consumers of edible oils of the benefit of using c ottonseed oil. Where regional trading WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
- 16 - 
 
  potential exists, processors will be linked to importers and distributors of edible oils in neighbouring 
and regional markets  
3.19.   In countries where no cottonseed processor exists, a feasibility study, including a cost -benefit 
analysis will be undertaken.  
Activity 4.1 : Assess the existing technology and provide technical recommendations on how to 
improve efficiency, productivity and quality of cottonseed oil and cake.  
Activity 4.2 : Undertake a cost -benefit analysis of upgrading capital equipment to modern oil 
extraction technologies.  
Activity 4.3 : Analyse existing market potential for cottonseed oil and develop marketing plans.  
Activity 4.4 : Support companies in better marketing cottonseed oil in local and possibly regi onal 
markets.  
Activity 4.5 : Link companies to potential new clients in local and possibly regional markets (if local 
demand is satisfied).  
Output 5:  Improved capacity of policy makers to formulate evidence -based policies and 
ensure policy coherence in sup port of the development of cotton by -
products  (UNCTAD)  
 
3.20.   Following the multi -stakeholder national capacity -building workshops (A 1.2), the project will 
convene policy makers for a one -day workshop (A 5.1) to identify the main policy gaps related to 
the objectives and initiatives envisioned in the strategy and formulate evidence -based 
recommendations for new policies or revisions to existing ones. The workshop will focus on policies 
specific to the development of cotton by -products, but also consider poli cy gaps in wider areas, for 
example cotton production, value addition and sector governance.  
3.21.   To elaborate the agreed policy recommendations, the project will hire international and 
national consultants to advise ministries and statutory bodies to draft or amend policies in support 
of policy coherence and the development of cotton by -product (A 5.2). In parallel, the project will 
hire national consultants to work with investment promotion agencies to draft investment 
profiles  (A 5.3) for the priority cotton by-product industries, to help attract domestic and foreign 
investors from outside the sector.  
3.22.   The three countries that benefited from the previous UNCTAD project – Uganda, the United 
Republic of Tanzania and Zambia – already have policy recommendations an d investment profiles 
for selected cotton by -products. For these three countries, Activities 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 will be used to 
elaborate these policy tools in further detail, as well as respond to new policy needs that arose since 
the close of the UNCTAD pr oject.  
3.23.   Working with the relevant ministries and statutory agencies that regulate cotton production, 
the project will provide advisory services to update the seed cotton producer price setting formula 
and process (A 5.4), to include cotton by -products. The objective is to formally ensure that farmers 
receive their share of the full amount of revenues derived from the seed cotton they grow, as well 
as to increase their incentives to grow more cotton.  
3.24.   In conjunction with activities directed at cottonseed produ cers (under Output 4), the project 
will provide policy analyses on trade in edible oil (A 5.5), on subjects such as rules of origin, 
competition policy, value -added tax and/or enforcement of existing rules. Depending on the topics, 
these analyses will be c onducted by subject matter experts from ITC, UNCTAD or the WTO, partners 
such as UNECA or Regional Economic Communities (RECs), or international consultants. The 
analyses will recommend policies to ensure a level playing field for locally produced edible o il, while 
enforcing existing rules and respecting commitments under existing trade agreements.  
Activity 5.1 : Organize policy workshops to formulate evidence -based policies that support the 
priority cotton by -products identified for development.  
Activity 5. 2: Provide advisory services to draft or amend policies in support of policy coherence and 
the development of cotton by -products.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Activity 5.3 : Capacitate investment promotion agencies to draft investment profiles for the priority 
cotton by -products.  
Activ ity 5.4 : Conduct investment promotion activities to link cotton by -products entrepreneurs with 
local and foreign investors, as well as development partners . 
Activity 5.5 : Provide advisory services to update seed cotton producer price formulae to include 
provisions for cotton by -products.  
Activity 5.6 : Conduct policy analyses on trade in edible oil products, with recommendations to 
ensure a level playing field for cottonseed and other locally produced oilseeds.  
3.25.   At the close of the project at the end of Year 5, the main stakeholders in beneficiary countries 
will have benefitted from activities that respond to their specific needs, building their capacity to 
evaluate, plan and implement new businesses or investments in the value -added processing of 
cotton by -products. This will contribute to two intermediate outcomes: for stakeholders, "new cotton 
by-products projects and businesses and fibre value addition at farm level "; and, at the policy level, 
"policies, including producer price formulae, contribute to incr eased revenues for farmers from 
cotton by -products ". Taken together, these intermediate outcomes will contribute to the project 's 
overall outcome: "improved competitiveness and increased revenue for stakeholders from cotton 
by-products, especially for smal lholder and women farmers ". 
3.26.   Figure 2 depicts the theory of change, i.e. how the activities will deliver the project 's intended 
outputs and outcome and contribute to the impact of reducing poverty in the beneficiary countries.    
  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
- 18 - Figure 2 - Theory of change  
 
 
 
 
WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  3.2  Coherence with other interventions  
Government of India: Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) for Cotton in 
Africa,  2011 -20148 
3.27.   The Government of India funded its Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) for Cotton in 
Africa, for implementation in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda 
from 2011-14. The TAP implemented capacity -building and trai ning activities, delivered by Indian 
experts, on issues related to cotton production, including pest management, production 
technologies, extension approaches and technologies and farmer entrepreneurship.  
3.28.   As part of its interventions on post -harvest proces sing and ginning technology, the TAP also 
included assistance on cotton by -products. Specifically, the TAP built a regional training centre on 
post-harvest and ginning technology in Benin. Among the demonstration processing plants built at 
the centre, the TAP built one for fabricating particle boards from cotton stalks. Experts from the 
Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT) in India helped design and implement 
the post -harvest processing modules in the TAP programme.  
3.29.   Coherence with th e TAP interventions in relevant countries will be assured through the 
engagement of CIRCOT in project activities. CIRCOT was active in the UNCTAD project as well as in 
past ITC projects, sending experts to project activities and hosting a study visit to Na gpur, India in 
January 2019. As a result, the UNCTAD project avoided duplication with interventions under the TAP, 
as well as benefitting from CIRCOT 's considerable expertise on post -harvest processing technologies, 
including for cotton by -products.  
3.30.   The pr oject team intends to continue the collaboration with CIRCOT in the activities contained 
in this project proposal.  
3.31.   The remaining recent technical assistance projects on cotton in Africa did not include specific 
interventions on by -products. Nevertheless, t he three agencies remained in contact with the relevant 
partners – through the UNCTAD project and in the design of this proposal – to ensure coherence on 
relevant upstream interventions, for example related to cotton production and ginning, and since 
many of the same stakeholders were involved in these initiatives.  
German Cooperation for International Development (GIZ), Competitive African Cotton 
Initiative (COMPACI), 2009 -2016 
 
3.32.   With funds from the German government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 
GIZ implemented COMPACI in Benin, Côte d 'Ivoire, Cameroon, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, 
Uganda and Zambia from 2009 -2016. The programme delivered training to smallholder farmers on 
cotton production, aiming to improve their productivity and in crease their incomes. The programme 
trained 388,000 farmers on cotton production and 58,000 on farm enterprises. Most relevant to this 
project proposal, COMPACI helped 26,000 women farmers organize themselves into regional 
women 's associations.  
3.33.   GIZ experts  participated in the activities of the UNCTAD project and were very helpful in 
relaying information and lessons from the COMPACI programme, as well as making introductions to 
the ginners that participated. The three agencies have also sent earlier versions  of this project 
proposal, including concept notes and the logical framework, to GIZ experts for their review. The 
three agencies will continue to engage GIZ in the design and implementation of the proposed 
activities, to ensure coherence with their ongoin g intervention in the African cotton sector.  
Aid by Trade Foundation: Cotton Made in Africa (CMiA), Cotton Expert House Africa, 
ongoing9 
3.34.   Begun in 2005, the Cotton Made in Africa (CMiA ) initiative aims to improve the livelihoods of 
African cotton farmers through the training on sustainable cotton production, followed by certification 
according to CMiA sustainability standards, after which certified farmers can sell their cotton to be 
 
