WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CFMC/W/16 
18 April 2008 
 
 (08-1827) 
 Original:   French 
  
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Cotton Projects
1 
 
Communication from Côte d'Ivoire 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 22 February 2006, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Côte d'Ivoire.  
_______________ 
 
PROJECT TITLE:  SUPPORT FOR PRODUCERS 
 
 
A. 
CONTEXT AND JUSTIFICATION  
1. More than 160,000 producers are directly involved in cotton farming, which provides a 
livelihood for approximately 2,000,000 people. 
2. It is this entire population which, overnight, b ecame a hostage to the armed conflict that has 
been going on since 19 September 2002.  Indeed, sin ce that date, these people have completely lost 
their bearings.  And yet they continue cultivating cotton for their day-to-day survival while awaiting 
the end of the occupation of their territory by th e rebels, because they have nothing left to lose. 
3. One thing that all of the partners concerned agree on, is that the state of the cotton sector is 
disastrous.  Not only are there still considerable paym ent arrears, but the gaping shortage of cash in 
the sector is causing the whole industry to go down the drain.  As a result, there are enormous 
problems in the supply of inputs that are threatening the very existence of seed cotton production activities.  We must therefore prepare ourselves for th e aftermath of the crisis through vigorous efforts 
to rehabilitate the sector and ensure its proper recovery .  It is with this in mind that the project, with 
its different components, was designed. 
B. 
COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT  
(a) Settlement of the payment arrears on inputs; 
(b) Introduction of a selection of productive seed s and implementation of a sustainable 
seed production policy; 
(c) Capacity-building in the umbrella agencies and their cooperatives; 
                                                      
1 This project was distributed to the Development Community by e-mail on 16 March 2006 and 
circulated at the 7th Round of the DGCFMC. WT/CFMC/W/16 
Page 2  
 
  (d) Assistance to producers and cotton companies in setting up an input supply system 
for producers. 
C. 
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES  
(i) Payment arrears linked to inputs 
4. The problems of inputs began with the armed conf lict, which led to the disappearance of the 
entire stock of inputs in the different warehou ses belonging both to the producers and the cotton 
companies.  The subsequent obstacles to the m ovement of goods and persons made it difficult to 
transport inputs to the different sites, causing cons iderable disruptions for producers, who often had to 
exchange their late input deliveries against f ood to ensure the survival of their families. 
5. Matters were made worse by the appearance of "pisteurs" (itinerant buyers), who harass the 
producers until they are willing to sell off their cott on for cash at cut rate prices in circumstances 
complicated by the absence of banks.  Moreover, there are numerous sources of supply of inputs but only one collection point in the hands of the cotton co mpanies.  There are cases of failure to collect 
levies for inputs provided by structures other than the cotton companies.  Thus, the project, taking account of the arrears in their entirety, offers th e opportunity for the sector to make a fresh start. 
(ii) Seed availability 
6. The CNRA research station was looted and destroyed.  The purpose of this part of the project 
is to ensure the supply of quality seed to all of  the cotton companies with a view to satisfying 
production objectives each year.  This involves: 
(a) ensuring variability; 
(b) selecting productive varieties; 
(c) creating G0 seed;  and 
(d) obtaining G1, G2 and G3 progeny from G0. 
7. Indeed, the CNRA produces basic G0 and G3 seed at  the research station and on its seed farm 
and the cotton companies for the subseque nt farming stages.  The aim is to: 
(a) create and select suitable productive varieties that are fusariosis- and cotton flea 
beetle-tolerant (conventional cotton/glandless cotton/coloured fibre cotton); 
(b) develop strategies to combat cotton pests (integrated management/threshold 
treatment, etc.); 
(c) develop technical production itineraries suite d to the different production zones; 
(d) determine relationships between agro- ecological factors and the technological 
characteristics of the fibre and the cotton on the one hand, and the seed on the other; 
(e) improve the productivity of the various actor s in the sector through capacity-building 
(training);  and 
(f) create a reliable cotton sector data bank in Côte d'Ivoire.  WT/CFMC/W/16 
 Page 3 
 
 
  8. The implementation of this scientific and t echnical support is made up of six elements: 
(a) creation of productive varieties that meet development needs and the demands of the 
fibre and seed market; 
(b) development of integrated management stra tegies to combat pests and deal with the 
risk of insecticides losing their efficiency; 
(c) optimization of cotton-based farming systems; 
(d) characterization of cotton-based farming systems; 
(e) assistance, counselling, and capacity -building of partners;  and 
(f) socioeconomic observatory for the analys is of cotton-based production systems. 
9. The estimated cost is CFAF 345,793,140.  See table 2 for details. 
(iii) Capacity-building 
10. This involves educating producers in good ag ricultural practices, taking advantage of the 
results of the research done so far.  It also involves improving the umbrella agencies so that the member OPAs (agricultural producers organizations ) can, in their turn, be better organized.  The 
activities consist of: 
(a) training in organization of the umbrella agencies; 
(b) training in good practices in order to reduce production costs. 
11. The cost of these different training sessions is estimated at CFAF 150 million. 
(iv) Creation of a single input supply structure 
12. The armed conflict highlighted many flaws in the input supply system.  Far from being an 
advantage, the large number of sources of supply has shown its limits, with certain cotton companies 
often refusing to levy the amounts needed to reimburse the input credits.  It is therefore essential that 
producers and cotton companies get together and, with  the support of the project, create a single input 
supply structure.  The advantages of such a system are: 
(a) an autonomous structure operating freely and without the influence of either the 
producers or the ginners; 
(b) timely supply of inputs for producers; 
(c) recovery of credit by the ginners;  and 
(d) control of the input supply circuit up to the recovery of the credits provided. 
13. The cost of the study and the practical measures required for the creation of this single 
structure is estimated at approximately CFAF 50 million. WT/CFMC/W/16 
Page 4  
 
