WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CFMC/W/34 
22 May 2008 
 
 (08-2626) 
 Original:   French 
 
 
 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Cotton Projects1 
 
Communication from Benin 
  
 The following communication, dated 20 November 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Benin. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
ASSOCIATION INTERPROFESSIONNELLE DU COTON 
(INTERPROFESSIONAL COTTON ASSOCIATION) 
 
SUPPORT FOR THE IMPROVEMEN T OF THE PRODUCTIVITY AND 
COMPETITIVENESS OF SEED COTTON IN BENIN 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Cotton plays and will continue to play a strategic role in the Beninese economy on account of 
its place in exports of domestic origin, the in come which it provides for hundreds of thousands of 
rural and urban workers and its role as a catalyst in the modernization of agricultural techniques. 
2. At the present time cotton constitutes about 75 per cent of Benin's export earnings and makes 
up 13 per cent (INSAE 2005) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  The cotton industries generate over 3,500 jobs.  In overall terms, the cotton sector  generates on average a gross income of about 
80 billion CFA francs annually.  The developm ent of production goes hand in hand with the 
development of upstream and downstream activities. 
3. However, since 1995 cotton production has st agnated at about 350,000 tonnes, despite 
increases in some years of about 20 per cent in the areas under cultivation. 
4. This situation is primarily due to the reduc tion in the number of staff of the outreach 
programme, which was around 900 agents in 1993 befo re falling to 500 agents in 2001, of whom 
about 100 were permanent state workers, while the rest  was made up of AIC contract staff.  However, 
it should be noted that since July 2007 the state h as made a considerable effort by recruiting over 
2,000 contract staff for overall supervision of the sector. 
                                                     
 
1 This project had previously been distributed under the symbol JOB(07)/186. WT/CFMC/W/34 
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  5. In view of the fact that the installed ginning capacity is 586,000 tonnes, all the actors involved 
are concerned about the level of production, whose rise will necessarily involve  a consequent increase 
in yields. 
II. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE 
6. In view of the reduction in the numbers of st ate personnel, AIC has, since its establishment, 
been obliged to invest its effort s in technical support for producers by placing about 75 per cent of the 
outreach staff in the cotton-producing areas, which h as led to a rise in the average national level of 
seed cotton yield, which went from 848 kg/ha in 1998 to 1,360 kg/ha in 2005-2005. 
7. The new supervisory structure put in place by th e state is not yet fully operational and does 
not concern solely the specific supervision of cotton producers. 
8. Since the aim is to achieve on a long-term basi s an average yield of the order of 1,500 kg/ha 
while at the same time raising the income of cotton farmers, there is an urgent need to strengthen the 
capacities of such personnel by putting in place a permanent structure for coordination and support 
and advisory follow-up. 
9. In order to achieve this, AIC intends to establish: 
• Two coordination and support units for cotton outreach work (one for the northern 
zone and one for the southern and central zone); 
• A management advisory service for cotton farms; 
• A technical support structure for cotton produ cers that could be adjusted on the basis 
of the progress achieved. 
 
III. OBJECTIVE 
10. To help to improve the productivity and profitability of cotton farms through the 
establishment of an advisory and outreach system  specifically for the cotton-producing areas. 
11. This specifically involves: 
• Establishing a sustained support and advisory follow-up system; 
• Ensuring the operational links between resea rch and the outreach work through the 
effective establishment of field schools and the regular holding of two-week training 
courses in close conjunction with the Regi onal Centres for Agricultural Development 
(CeRPA); 
• Coordinating the capacity-building activities of agents and producers; 
• Deploying the instruments for cotton agri cultural outreach and management advice. 
 
IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT 
12. To recruit and deploy a multidisciplinary team of three (3) coordination experts (one 
agronomist specializing in agricultural outreach and management advice as Head of Team, one 
agricultural socio-economis t and one statistician). 
13. To recruit and deploy management advisers w ith the GVPCs (one ma nagement adviser to 
supervise three to four GVPCs). 
  WT/CFMC/W/34 
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  14. To carry out a diagnostic study on the technical support needs of cotton producers on the 
basis of a representative sample of the 53 cott on-producing communes and to identify the high-
productivity zones and the zones with medium and low productivity in seed cotton. 
15. To carry out a classification of the cotton farm s and set up a monitoring body to observe such 
farms. 
16. To devise and implement a management advisory and outreach programme for the next five 
(5) years on the basis of the classification devised. 
17. To provide initial and further training for technical staff. 
18. To provide the staff with working equipment and means of transport. 
19. To ensure the operation of the programme. 
20. To devise and establish an internal evaluati on and follow-up system for the programme and 
organize the technical audits. 
V. EXPECTED RESULTS 
21. 90 per cent of the cotton fibre produced in Benin to be of superior quality. 
22. Beninese cotton producers to receive high-qua lity technical supervision and management 
advice. 
23. The average yield from supervised farms to st abilize at around 1,600 kg/ha as of the third year 
of the project. 
24. 100,000 cotton farms to be regularly supervised each year. 
25. The average production cost of cotton seed to  fall by 25 per cent as of the third year. 
 WT/CFMC/W/34 
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  VI. COST:  CFA Francs 8,560 million.  
Cost (CFA Francs million) 
No. Category 
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total 
1 Studies  30  30  30  30  30  150 
2 Purchase of vehicles (15)  0  275  0  275  0  550 
3 Purchase of motor cycles (350)  350  0  0  350  0  700 
4 Office equipment  75  75  0  100  0  250 
5 Equipment for field workers  75  0  75  0  0  150 
6 Training courses  250  250  250  250  250  1,250 
7 International experts (3 men/m onth/year)  50  50  50  50  50  250 
8 Salaries, bonuses, allowances and travel expenses 
of the management advisers (350)  280  560  560  560  560  2,520 
9 Salaries, bonuses, allowances and travel expenses 
of the staff of the coordination units (10)  40  80  80  80  80  360 
10 Study trips  10  10  10  10  10  50 
11 Contracts with NGOs  15  30  30  30  30  135 
12 Internal and external follow-up a nd evaluation  80  110  110  110  110  520 
13 Auditing  15  15  15  15  15  75 
14 General operation and coordina tion  200  350  350  350  350  1,600 
 Total  1,470  1,835  1,560  2,210  1,485  8,560 
 
VII. LENGTH OF PROJECT:  five (5) years.  
VIII.  LOCALITY:  all the cotton-producing departments of Benin.  
IX. PARTNERS INVOLVED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION 
• The L'Association Interprofessionnelle de Coton  (AIC) is responsible for ensuring 
coordination and the effective participation of all those operating in the cotton sector 
in the implementation of this project. 
 
• The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Br eeding and Fisheries through its technical 
directorates, in particular: 
 
- The Directorate of Agricultural Advice and Operational Training provides 
technical support in the operational im plementation of the project activities; 
 
- The Regional Centres for Agricultura l Development (CeRPA) which provide 
supervisory and technical support services for producers; 
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  - The National Agricultural Research Ins titute of Benin th rough its various 
centres;  thus, the CRA-CF (Cotton and Fibre Agricultural Research Centre) provides the advisory and outreach se rvices with technological packages 
resulting from its activities.  It participates in the training of technicians and in the pre-outreach activities; 
 
- The Directorate for the Promotion of Quality and Packaging, which is 
responsible for ensuring compliance with  standards so as to guarantee the 
quality of the product. 
 
• The agricultural professional organizations participate in the design and 
implementation of the outreach and advisory activities. 
 
• Five (5) NGOs specializing in management advisory services will be recruited for the 
implementation of the activities. 
 
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