8 http://www.cottonta pafrica.org/duration -and-impact.html.  
9 https://www.cottonmadeinafrica.org/en/about -us/the -initiative .  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  sold under the CMiA brand in consumer markets. The initiative thereby assists farmers in improving 
their productivity and sustainability, as well as connecting them with export markets.  
3.35.   The CMiA initiative cooperated with the COMPACI programme to reach small holder farmers. 
After the close of the COMPACI programme, the Aid by Trade Foundation and its partners founded 
Cotton Expert House Africa as its operational arm.  
3.36.   Although there are few direct links between the textile -oriented CMiA initiative and cotton 
by-products, UNCTAD involved Cotton Expert House Africa in its project activities and the three 
agencies will continue to do the same for the activities in this proposal. The main coherence interest 
is the possibility that the ginners and textile companies i nvolved in CMiA might contribute to the 
development of cotton by -products to increase revenues for their contracted outgrower farmers, as 
an incentive to grow more cotton.  
3.3  Project sustainability and local ownership  
Sustainability  
3.37.   This project will ensure t he sustainability of its activities by equipping stakeholders to 
evaluate, select and plan profitable businesses and investments in cotton by -products. The project 
proposes no grants or subsidized spending or investments on behalf of project country govern ments 
or commercial stakeholders, other than potentially for building institutional capacity at famer 
organisation level. As a result, the beneficiaries must raise their own investment capital or attract 
domestic or international investors. The project wil l assist in these efforts to attract new investments, 
by assisting policy makers in assembling a coherent policy framework, by assisting promotion 
agencies in drafting investment profiles, by assisting stakeholders in drafting viable business and 
investmen t plans for their commercial initiatives, and by supporting farmer organisations/groups to 
access financing mechanisms for farmers, including savings schemes.  
3.38.   Ultimately, the project is designed to provide comprehensive capacity -building assistance to 
beneficiary countries and stakeholders, towards the development of value -added cotton by -products 
businesses. The methodologies proposed will ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that only 
viable, sustainable business opportunities are pursued. The sustain ability of this work is shared with 
the beneficiary countries and stakeholders, to the degree that the proponents of the commercial 
initiatives elaborated during the project will be responsible for raising investment and operating 
capital for their venture s, assisted, where possible, by the project team.  
3.39.   At institutional level, especially with regard to farmer associations/groups, the programme 
will assess their ability to collaborate as a reliable institutional partner under the programme, 
following the IT C "Cubed " methodology ", adapted to the needs of cooperatives.10 Then a 
"performance improvement roadmap ", including a financial business plan will be jointly elaborated 
for those associations/groups retained as partner institutions under the programme. Thi s approach 
should ensure that sustainable institutional capacity is being created and the knowledge accumulated 
through the programme remains in the country and can be built upon.  
3.40.   In addition, the project team will evaluate what additional assistance – outside of the project 
activities –may be required so that the commercial initiatives become sustainable businesses and 
engage relevant subject matter experts or development partners, either in project activities, or 
directly with the stakeholders involved.  
3.41.   For example, through the UNCTAD project, countries drafted six project proposals – three 
research and three commercial projects – for further development. These were not part of the 
project 's programmed deliverables, but were the logical next step for the knowledge and capacity 
that the participants built during the project activities. UNCTAD has assisted these country proposals 
with referrals to relevant experts and development partners. It could also be envisaged to use the 
activities in the present propo sal to further assist these country proposals, as well as develop and 
accompany additional country initiatives.  
 