  (v) Accompanying measures 
14. The idea is to help certain umbrella agencies to reconstitute all or some of the supply of goods 
destroyed during the armed conflict.  Specific support  is also requested for a feasibility study of the 
transfer of the cotton company's support to producers through the umbrella agencies. 
D. 
IMPLEMENTATION  
15. The project could be piloted by INTERCO TON, which will request support from the 
specialized structures in implementing the different components. 
E. IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE  
16. The "input credit arrears", "capacity-buildin g", and "creation of a single structure" 
components could be implemented over a period of  12 months, while the seed production component 
could be spread over two years. 
F. COSTS  
17. The estimated costs for year one break down as follows: 
 
• Input credit arrears:    CFAF 4,406,180,133 
• Availability of seed: CFAF 345,793,140 
• Training: CFAF 150,000,000 
• Accompanying measures: CFAF 269,600,390 
• Single structure: CFAF             50,000,000  
  
 TOTAL    CFAF 5,221,573,663  
   WT/CFMC/W/16
 Page 5TABLE 1  
 
SUMMARY TABLE OF THE SITUATION OF THE UMBRELLA AGENCIES  
  
HEADINGS 
STRUCTURES INPUT ARREARS TRAINING SUPPORT 
TRANSFER 
(STUDIES) 
 ACCOMPANYING  
MEASURES TOTAL 
UCAPCI NC* 30,300,000 - -  30,300,000 
UCEACI  420,544,659 26,400,000 - -  446,944,659 
UCODACI  704,632,978 19,450,000 - 43,200,000  767,282,978 
UCOOPAG-CI  319,086, 610 13,850,000 6,500,000 -  339,436,610 
UIRECOOPAG  2,961,915 ,886 10,000,000 - 226,400,390  3,198,316,276 
URECOS-CI NC* 50,000,000 - -  50,000,000 
 
TOTAL: 
   
4,406,180,133  
150,000,000  
6,500,000  
269,600,390   
           4,832,280,523   
 
    NC*:  Not communicated. WT/CFMC/W/16 
Page 6  
  TABLE 2
 
 
FINANCIAL COST OF SUPPORT FOR SEED RESEARCH  
  
No. COMPONENTS ELEMENTS COST IN CFAF 
1. Reconstitution and 
management of the genetic 
resources of the cotton plant; 
2. creation and selection of 
conventional varieties that are 
fusariosis- and virescence-
tolerant; 
3. creation and selection of 
glandless variet ies that are 
resistant to cotton flea beetle; 1. Development of productive varieties that meet 
development needs and the demands of the 
fibre and seed market. 
4. creation and selection of 
coloured fibre cotton varieties 
with improved yield. 82,271,800 
1. Monitoring of the evolution of 
entomofauna and its 
economic impact; 
2. introduction of methods to 
combat diseases and pests; 
3. monitoring of loss of 
sensitivity of insects, 
development of resistance 
management and prevention 
strategies; 
4. quality control of commercial 
pesticides; 2. Development of a strategy for the integrated 
management of pests and of the risk of loss of 
efficiency of insecticides. 
5. assessment of the 
unintentional environmental 
impact of pesticides. 107,356,095 
1. Evolution of self-propagating 
flora in cotton-based farming 
systems; 
2. control of self-propagating 
flora in cotton-based farming 
systems; 
3. study of mineral nutrition and 
fertilization; 
4. development of technical 
itineraries suited to the 
different agro-ecological 
regions; 3. Optimization of cotton-based farming systems. 
5. development of yield 
forecasting methods. 35,720,685 
1. Study of the impact of agro-
ecological factors on the 
quality of seed cotton; 
2. study of the physical and 
chemical characteristics of 
cotton seed; 
3. study of the characteristics of 
cotton fibre and yarn; 4. Technological characterization of seed cotton 
quality. 
4. monitoring of the quality of 
seed cotton ginning. 53,191,215 
  WT/CFMC/W/16 
 Page 7 
 
 
  No. COMPONENTS ELEMENTS COST IN CFAF 
1. Training in threshold 
treatments; 
2. training in good agricultural 
practices; 
3. dissemination of teaching 
materials and decision-
making tools; 5. Advisory assistance and capacity-building of 
partners. 
4. workshops, information and 
discussion meetings. 36,486,450 
1. Creation and operation of an 
observatory; 
2. diagnostic survey of farming 
practices in cotton-based 
production systems; 6. Observatory for the socio-economic analysis of 
cotton-based production systems. 3. financial and economic 
analysis of technological 
innovations in cotton-based 
production systems. 25,766,895 
TOTAL COST  
345,793,140 
 
 
 
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