RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/704 
22 November 2007 
 
 (07-5139) 
 Original:   French 
  
COTTON DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE – COTTON PROPONENTS' 
PRIORITY AREAS FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION 
FOR COTTON SECTOR DEVELOPMENT 
 
Communication from Mali
 
 
 
 The contents of this document are circulated at the request of the delegation of Mali.  
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I. NEEDS OF THE COTTON SECTOR IN MALI 
A. I
NTRODUCTION  
1. Mali is one of the leading cotton-growing c ountries in Africa with a total cotton fibre 
production of 175,796 tonnes for the 200 6/2007 season.  The sector is essential to Mali's economy:  as 
its main export until 2000, it provided direct or indi rect employment to three million of the country's 
total population of 12.7 million. 
2. The cotton sector is the backbone of the Malian economy and provides the country with a 
unique base in the Sahelian region.  As the main e xport crop, cotton covers a cultivated area of some 
550,000 hectares.  The cotton zone occupies 150,000 s quare kilometres, located chiefly south of the 
Niger river:  the Sikasso region, part of the Ségou and Koulikoro regions, and more recently, the Kita 
zone in the west.  Approximately one quarter of the country's population lives in the cotton-growing 
zone, and alongside cotton, there has been an intens ive development of food crop farming as well as a 
number of peripheral activities (transportati on, organization of producers, etc.). 
3. In Mali, the cotton sector is managed by the CMDT ( Compagnie Malienne pour le 
Développement des Textiles – Malian Textile Development Company) , a semi-public company with a 
capital of CFAF 16 billion. 
B. EVOLUTION OF SEED COTTON PRODUCTION FROM 2003/2004  TO 2007/2008 
4. Seed cotton production and the quantity and pr ice of marketable seed developed as follows 
between 2004/2005 and 2007/2008: 
Season Seed cotton production (T) Total quantity of fibre (T) 
2003/2004 600,708 259,236 
2004/2005 589,780 239,631 
2005/2006 534,143 223,388 
2006/2007 414,965 175,796 
2007/2008* 247,584 104,162 WT/L/704 
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5. The cotton sector in Mali is currently undergoing a major crisis which, over the years, is 
becoming structural owing to the international envi ronment to which it is directly exposed, and for 
environmental and structural reasons. 
6. As in the other countries of the franc area, the cotton sector in Mali is affected by the fall in 
world cotton prices and by the distortions caused by  certain types of subsidies granted by some 
developed countries to their producers whose produc ts compete directly with ours on the world 
market. 
7. It was precisely to tackle this blatant injusti ce that Mali, together with Burkina Faso, Benin 
and Chad, launched the sectoral initiative for the elim ination of the subsidies.  This bold step has 
helped to draw the world's attention to the precari ous situation of the rural African populations whose 
income depends largely on cotton. 
8. The rise in the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar has also penalized our exports and 
had a negative impact on our competitiveness. 
9. Mali exports more than 97 per cent of its produc tion, which means that it is directly exposed 
to international market fluctuations without being able to regulate its domestic market, owing to the 
crisis affecting the textile industries which, for the most part, have ground to a halt in the face of 
competition from low cost products and counterfeit ve rsions of their own pr oducts made in Asia. 
C. O
VERVIEW OF NEEDS  
10. In the agricultural area, there h as been a decline in productivity ov er the past few years.  The 
same being true for most of the countries of th e subregion, the African Cotton Association (ACA) 
held a seminar on the subject, one year after organi zing another seminar to deal with the problems of 
input supply for cotton producers. 
11. In addition to actual production, the entire industr y, at different stages, is interested in 
obtaining aid to revitalize the sector in order to ensu re its survival and make it more competitive in the 
years to come, whatever reforms may be introduced. 
12. These needs are summarized in the table below: 
 
Problems Needs Beneficiaries Participants Emerging 
countries to be 
requested 
Soil fertility Research 
assistance Producers - Research 
- CMDT - Brazil 
- China 
- India 
Adaptability of seeds Resistant seeds Producers - CMDT 
- Research 
- Private Sector 
for supply of delinted seed - India (Indian 
experience with 
small farmers) 
- China - Brazil 
(experience with semi-arid 
zones) 
Climatic 
disturbances Cotton varieties 
and appropriate Producers - CMDT 
- Research - Brazil  WT/L/704 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Problems Needs Beneficiaries Participants Emerging 
countries to be 
requested 
farming techniques 
High cost of inputs and their efficiency - Lower-cost 
fertilizers, 
- Optimization 
of soil 
fertilization - Producers 
- Input suppliers 
(private 
sector) - Malian 
Government 
- Producers 
- CMDT (private 
sector) - Countries 
producing fertilizers 
- Countries that 
have experienced the same problems or with similar farming systems 
Difficult 
harvesting of seed 
cotton - Improvement 
of rural dirt 
roads 
- Modernization 
of transport system 
- Financing - CMDT 
- Transport 
operator (private sector) - CMDT 
- Private 
transport operators - Brazil 
- China 
- India  
Difficulties and 
lack of resources 
for upgrading the ginning process, energy plants and handling equipment - Maintenance 
of industrial 
facilities 
- diversification 
of spare parts supply 
- modernization 
of equipment - CMDT - CMDT 
- Spare parts and 
equipment suppliers (private sector) - Brazil 
(manufacturer 
of ginning equipment and factories) 
- China (supply 
of spare parts) 
Obsolescence of 
consumables 
storage and supply system - Improvement 
of storage 
system 
- Supply of 
equipment 
- Assistance 
with 
installation - CMDT - CMDT - Countries 
offering similar 
logistics and storage systems WT/L/704 
Page 4  
 
  Problems Needs Beneficiaries Participants Emerging 
countries to be 
requested 
Obsolescence of fleet for transportation of 
fibre to ports 
(average 1,200 km.) - Modernization 
of the transport fleet 
- Reduction in 
the purchase cost of vehicles 
- Concessional 
financing - Private 
transport operators 
- CMDT - Private sector - Countries that   
manufacture suitable trucks at 
reduced cost 
Need to 
modernize the 
CMDT 
information system - Computer 
equipment 
and specific 
software - CMDT - CMDT - Interested 
countries 
Negligible processing of cotton, lack of value added - Support for 
spinning mills and textiles industries 
- Investment 
-
 Subcontracting (intermediate 
processing) 
- Relocation - Private sector 
- CMDT - Private sector - Emerging 
countries with strong textile industries 
Trouble marketing fibre on the international market - Increased 
support for the sectoral initiative of the C4 to 
eliminate 
subsidies that create distortions on the world market 
- Preferential 
agreements for the sale of cotton - CMDT 
 - CMDT - Countries with 
high cotton consumption (importation) 
- China, and to a 
lesser extent 
India 
Reform of the cotton sector - Partnership 
(profit-sharing) in 
whatever 
proposals are made in this respect - Government 
of Mali 
- CMDT - Government of 
Mali - Emerging 
countries that are interested in this 
process 
- China - India - Brazil 
 
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