10 http://www.intracen.org/itc/trade -support/strengthening -TISI-cooperation /. It includes a risk 
assessment against the following four risk types, namely financial, delivery, reputational and long -term impact. 
TISI-benchmarking  (website for TISI).  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  3.42.   The human capital and knowledge developed through these activities will be available to 
project countries beyond the close of the project, indep endent of any additional funding. These 
resources can be applied to the continued development of the cotton by -products initiatives identified 
during the project and to other applications.  
3.43.   With respect to UNCTAD and ITC, as well as the WTO and any donors, the structure of this 
project will not entail any obligations beyond the project timeline.  
3.44.   There may be opportunities to propose follow -on projects, either to further the initiatives 
begun under this project, or to extend the project to other cotton -produ cing countries. But these 
follow -on projects would be based on specific country requests and new proposals, so would not 
represent obligations under this proposal.  
Local ownership  
3.45.   This project proposes activities that equip local stakeholders, including fa rmers and 
cottonseed processors, as well as attracting domestic and foreign investment in cotton by -products 
from outside the cotton sector. As a capacity -building project, the budget contains no grants or 
subsidized spending or investments on behalf of pr oject country governments or commercial 
stakeholders. Based on this proposal, UNCTAD, ITC and its partners will not assume a financial 
interest in any of the commercial initiatives developed during the project. All commercial initiatives 
will be owned by l ocal proponents and the partners they recruit.  
3.46.   In addition, the project anticipates no transfers to beneficiary country governments or 
partners for implementation of its activities.  
3.47.   Furthermore, the project proposes an inclusive, multi -stakeholder methodol ogy, ensuring, for 
example, that all stakeholder groups agree on a national strategy to develop cotton by -products and 
that all groups have access to project activities, promoting shared ownership in the national strategy.  
3.48.   The project also proposes capaci ty-building activities tailored to specific stakeholder groups 
and their needs, such as farmers and cottonseed processors. Especially for famers, this ensures that 
they can use the project activities to start cotton by -products businesses, without having t heir 
ventures rely on, for example, their contracted ginner.  
3.49.   The project includes some activities designed to attract foreign investment in cotton by -
products industries, for example drafting investment profiles for the priority by -products. 
Nevertheless,  the bulk of the activities are devoted to building the capacity of local stakeholders to 
start, operated and benefit from cotton by -products businesses, ensuring maximum benefits for the 
local cotton sector, rural communities and national economy.   
3.4  Inclus iveness (gender and youth)  
3.50.   Women grow half the cotton, but receive fewer than half of the benefits. In Africa, cotton is 
predominantly handpicked on small farms with family labour, with the subtext being that women 
contribute half of the work in planting, weeding and harvesting. Nonetheless, women are poorly 
represented at the commercial and political levels of the cotton sector. The proposal devotes specific 
activities to assist women in identifying and pursuing value addition opportunities, including form ing 
collectives and accessing the growing range of assistance programmes devoted to women.  
3.51.   With these activities, the project aims to increase the income and status that women draw 
from cotton, contributing to SDG target 5.a: "Undertake reforms to give wom en equal rights to 
economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of 
property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws ". 
3.52.   As regards youth, the cotton sector is domina ted by an older generation. Young people have 
been losing interest to work in the cotton sector due to the lack of stable and increasing income and 
the lack of innovation. Developing cotton by -products could create new income -earning 
opportunities, making the sector more attractive to young people, especially in rural areas.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  3.5  Reducing income inequality  
3.53.   Over the last two decades, in many African LDCs, average incomes in rural areas have not 
grown as fast as those in urban areas, contributing to growing rural  - urban income inequality. In 
turn, this creates incentives for rural inhabitants to migrate to cities, where job and housing markets, 
infrastructure and basic services are often oversubscribed. In these cities, migrants from rural areas 
may find themselve s un - or underemployed and living in precarious conditions. This trend 
exacerbates problems such as overcrowding, poverty and social tension in urban areas,  
3.54.   Within agricultural value chains in Africa, farmers typically have little power to negotiate with 
traders and processors for better prices for their crops. In the cotton value chain, this power 
asymmetry exists between farmers and ginners. As a result, the producer prices are calculated based 
mainly on the international cotton lint price , transmitting low margins and high volatility to farmers. 
This contributes to income inequality between farmers and downstream actors.  
3.55.   By creating additional income opportunities for farmers, developing cotton by -products can 
therefore help reduce income inequality in the value chain, narrow rural -urban income disparities 
and provide more incentives for rural inhabitants, especially young people, to stay and work in rural 
areas. Project activities will therefore prioritize cotton by -products that offer the  greatest potential 
to increase the incomes of farmers and rural inhabitants.  
3.6  Environmental conservation  
3.56.   Cotton by -products can contribute to fighting climate change, conserving the environment  
and improving human health. Processing cotton residues into commercial by -products reduces waste 
in the chain, contributing to SDG 12, towards responsible production and consumption. More 
specifically:  
• Biomass briquettes and pellets, made from cotton stal ks and other agricultural residues, are 
attractive substitutes for wood -based fuels, which can help combat the associated crisis of 
rampant deforestation that exists in many African countries;  
• Biomass fuels also have the potential to reduce the net greenho use gas and noxious emissions 
by replacing non -renewable fuels; and  
• Biomass pellets are smoke -free, which can replace some of the damaging health problems 
associated with burning smoky wood -based fuels in the home – problems that 
disproportionately affect women and children.  
3.57.   The project incorporates these important environmental and health benefits – alongside the 
economic ones – into its advocacy, investment planning and policy making activities. Depending on 
the country choices, the valorisation of cotton  stalks will or will not be included in project activities.  
3.7  Exit strategy  
3.58.   The programme is designed to ensure that the outcomes, outputs and benefits of the 
programme are sustainable and will continue long after the end of external funding. An important 
feature of the programme is to work "from within " the key partner institutions. The approach adopted 
will focus on working together with partners, emphasizing the concept of 'learning by doing ' instead 
of 'doing for '. In this respect, from the commencement o f the programme an explicit exit strategy 
is adopted, aimed at the ultimate absorption of all programme assets (such as trained staff, 
methodologies, tools, roster of national and regional consultants, networks, information systems, 
etc.) by the respective  partner institutions.  
3.59.   For all programme outcomes, the programme will strive to apply a training of trainers  (ToT) 
approach, where relevant and feasible. The trained trainers will ensure the actual follow -up support 
at the enterprise level.  
3.60.   At the same ti me, all the programme outputs, methodologies, approaches, and training 
materials, etc. will be centralised in leading institutions at the national level. These institutions will 
ultimately constitute an important expertise on which future trade and investm ent related 
development initiatives can build.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  3.61.   Moreover, the programme stakeholders will benefit from newly created partnerships, 
networks, and exchange of best practices.  
3.62.   With capacities built at viable institutional partners, especially at farmer level,  and economic 
decisions taken at private sector level that are expected to increase revenue and finally income, 
sustainability of activities would be ensured.  
3.63.   Proposing capacity -building activities, the project only has a mandate and budget to deliver 
these services. UNCTAD, ITC and its partners will not assume any financial or contractual obligations 
in the delivery of these services that would need to be unwound at the close of the project.  
3.64.   With respect to UNCTAD, ITC and the WTO, or donors, the structure  of this project will not 
entail any obligations beyond the project timeline.  
3.65.   There may be opportunities to propose follow -on projects, either to further the initiatives 
begun under this project, or to extend the project to other cotton -producing countrie s. But these 
follow -on projects would be based on specific country requests and new proposals, so would not 
represent obligations under this proposal.  
4  BUDGET  
4.1  Narrative  
4.1.  The WTO Secretariat is coordinating fund -raising activities or this high -prestige projec t. The 
WTO Secretariat reached out to several donors already. Formal and informal contacts and 
cooperation on project concept and activities have been established with the following entities: 
EU (DG-Devco), Germany (GIZ), African Cotton Foundation, France (AFD), Brazil (ABC; Private 
Sector), ICAC, India (CIRCOT), Turkey (Private Sector), US (USDA; National Cotton Council); Better 
Cotton Initiative, FAO.  
4.2.  In the run up to the present project submission, the WTO has presented the project and 
its 2019 activiti es and milestones to the following Members/Observers: EU (Devco); Argentina; 
Australia; Brazil; China; Colombia; Egypt; France (AFD); India; Japan; Mexico; New Zealand; 
Pakistan; South Africa; Turkey; United States; Uzbekistan. Any support by these and oth er partners 
will be confirmed as a result of project coordination work during the project development phase.  
4.3.  Depending on the confirmed funding, Governments may make commitments for any in -kind 
contributions.  
4.2  Project budget  
4.4.  UNCTAD and ITC propose a total b udget of USD 11.2 million for the four -year programme of 
activities, as outlined in this document, for the eight beneficiary countries. Table 1 summarises the 
proposed budget by project output and includes secretariat costs and the UN 's programme support 
rate of 13 per cent.  
4.5.  UNCTAD and ITC will share the substantive component of the budget according to the outputs 
each agency will implement, namely: outputs 1 and 5 by UNCTAD and outputs 2 -4 by ITC. Where 
relevant. the secretariat and programme support compo nents will be shared, either equally (e.g. for 
inception missions and National Programme Coordinators) or weighted by each agency 's share of 
the total budget – e.g. for the evaluation, project managers and programme support components. 
The total budget of USD 11.2 million is thereby shared as approximately USD 4.3 million for UNCTAD 
and USD 6.9 million for ITC, detailed in Table 1.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Table 1 - Project budget, by output (USD)  
Item  UNCTAD budget  ITC budget  Total budget  % of total  
Inception missions  32,000  32,000  64,000  1% 
Output 1  2,260,448   
2,260,448  20% 
Output 2   
2,154,285  2,154,285  19% 
Output 3   
1,419,052  1,419,052  13% 
Output 4   
1,763,532  1,763,532  16% 
Output 5  1,081,421    1,081,421  10% 
Subtotal substantive  3,373,869  5,368,869  8,742,738  78%  
Evaluation (3% of substantive)  76,899  122,371  199,270  2% 
UNCTAD/ITC project managers  385,905  614,095  1,000,000  9% 
Subtotal  3,836,674  6,105,334  9,942,008    
UN programme support (13%)  498,768  793,693  1,292,461  12% 
Total budget  4,335,441  6,899,028  11,234,469  100%  
Note:  UN programme support rates vary by donor, 13% is the default . 
 
5  MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE  
5.1.  The programme will be implemented jointly by UNCTAD and ITC in close cooperation with the 
respective Governments focal points and private sector institutions.  
5.2.  The country level management of the programme will be entrusted to a National Project 
Coordinator (NPC). S/he will be responsible for administering programme activities in the field, direct 
programm e delivery, monitoring results, and programme reporting at country level. Under joint 
UNCTAD/ITC supervision, the NPC will identify and monitor the work of national consultants and 
local service providers. The NPC will also provide substantial inputs to th e different programme 
components, liaise with the public and private sector TISIs and the business community, and co -
operate locally with other donor programmes. The NPC will be located in one of the partner 
institutions that ensures neutrality such as e.g . cotton sector regulating bodies or inter -professions, 
where existing.   
5.3.  The programme partner institutions will, to the extent possible, provide in -kind contributions, 
such as staff time, office facilities, and dissemination of reports to concerned entiti es.  
5.4.  At both UNCTAD and ITC, an officer will be responsible for the day -to-day programme 
management, monitoring and coordination of programme activities in the countries concerned, 
including supervision of the programme offices in each country. At ITC, the  Programme Manager will 
work in close collaboration with and under the supervision of ITC 's Global Programme Manager for 
Fibres, Textiles and Clothing, who will ensure linkages to the other relevant ITC projects in cotton, 
as well as textiles and clothing in Africa. At UNCTAD, the Economic Affairs Officer will work with and 
under the supervision of the Chief of the Commodities Branch, to ensure coherence with UNCTAD 's 
other policy and technical cooperation work on cotton, and its commodities programme in ge neral.  
5.1  Programme Steering Committee  
5.5.  A CBP Programme Steering Committee (PSC) will guide the implementation of the programme 
in each country. The PSC will be composed of the government counterparts, representatives of 
partner institutions, a donor representative as well as UNCTAD and ITC.  
5.6.  The National Programme Steering Committees (PSC) will meet at least once a year. Additional 
meetings could be called if the need arises. The PSC objective is to provide overall strategic guidance 
to the programme and its implementation, set priorities for im plementation, align programme with 
national priorities, ensure strategic embedding, resolve disputes, and ensure synergy development 
and collaboration with other Government and donor -financed programmes in the cotton sector.   
5.7.  It is also proposed to hold an  overall Programme Steering Committee once a year to discuss 
the implementation of all projects among the three agencies of UNCTAD/WTO/ITC as well as the 
collaborating donors. This Committee will provide overall strategic guidance to the programme and 
will decide on adjustments and reorientations whenever needed or envisaged.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Figure 3 - Project governance structure  
 
