WT/CFMC/46  
 
25 September 2013  
(13-5122)  Page: 1/2  
  Original: English  
 
  
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
COMMUNICATION FROM INDIA 
 The following communication, dated 24 September 2013, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of India. 
 
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1  UPDATE ON SOUTH-SOUTH CO-OPERATION ON COTTON 
1.1.  A Technical Assistance Programme for cotton support is currently being implemented in 
Benin , Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda with a budget of Rs. 210 million to be 
completed over a period of three years (2011-14) . The programme is a result of a commitment 
made at the World Trade Organization and was announced at the Africa-India Forum Summit (AIFS) held in Ethiopia in May 2011. The Programme was officially launched during the 2
nd India-
Africa Trade Ministers’ Meeting on 17 March 2012 in New Delhi. A bi-lingual website 
http://www.cottontapafrica.org was also launche d during the meeting. Subsequently, the 
programme was launched in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda between 
23 May and 3 July 2013. Meetings and workshops with the key stakeholders in the cotton sector in 
these countries have been organized during the programme.  
1.2.  The Technical Assistance Programme (TAP) covers the following broad areas: 
a. Increasing cotton production (area expansion and productivity enhancement). 
b. Improving Extension and Support Service Effi ciency, enhancing R&D and Quality Control. 
c. Marketing/Distribution Infrastructure. 
d. Strengthening/development of cotton re sidue based value addition industry. 
e. Creating/Strengthening Downstream Industry in Textiles and Clothing. 
1.3.  Premier institutions in the area of cotton in India namely, the Central Institute for Cotton 
Research (CICR), the Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Directorate of Cotton Development (DOCD), etc. are implementing the programme. A number of programmes for the 
participating African countries have been complete d under the project, on which a highly positive 
feedback has been received from the participants. The programmes completed so far are: (i) Regional Training Programme for Developing  Master Trainers on Extension Methodology; 
(ii) Regional Training Programme on Modern Crop Production Technology; (iii) Exposure Visit for 
Policy Makers; (iv) Regional Tr aining/Exposure Programme on Post-Harvest Management and 
Value Addition of Crop Residues, and (v) Training of Trainers' Programme on Organic Cotton for 
Uganda.  WT/CFMC/46 
 
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  1.4.  Some of the activities which are being implemented during the current year are:   
(i) Development of (ICT based) Pest and Disease Surveillance System; (ii) Setting up of a "Regional Knowledge Cluster cum Training Centre on Post-Harvest and Ginning Technology"; (iii) Regional Training Programme on Farmer Field Schools; (iv) Setting up of a "Bio-pesticide 
Laboratory" in Uganda; (v) In-country Training Programme on Modern Cotton Production 
Technology; (vi) Advisory Support to the Mini stry/Department dealing with cotton to design 
schemes to promote the cotton value chain, and (vii) Establishment of a Skill School in the Textiles 
Sector in Nigeria and Malawi, etc. 
 
1.5.   India is committed to further enhancing South-South cooperation in the Cotton Sector and 
making a meaningful contribution to the development of cotton value chains in the C-4 and other developing countries in Africa.    
 
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