6  RISK ANALYSIS  
6.1.  The project team conducted a comprehensive risk analysis for the project 's objectives, activities 
and operations. In this section, we summarize the main findings of the risk analysis; the detailed 
analysis can be found in Annex 3.  
6.2.  Value -added cotton by -products are derived from wastes and residues in the chain. 
Nevertheless, their root raw m aterial remains the cotton plant. Therefore, a material reduction in 
the quantity of cotton grown by farmers in the project countries represents a risk to the conduct of 
the project activities and the achievement of its objectives. Annex 3 identifies sever al specific risks 
that could contribute to an overall reduction in the quantity of cotton grown. For example, a major 
decline in international lint prices – the main factor in the seed cotton prices paid to farmers – could 
convince a critical mass of farme rs to abandon cotton in favour of a more profitable crop. Similarly, 
adverse weather or pest conditions over one or more seasons, a boom in prices for competing crops, 
or severe season -to-season volatility in seed cotton prices, could lead to farmers produ cing less 
cotton.  
6.3.  No corrective action can influence weather patterns or international lint prices. But the project 
team will monitor the data underlying these risks and confer with focal points and stakeholders on 
adjusting project activities and priority  by-products, towards those with abundant supplies of raw 
material, for example cotton stalks.  
6.4.  Another cluster of risks evaluated in Annex 3 revolves around the lack of enforcement by 
national authorities of existing regulations. For example, anecdotal evi dence in project countries 
suggest that a lack of enforcement of rules of origin regulations by regional trading partners allows 
imports of semi -refined palm oil to enter the project countries as duty -free crude oil, undermining 
the competitiveness of loca lly produced edible oil, including cottonseed oil. At the national level, a 
lack of enforcement of standards for livestock feed could undermine the competitiveness of 
high-protein feed derived from cottonseed meal. Similarly, a lack of enforcement of fores try 
regulations could allow inexpensive charcoal, produced by illegal deforestation, to undercut biomass 
briquettes and pellets derived from cotton stalks. For all relevant regulations, the project team will 
mitigate these risks by building consensus among  stakeholders on compliance and providing national 
and regional policy makers with analytical tools, capacity building and training.  
6.5.  Among the project 's intended beneficiaries, reaching individual farmers poses a particular set 
of risks. In general, farmer s in project countries are widely distributed over large distances in rural, 
sometimes isolated communities. Although the types and reach of collective structures vary by 
country, only a portion of cotton farmers are members or benefit from an association or cooperative. 
WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Where they exist, farmers associations and cooperatives typically lack management capacity and 
access to the information, training, inputs and credit their members need. Individual farmers often 
have even less access to these enablers. This  difficulty to reach and capacitate the farmers that 
most need assistance poses a risk to the project achieving, in particular, its objectives related to 
poverty reduction.  
6.6.  To engage the widest possible cross -section of farmers, the project will work with the full range 
of counter -parties that have business with networks of farmers. In addition to farmers associations 
and cooperatives, this includes government regulators, other state entities, ginners and buyers. 
Nevertheless, where no feasible associations , cooperatives or counter -parties exist in a particular 
area, the project will focus on areas with farmers associations or cooperatives.  
6.7.  Throughout the project, the team will use the detailed risk analysis in Annex 3 as a living 
document: adding, monitorin g and mitigating risks to minimize their impact on project activities and 
outcomes. The project team will provide periodic risk management updates to UNCTAD 's and 
ITC's internal technical cooperation machinery, to donors and partners and to the Programme 
Steering Committee (see subsection 5.1).  
7  EVALUATION  
7.1.  The project will hire an international expert to conduct an external evaluation after the end of 
the implementation phase of the project. A mid -term evaluation may also be conducted, depending 
on donors ' requirements.  
7.2.  Three per cent of the substantive budget ( USD 199,270) will be reserved for the evaluator 's 
fees and travel. The evaluator will be provided full access to all project reports, documentation, and 
a travel budget will allow him/her to interview stakeholders in beneficiary countries and visit the 
project team in Geneva. The evaluator may also travel to one of the final project activities.  
8  COMMUNICATION  
8.1.  Communications of the CBP programme will aim at two objectives:  
1. Information dissemination and sh aring of experiences : Continuous exchange of 
information will enable project partners to learn from each other, share best practices, and to 
capitalise on their respective experiences in implementing comprehensive approached to 
valorising CBPs. This will e nable the project partners to build synergies and ensure 
sustainability of technical assistance work.  
2. Programme visibility and promotion : The CBPs programme will be promoted on a regular 
basis through the existing donor, WTO, UNCTAD and ITC channels, medi a in partner countries, 
and other select communication tools. The acknowledgement of the donor as the funder of 
the programme will be centrally featured. The information material produced will also allow 
the donor(s) to publicly account to its constituenci es for its work and financial means. The 
target audiences for promotional communications are mainly external audiences, ranging from 
beneficiaries to the wider development audience interested in this type of work.  
8.2.  UNCTAD and ITC will achieve these objectiv es through the elements of the communication plan 
described below. These elements will also ensure the visibility of donor(s) in the implementation of 
the individual projects and the programme as a whole.  
Communications plans for each project country  
8.3.  The C BP Communication Plan will be customised to the needs of the eight selected beneficiary 
countries. It will include relevant communication channels that will enable the project to reach a 
wide group of stakeholders, including at the grassroots level. Commun ication activities in each 
partner country will also ensure that other development partners are informed about programme 
activities, so that synergies can be built with other initiatives focused on the same sector.  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Target audience  
8.4.  Communication targets different stakeholders in the beneficiary countries themselves, in 
Geneva and the wider development community interested in cotton development in Africa. 
Table  1 provides an overview of the target audience. The Table below provides an  overview of the 
communication stakeholders and briefly describes their roles.  
Table 2: Communication stakeholders  
 
Communication Tools  
8.5.  In line with the communication needs and goals ident ified for the CBP programme, several 
communication tools will be used to achieve the two identified objectives.  
CBP Website  
8.6.  To ensure wide visibility for the programme, a joint CBP website will be created. The site will 
provide information on outcomes, outputs and activities of the projects, and results achieved. The 
CBP website will be a subset of the ITC and UNCTAD corporate websites and will comply with the 
ITC and UNCTAD communication guidelines. In addition, the website will adopt a graphi c layout that 
reflects the close partnership between WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and the donor country(ies), and present 
a harmonised image for the programme and all eight country projects. The design will be developed 
with the ITC Communication and Events Unit as we ll as the UNCTAD Communications and 
Information Unit (CIO), in close coordination with the donor(s). The same graphic elements will be 
adapted for newsletters, press releases and publications.  
8.7.  The website will be updated on a regular basis and include info rmation on upcoming activities, 
and the results achieved once these activities have been completed. Particular emphasis will be put 
on feeding the website with meaningful information concerning the substantive work undertaken 
through each of the eight proj ects e.g. success stories. The content of the newsletter (see below) 
will also be directly linked to the content on the website. In addition to written information, the 
website will be made livelier with videos, photos and other animations taken in the fie ld. 
Newsletters  
8.8.  A newsletter will be disseminated by the programme on a regular basis to encourage 
information sharing and transfer of knowledge. The newsletter is a key tool for the CBP programme 
to inform relevant audiences about the activities undertake n and how they are contributing to 
achieve the projects and programme goals.  
8.9.  The newsletter will be addressed to all programme stakeholders and the persons who would 
have subscribed to it through the internet. The purpose is to inform readers about activit ies 
undertaken by the CBP programme and results achieved. The newsletter will include short articles 
about specific events that have taken place. It will refer the reader to the website to obtain more 
information about the project and its activities. The n ewsletter will also be made available on the 
CBP programme website.  Target Audience  Communication tool  
WTO/UNCTAD/ITC and donor(s) staff and management involved 
in CBP Website, Newslet ters, Press releases 
Promotional materials, Reports   
Stakeholders in the field  
Cotton farmer, SMEs, TISIs, government officials, policy makers, 
the donor embassy(ies) in each partner country, development 
partners  Website, Newsletters, Press releases, 
Promotional materials, Social Media  
Stakeholders in Geneva, embassies of each beneficiary country in 
Switzerland, permanent mission of each selected country in 
Geneva WTO and UNCTAD member countries as well as the donor 
country(ies)  Website, New sletters, Promotional 
materials, Press Releases if relevant 
(Newspapers)  
Representatives of Export target markets  
Selected sector associations and potential buyers  Website, Newsletters, Promotional 
materials, Press Releases if relevant 
Social media  
Wider audience  
All interested parties besides the ones mentioned above  Press releases,  ITC Forum Magazine, 
other development cooperation 
relevant magazines, Social Media, 
Newspapers  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
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  Articles and op -eds 
8.10.   To promote the CBP programme and to share information on the substantive content of the 
programme, the CBP team will publish on a regular basis articles in ITC 's and UN CTAD 's various 
periodicals and communications platforms, as well as articles and op -eds in other development, 
cotton or related periodicals.  
8.11.   Published articles will also be available on the CBP website.  
Press Releases  
8.12.   Press releases will be issued for eve ry major event or activity (signing ceremony, workshops, 
etc.) for each individual sub -project or at programme level. The content will be coordinated with the 
WTO/UNCTAD/ITC communication units and aligned with the donor(s). It will also involve partner 
TISIs for activities in the field. When a partner TISI issues a press release, it should liaise with 
UNCTAD/ITC before sending it out. Similarly, when UNCTAD or ITC issues a press release, it will 
produce it in close coordination with partner institutions in  the field.  
8.13.   Press releases will always be published on the CBP programme website. Whenever relevant, 
CBP press releases will be published on the WTO, UNCTAD and ITC corporate websites and social 
media channels.  
Leaflets and other promotional materials  
8.14.   A brochure or a leaflet will be developed to present the programme and its content. The 
material will provide the reader with a quick overview of what the programme and related projects 
are about and what outcomes it intends to achieve. The content of the bro chure will be closely linked 
to the material available on the website, but presented in more summarised way. The development 
of the brochure will be closely coordinated with the donor(s) communication team(s).  
8.15.   A leaflet on each of the projects will also be  developed to provide specific information on the 
selected country and CBP valorisation, and how the expected outcomes and outputs will be achieved. 
The content of the brochure and the leaflets will be closely coordinated with partner TISIs in the 
field, t he communication teams of UNCTAD and ITC and the donor(s).  
Social media  
8.16.   The CBP programme will use social media to encourage wider communication and sharing of 
experience, whenever it is relevant and it adds value to the project and the programme. UNCTAD 
and ITC staff, partner institutions, consultants and other participants in project activities will help by 
contributing multimedia content (e.g. photos, video clips, infographics, podcasts) and by actively 
being involved in social media networks.  
 
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  ANNEX 1  - REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE  
Benin  
 
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  Burkina Faso  
 
  
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  Chad 
 
  
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  Mali 
 
 
 
  
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  Mozambique  
 
  
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  Tanzania  
 
 
  
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  Uganda  
 
 
  
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  Zambia  
 
 
 
 
  
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- 40 - ANNEX 2  - LOGICAL FRAMEWORK1 
Strategy of Intervention  Key Performance Indicators  Baseline  Target  Means of 
Verification  Assumptions  
Impact       
Impact: Contribute to poverty 
reduction through developing viable 
cotton by -product industries  
 
Contribution to SDGs  
Goal 1 Target 1.2  
"By 2030, reduce at least by 
half the proportion of men, 
women and children of all ages 
living in poverty in all its 
dimensions according to 
national definitions " 
 
Goal 9 Target 9.b  
"Support domestic technology 
development, research and 
innovation in developing 
countries, including by ensuring 
a conducive policy environment 
for, inter alia , industrial 
diversification and value 
addition to commodities " 
 
Goal Target 5 5.a  
"Undertake ref orms to give 
women equal rights to 
economic resources, as well as 
access to ownership and control 
over land and other forms of 
property, financial services, 
inheritance and natural 
resources, in accordance with 
national laws "  
Primary SDG indicators  
 
1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the 
national poverty line, by sex and age   
Number of individuals living in poverty having 
received new or better employment, including better 
self-employment (gender disaggregated)  
 
Number of small -scale busines ses earning additional 
revenue by adding value to commodities  
 
 
 
Number of small -scale, women -owned businesses 
adding value to commodities  tbd tbd • United Nations 
Global SDG 
Database  
• Project evaluation  
• Beneficiary surveys  
• National statistics   
 
1 Outcome targets will be revised during the inception phase.    
  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
- 41 - Strategy of Intervention  Key Performance Indicators  Baseline  Target  Means of 
Verification  Assumptions  
Outcomes  Outcome Indicators*       
Outcome : Improved 
competitiveness and increased 
revenue for stakeholders from 
cotton by -products, especially for 
smallholder and women farmers  1) Number of farmers having changed their 
business behaviour by adopting CBP value 
addition (gender -disaggregated)  
2) Number of cottonseed processors having made 
investments or operational changes in their 
business to improve competitiveness, e.g. 
improved oil recovery rates, reduced production 
costs, etc.) (gender -disaggregated)  
3) Numb er of farmers who declare that they earn 
additional income, or reduce costs, through 
value-added cotton by -products (gender -
disaggregated)  
4) Value of additional revenue, or cost reductions, 
from CBPs declared by cottonseed producers  
5) Number of new CBP busines ses begun by 
investors (i.e. other than farmers and 
cottonseed processors)  
6) Number of small -scale businesses having 
entered new markets (gender disaggregated)  
7) Number of gender -sensitive trade and 
investment strategies have been implemented 
aiming at economi c empowerment of women   1) 10,000  
 
 
2) 16 
 
3) 5,000  
 
4) 500,000  
 
5) 16 
 
6) 21 
 
7) 8 • Before -after 
stakeholder 
(especially SMEs 
and farmer) 
surveys  
• Surveys among 
TISIs 
• Actual 
strategy/policy 
documents  
• Official 
government 
communication  
• National statistics 
(if available)  • Continued political commitment from 
project country governments  
• Government and TISIs continue to 
engage with smallholder and women 
farmers  
• Economic stability  
• No epidemics  
• Favourable meteorological conditions for 
cotton production  
• No climatic or environmental disasters 
preventing the growth and expansion of 
the cotton value chain  
•  Additional value added to cotton by -
products leads to additional revenue 
and job creation  
• Seed cotton producer prices and cotton 
production remain stable enough for 
farmers ' additional revenues from 
cotton by -products to be measurable  
Outputs       
Output  1: Increased engagement 
of public and private sector 
stakeholders in commercial 
initiatives to add value to cotton by -
products  1) Percentage of participants in wrap -up activities 
who declare that they are better able to 
evaluate and pursue income opportunities in 
cotton by -products  
2) Percentage of project countries that have 
validated national action plans to develop cotton 
by-products and/or cotton  sector strategies that 
include cotton by -products  
3) Number of new project proposals/business 
plans / investment plans related to cotton 
by-products, per country, in 75% of project 
countries  
4) Number of new cotton by -products projects or 
businesses established  across all project 
countries   75 
 
 
 
75 
 
 
Minimum  
3 
 
Minimum 
5 • Activity evaluations  
• Project evaluation  
• National focal 
points  
• Reports from 
consultants / 
experts  • Stakeholders in each country evaluate 
one or more cotton by -products to be 
commercially viable  
• Pest management regulations, or 
amendments thereto, allow for the 
collection, removal and processing of 
cotton stalks after harvest  
• Forestry regulations are sufficiently 
enforced to allow for biomass fuels, 
including from cotton stalks,  to compete 
with wood charcoal as a household fuel  
• Ginners cooperate with multi -
stakeholder activities and coordinating 
access to their contracted farmers, 
where necessary  
• Entrepreneurs and cooperatives have 
access to sufficient resources - financial, 
huma n and time - to establish cotton 
by-products businesses    
  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
- 42 - Strategy of Intervention  Key Performance Indicators  Baseline  Target  Means of 
Verification  Assumptions  
• Farmer groups/ associations are 
committed, able and unbiased in 
undertaking surveys among their 
clients/members  
• TISI are able to implement the capacity 
building recommendations  
Output 2: Enhanced cap acity of 
farmers to collectively add value to 
their cotton by -products  1) Number of farmers trained (gender 
disaggregated) per country  
2) Number of farmers having declared to valorise 
farm-level CBPs either individually or collectively  
3) Percentage of declarations to valorise farm -level 
CBPs that lead to actual initiatives by farmers  
4) Number of farmers with access to financing 
mechanisms (incl . self-help credit & saving 
schemes as part of farmer groups) allowing 
them to utilize/invest in CBPs (per country)   3,000  
 
 
1500 
 
50% 
 
 
1000 
 • Consultancy 
reports  
• Reports by TISIs  
• Progress reports  • Farmers are willing to collaborate  
• Cotton regulations exist that allow 
farmers to get together and be 
represented by a joint entity  
• Existing contact farming arrangements 
allow farmers to use some of the by -
products (at least the stalks)  
• Farmers associations and cooperatives 
have sufficient absorpt ive capacity for 
project activities to deliver benefits to 
their members  
• Farmer groups have the capacity to 
receive small investment funding to use 
cotton stalks, etc.  
• Entrepreneurs and cooperatives have 
access to sufficient resources - financial, 
human an d time - to establish cotton 
by-products businesses  
Output  3: Strengthened capacities 
of farmer representative groups to 
negotiate appropriate remuneration 
for produced fibres and by -products  1) Number of farmer associations/ cooperatives/ 
groups institutionally assessed  
2) Number of farmer 
associations/cooperatives/groups trained on the 
cotton value chain, price setting mechanisms, 
business advocacy, etc.  
3) Number of farmer representative groups having 
declared to better understand value distribution 
of seed -cotton, fibre, seed and stalks, the role 
and cost structures of each link in the value 
chain and valorisation possibilities for farmers.  
4) Number of farmer representative groups having 
declared to be able better negotiate 
remunerations for fibres and  CBPs  Min 8 
 
 
Min 8 
 
 
 
Min 8 
 
 
 
Min 8 • Consultancy 
reports  
• Reports by TISIs  
• Progress reports  
• Activity evaluations  
• Project evaluation  • Members/farmers interested in stronger 
representations  
• Cotton regulations exist that allow 
farmers to get together and be 
represented by a joint entity  
• Farmers associations and cooperatives 
have sufficient absorptive capacity for 
project activities to deliver benefits to 
their members  
• Farmer groups/ associations as well as 
ginner associations are committed, able, 
unbiased and transparent to negotiate 
fair cottonseed prices for both, farmers 
and ginners    
  WT/CFMC/W/89  
 
- 43 - Strategy of Intervention  Key Performance Indicators  Baseline  Target  Means of 
Verification  Assumptions  
Output 4 : Enhanced capacity of 
cottonseed processors to improve 
oil recovery rates and market by -
products effectively  1) Number of cottonseed processors that have 
been assessed and received recommendations 
for improvements  
2) Number of cottonseed processors that have 
developed business or marketing plans to 
upgrade their operations  
3) Number of national/regional marketing 
campaig ns implemented  
4) Number of business linkages created    
Min 24  
 
 
Min 16  
 
Min 16  
 
Min 24  • Consultancy 
reports  
• Survey reports  
• Reports by SMEs  
• Progress reports  
• Activity evaluations  
• Project evaluation  • SMEs are willing to crush more 
cottonseed as production increases  
• SMEs willing to upgrade their production 
facilities according to the 
recommendations provided  
• No un -loyal competitions from imported 
edible oils that discourage cottonseed oil 
production  
• Existing demand for cottonseed oil in 
the local and regional market  
• End users buy cotton by -products, 
which meet their technical 
requirements, price points and 
applicable standards  
• No problem with gossypol for cake 
utilization  
• Continued and increasing demand for 
the cake for feedstock  
Output  5: Improved capacity of 
policy makers to formulate 
evidence -based policies and ensure 
policy coherence in support of the 
development of cotton by -products  1) Percentage of policy makers participating in 
project activities who declare that they are 
better able to  draft evidence -based policies on 
cotton by -products  
2) Percentage of project countries where 
government focal points declare improved 
coherence in policies related to developing 
cotton by -products  
3) Number of new or updated investment profiles 
per country, in 75% of project countries  
4) Percentage of project countries with existing 
seed cotton producer price formulae have 
updated them to include cotton by -products   
5) Number of policies related to CBP 
created/amended    
75 
 
 
75 
 
 
2 
 
 
50 • Activity evaluations  
• Project evaluation  
• National focal 
points  
• Investment 
promotion 
agencies  
• Reports from 
consultants/  
experts   • Stakeholders in each country evaluate 
one or more cotton by -products to be 
commercially viable  
• Policy consensus to endorse 
strategy/policy papers  
• Pest management regulations, or 
amendments thereto, allow for the 
collection, removal and processing of 
cotton stalks after harvest  
• Forestry regulations are sufficiently 
enforced to allow for biomass fuels, 
including from cotton stalks, to compete 
with wood ch arcoal as a household fuel  
• Entrepreneurs and cooperatives have 
access to sufficient resources - financial, 
human and time - to establish cotton 
by-products businesses  
• Government ministries and agencies 
cooperate in drafting policies that span 
mandates  
• Coordination and collaboration among 
TISIs 
• Cotton stakeholders willing to consider 
providing a fair price to the value of 
seed in the seed -cotton pricing  
   
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 44 - ANNEX 3  - RISK MATRIX  
    
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
1 12-Mar Project  Beneficiaries' 
language skills are 
not aligned with 
the project team's 
and the materials 
at its disposal  Beneficiaries are 
unable to be nefit 
fully from project 
activities  Complicates 
the 
completion of 
project 
activities 
within the 
timeline, and 
achievement 
of objectives  1 1 1 External  Liaise with 
country focal 
points to 
establish 
language 
needs of 
beneficiaries  3 Control  The project team 
will endeavour to 
make project 
activities and 
background 
materials 
accessible to 
beneficiaries 
with different 
linguistic skills. 
This may include 
translation and 
interpretation 
services, where 
resources allow.  UNCTAD /ITC   
2 12-Mar Project  Economic 
instability in 
project countries  Investments in 
CBP rendered 
unfeasible in 
unfavourable 
economic  
climate  Development 
of new CBP 
activities 
rendered 
unfeasible  1 2 2 External  Monitor 
political and 
security risks 
through project 
country 
governments, 
UNDSS and 
partners  3 Accept  Redesign and 
deliver activities 
for the 
maximum 
benefit of 
beneficiaries, 
while adjusting 
objectives in 
that country  UNCTAD /ITC   
3 20-Mar Project  Decline in 
international 
cotton lint prices 
reduces domestic 
seed cotton 
producer prices  Global 
oversupply of 
cotton lint, or 
reduced demand 
for cotton 
products, 
undermines 
international lint 
prices  Faced with 
lower seed 
cotton 
producer 
prices, 
farmers 
move to 
other crops 
or activities, 
lowering the  
production of 
seed cotton  2 3 6 External  Monitor 
economic 
development in 
major T&C 
consuming and 
textile 
producing 
markets  3 Accept  Evaluate 
possible changes 
in activities or 
timelines, or 
modify 
objectives.  UNCTAD /ITC     
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 45 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
4 12-Mar Project  Insufficient 
commitment from 
government focal 
points  Inability to 
convene 
stakeholders 
and/or organize 
activities  Compli cates 
the 
completion of 
project 
activities 
within the 
timeline, and 
achievement 
of objectives  1 2 2 External  Monitor project 
timelines, 
provide 
reasonable 
resources and 
extensions, 
establish 
internal final 
deadlines  3 Control  Should a country 
not make 
sufficient 
progress to 
complete all 
activities within 
the project term, 
the team will 
propose a 
modified 
programme of 
activities. If the 
lack of progress 
persists, work in 
that country will 
be suspended 
and any 
remaining 
earmarked 
budget will be 
applied to 
activities in the 
other project 
countries, to 
ensure a 
productive use 
of resources.  UNCTAD /ITC   
5 12-Mar Project  Political instability 
in project 
countries  Disrupts or 
prevents the 
implementation 
of project 
activities  Complicates 
the 
completion of 
project 
activities 
within the 
timeline, and 
achievement 
of objectives  1 3 3 External  Monitor 
political and 
security risks 
through project 
country 
governments, 
UNDSS and 
partners  3 Accept  Evaluate 
possible changes 
in activities or 
timelines, or 
modify 
objectives.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 46 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
6 12-Mar Project  Security risks in 
project countries  Disrupts or 
prevents the 
implementation 
of project 
activities  Complicates 
the 
completion of 
project 
activities 
within the 
timeline, and 
achievement 
of objectives  1 3 3 External  Monitor 
political and 
security risks 
through project 
country 
governments, 
UNDSS and 
partners  3 Accept  Redesign or 
relocate project 
activities and, if 
needed, cancel 
activities and 
reallocate 
earmarked 
budgets to other 
project 
countries.  UNCTAD/ITC    
7 12-Mar Objective  A critical mass of 
farmers move out 
of cotton into 
other crops  Cotton 
production falls, 
undermining the 
availability of 
raw material  for 
CBPs Development 
of new CBP 
activities 
rendered 
unfeasible  1 2 2 External  Monitor cotton 
production 
through 
national 
regulators  3 Accept  Work with the 
relevant 
regulatory 
authority and 
farmers 
associations to 
select long -term 
cotton farmers 
as benefic iaries.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 47 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
10 12-Mar Objective  Farmers too 
spatially dispersed 
to work together  Reduces the 
likelihood of 
developing 
businesses 
owned and/or 
with ma ximum 
benefit for 
farmers  Reduced 
impact of 
project 
activities for 
farmers  2 2 4 Accept  Liaise with 
cotton 
regulators to 
understand the 
geographic 
density of 
farmers in 
growing areas 
to select target 
groups and 
areas/regions 
that have a 
critical mass of 
farmers  3 Accept  The organization 
of project 
activities will 
depend on a 
local institution 
that can 
coordinate, grant 
access to and 
channel services 
to individual 
cotton farmers. 
Where 
traditional 
farmer -led 
structures do not 
exist, the project 
team will mak e 
all efforts to 
work with state 
structures, 
ginners or 
buyers to reach 
farmers. Should 
no feasible 
alternative 
structures exist 
in a particular 
area, the project 
will focus on 
areas with 
general, i.e. non 
crop-specific, 
farmers 
associations or 
cooperative s. UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 48 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
11 12-Mar Objective  Farmers unable to 
reach consensus 
on engaging in 
associations or 
cooperatives to 
develop CBPs  Reduces the 
likelihood of 
developing 
businesses 
owned and/or 
with maximum 
benefit for 
farmers  Reduced 
impact of 
project 
activities for 
farmers  2 2 4 Accept  Liaise with 
cotton 
regulators to 
understand the 
capacity of 
farmers 
association and 
cooperatives in 
the country  2 Avoid  The project aims 
to build the 
capacity of 
existing farmers 
structures. 
Where any such 
structures 
demonstrate 
insufficient 
absorptive 
capacity, the 
project team will 
work with the 
government and 
relevant partners 
to adjust the 
capacity b uilding 
services 
provided, or 
select alternative 
structures.  UNCTAD/ITC    
12 12-Mar Objective  Lack of 
enforcement of  
border controls on 
illegal imports of 
edible oil  Smuggled edible 
oil enters the 
market duty -free 
and undermines 
the 
competitiveness 
of locally 
produced edible 
oil, including 
cottonseed oil  Investments 
in new or 
upgraded oil 
extraction 
equipment 
rendered 
unfeasible  1 3 3 Exter nal Track statistics 
for quantity 
and origins of 
imports of 
edible oil, 
engage with 
trade 
ministries in 
project 
countries  2 Accept  The project 
proposes to 
conduct policy 
analyses on 
regional trade in 
edible oil. The 
project team can 
elaborate the 
rule of origin risk 
in these analyses 
and encourage 
policy makers to 
use them in 
negotiating a 
solution at the 
regional level, 
such as the 
AfCFTA, sub -
regional trade 
agreements and 
regional 
economic 
communities.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 49 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
13 12-Mar Objective  Lack of 
enforcement of 
existing rules of 
origin trade rules  Imports of duty -
free palm oil 
undermine the 
competitiveness 
of locally 
produced edible 
oil, including 
cottonseed oil  Investments 
in new or 
upgraded oil 
extraction 
equipment 
rendered 
unfeasible  2 2 4 External  Track statistics 
for quantity 
and origins of 
imports of 
edible oil, 
engage with 
trade 
ministries in 
project 
countries  2 Accept  The project 
proposes to 
conduct policy 
analyses on 
regional trade in 
edible oil. The 
project team can 
elaborate the 
rule of origin risk 
in these anal yses 
and encourage 
policy makers to 
use them in 
negotiating a 
solution at the 
regional level, 
such as the 
AfCFTA, sub -
regional trade 
agreements and 
regional 
economic 
communities.  UNCTAD/ITC    
14 12-Mar Objective  Lack of 
enforcement of 
forestry 
regulations  Undermines the 
competitiveness 
of biomass fuels, 
including from 
cotton st alks, 
relative to wood 
charcoal derived 
from illegal 
deforestation  Development 
rendered 
unfeasible for 
processing 
biomass fuels 
from cotton 
stalks  4 1 4 Strategic  Monitor the 
market price of 
a bag of wood 
charcoal and 
factor it into 
the plan for 
biomass fu el 
businesses  3 Control  Wood charcoal 
being the main 
source of 
household fuel in 
many African 
countries, the 
project team can 
orient its 
activities on 
biomass fuels to 
other segments, 
such as 
briquettes for 
industrial and 
commercial 
boilers.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 50 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
15 12-Mar Objective  Lack of standards, 
or enforcement 
thereof, for CBPs  Consumer 
confidence and 
demand for CBPs 
is undermined  Development 
of new CBP 
activities 
rendered 
unfeasible  1 2 2 Strategic  Include the 
importance of 
setting and 
enforcing 
standards for 
CBPs as part of 
project 
activities  3 Control  The project team 
will work with 
stakeholders to 
ensure that: a) 
all cotton by -
products 
initiatives 
consider user 
requirements 
and health, 
safety, industrial 
and other 
standards in the 
product design 
and business 
plan; and b) 
policy makers 
anticipate the 
necessary 
sensitization, 
compliance and 
enforcement 
efforts.  UNCTAD/ITC    
16 12-Mar Objective  Government 
unwilling to 
change pest 
management 
regulations that 
prohibit the 
collection, removal 
and processing of 
cotton st alks after 
harvest, despite 
alternative 
recommendations 
from recognized 
organisations such 
as ICAC  Precludes any 
investments in 
value -added 
processing of 
cotton stalks  Development 
rendered 
unfeasible for 
processing 
CBPs from 
cotton stalks  1 2 2 External  Liaise with 
responsible 
government 
agencies to 
obtain clear 
interpretations 
of pest 
management 
regulations 
related to 
cotton stalks 
and liaise with 
ICAC on 
scientific 
advice  3 Control  Work with the 
relevant 
regulatory 
authority to draft 
and pass 
necessary 
amendments to 
pest 
management 
regulations. 
Otherwise, shift 
focus to non -
stalk-based 
CBPs.       
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 51 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
17 12-Mar Objective  Volatile  seed 
cotton pr ices Fall in revenues 
outweighs any 
additional 
revenue farmers 
earn from CBP  Impossible to 
track project 
outcome 
indicator  2 2 4 External  Track 
international 
lint prices and, 
through 
national 
regulators, 
seed cotton 
producer prices  3 Accept  No corrective 
action can 
influence prices. 
Although the 
project outcome 
around farmers 
income may be 
compromised, 
the project team 
will continue to 
encourage 
regulators, 
ginners, other 
buyers and 
farmers to 
include cotton 
by-products in 
producer price 
formulae and 
otherw ise invest 
in value -added 
processing of 
cotton by -
products as a 
way to reduce 
farmers ' overall 
exposure to the 
vagaries of 
international lint 
prices.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 52 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
18 12-Mar Objective  Unfavourable 
meteorological 
conditions for 
cotton production  Cotton 
production falls, 
undermining the 
availability of  
raw material for 
CBPs Development 
of new CBP 
activities 
rendered 
unfeasible  1 2 2 External  Monitor cotton 
production 
through 
national 
regulators  3 Control  No corrective 
action can 
influence 
meteorological 
effects on cotton 
production. 
Nevertheless, 
the pr oject team 
can focus on 
those cotton by -
products with 
the most 
abundant 
supplies of raw 
material, such as 
cotton stalks.  UNCTAD/ITC    
19 12-Mar Objective  Unregulated 
buyers enter and 
buy seed cotton 
from contracted 
farmers (i.e. side 
marketing), 
disrupting existing 
institutions, 
systems and 
agreements. This 
risk only refers to 
liberalized cotton 
sectors in ESA.  Undermines the 
level playing 
field and leads to 
a "race to the 
bottom" among 
practices, 
standards and 
investments in 
cotton 
production, 
undermining the 
quantity and 
quality of raw 
material 
available for 
CBPs Development 
of new CBP 
activities 
rendered 
unfea sible 1 3 3 Strategic  Track statistics 
from regulators 
on the 
incidence of 
side marketing  3 Control  Project activities 
aimed at 
governance, 
policy and seed 
cotton producer 
price formulae 
will include 
discussions on 
the effectiveness 
of the contract 
farming  model 
and its 
supporting legal 
framework.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 53 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
20 12-Mar Activity  Cooperatives and 
entrepreneurs 
have insufficient 
resour ces 
(financial, human 
resources, time) to 
establish cotton 
by-products 
businesses and 
financing 
institutions are 
unwilling to 
support the sector, 
despite positive 
cost-benefit 
analysis  Reduces the 
likelihood of 
developing 
businesses 
owned and/or 
with maxim um 
benefit for 
farmers  Reduced 
impact of 
project 
activities for 
farmers  2 2 4 Accept  Catalogue the 
existing 
policies and 
programmes 
that could give 
access to 
cooperatives 
and 
entrepreneurs 
to the 
necessary 
resources  3 Accept  In addition to 
the activities 
designed to 
assist 
beneficiaries in 
drafting feasible 
business plans, 
the project team 
will work with 
policy makers to 
draft policies 
that increase the 
availability of 
necessary 
resources. The 
project team will 
also work with 
financing 
instituti ons for 
them to better 
understand the 
sector and its 
potential for 
development 
and attempt to 
engage relevant 
donors and other 
partners.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 54 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
21 12-Mar Activity  Farmers are not 
organized in 
associations or 
cooperatives  Project team 
lacks access to a 
large proportion 
of cotton 
farmers who are 
not members of 
any associations  Reduced 
reach of 
project 
activities 
aimed at 
farmers  3 2 6 Control  Gather data to 
estimate the 
number of 
cotton farmers 
that must be 
reached 
through their 
outgrower 
buyer  2 Control  The organization 
of project 
activities will 
depend on a 
local institution 
that can 
coordinate, grant 
access to and 
channel services 
to individual 
farmers. Where 
traditional 
farmer -led 
structures do not 
exist, the project 
team will make 
all efforts to 
work with state 
structures, 
ginners or 
buyers to reach 
farmers. Should 
no feasible 
alternative 
structures exist 
in a particular 
area, the p roject 
will focus on 
areas with 
farmers 
associations or 
cooperatives.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 55 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
22 12-Mar Activity  Insufficient 
absorptive 
capacity among 
farmers 
associations and 
cooperatives  Associations and 
cooperatives 
unable to 
transmit benefits 
from project 
activities to 
member farmers 
and/or 
implement new 
CBP businesses  Reduced 
impact of 
project 
activities for 
farmers  1 2 2 Control  Liaise with 
cotton 
regulators to 
understand the 
capacity of 
farmers 
association and 
cooperatives i n 
the country  2 Avoid  The project aims 
to build the 
capacity of 
existing farmers 
structures. 
Where any such 
structures 
demonstrate 
insufficient 
absorptive 
capacity, the 
project team will 
work with the 
government and 
relevant partners 
to adjust the 
capacity  building 
services 
provided, or 
select alternative 
structures.  UNCTAD/ITC    
23 12-Mar Activity  Lack of 
cooperation from  
ginners and other  
seed cotton buyers 
that work with a 
large number of 
farmers under 
contract -farming 
arrangements  Project team 
lacks access to a 
large proportion 
of cotton 
farmers who are 
not members of 
any associations  Reduced 
reach of 
project 
activities 
aimed at 
farmers  2 2 4 Strategic  Gather data to 
estimate the 
number of 
cotton farmers 
that must be 
reached 
through their 
outgrower 
buyer  2 Control  Whether or not 
ginners invest 
directly in cotton 
by-products, the 
project team will 
solicit their input 
and encourage 
them to support 
cotton by -
products 
initiatives as a 
way of 
increasing the 
incentive for 
their farmers to 
grow more 
cotton.  UNCTAD/ITC      
  WT/CFMC/W/8 9 
 
- 56 -     
Risk 
description   
Like-
lihood 
(L) Impact 
(I) Risk 
score 
(L*I)  Category  Internal 
control 
measures  Internal control 
assessment  Risk 
response  Risk response  
measure     
# Risk 
ID 
date Level  Cause  Event  Impact  1-4 1-4 1-16 Strategic /internal 
/external  Description  1 - non-existent;  
2 - inadequate;  
3 - appropriate  Accept/  
control/  
avoid/  
transfer  Description  Risk  
owner  Action 
owner  Risk 
mitigation 
due date  
24 12-Mar Activity  Lack of 
coordination 
among 
government 
ministries agencies  Project team 
unable to collect 
necessary inputs 
for activities that 
span different 
mandates  Complicates 
the 
completion of 
project 
activities  2 1 2 Control  Liaise with 
project focal 
points to 
understand 
potential 
uncooperative 
agencies  2 Control  The project team 
will work with its 
focal point to 
engage the 
uncooperative 
agencies. If this 
fails, the project 
team will discuss 
with its focal 
point and other 
stakeholders 
about possible 
adjustments to 
the capacity 
building services 
provided.  UNCTAD/ITC    
 
 
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