Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa: Learning from Reform Experience

by David Tschirley (Editor), Colin Poulton (Editor), Patrick Labaste (Editor)

Overview

Cotton is a rare economic success story in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the continent's share of the world's agricultural trade fell by about half from 1980 to 2005, its share of world cotton exports more than doubled. Cotton is a major source of foreign exchange earnings in more than 15 countries of the continent and is a crucial source of income for millions of rural people. 'Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa' provides an in-depth comparative analysis of the outcomes of the reforms that have been implemented in Sub-Saharan cotton sectors and of the linkages between sector organization and performance. The book highlights challenges facing cotton sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrates how reform in the sectors is the key to sustaining growth, improving competitiveness and reducing rural poverty. It provides national and regional policy makers with a number of recommendations based upon the observable lessons of past reform programs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821377703
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	03/06/2009
Series:	Agriculture and Food Series
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 2.30(d)

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Abbreviations xix

Executive Summary xxiii

Section I Introduction and Market Context

1 Introduction David Tschirley 3

2 Market Context John Baffes Gerald Estur 11

The Supply Side: Expanding Production and Exports 11

The Demand Side: Changing Focus of Demand and Competition with Synthetic Fibers 14

Declining and Volatile World Prices for Lint 14

External Factors Affecting World Lint Prices 16

Increasingly Stringent Demand for Quality Fiber 21

Lint Marketing Strategies: The Role of the International Cotton Merchant 24

Valorization of By-Products: Markets for Cottonseed Oil and Cake 26

Section II Historical Background and Conceptual Approach

3 Historical Background and Recent Institutional Evolution of African Cotton Sectors Nicolas Gergely Colin Poulton 31

West and Central Africa 31

East and Southern Africa 38

4 A Typology of African Cotton Sectors Colin Poulton David Tschirley 45

Competition and Coordination 46

Dynamic Considerations 49

Predicted Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Sector Types 51

Conceptualization of the Links between Cotton Sector Organization and Performance 54

Section III Comparative Analysis: Core Activities and Service Delivery

5 Pricing Systems and Prices Paid to Growers John Baffes David Tschirley Nicolas Gergely 65

Pricing Mechanisms in WCA 66

Pricing Mechanisms in ESA 68

Comparing Pricing Performance at the Farmer Level 68

Conclusions 71

6 Input Credit and Extension David Tschirley 73

Mali and Cameroon: Government Monopolies that Show Similar Strengths and Weaknesses 74

Local Monopolies: Vastly Differing Histories Complicate ComparativeAssessment in Mozambique and Burkina Faso 75

Competitive Sectors: Tanzania and Uganda Struggle and Take Very Different Paths to Ensure Input Supply, Extension, and Quality 76

Concentrated, Market-Based Sectors: Zimbabwe and Zambia Perform Well on Input Credit and Extension, but Face Instability 77

Conclusions 81

7 Quality Control Gerald Estur Colin Poulton David Tschirley 87

Impact of Quality on Export Prices 90

Impact of Sector Organization on Quality 92

Conclusions 96

8 Valorization of Seed Cotton By-Products Nicolas Gergely Colin Poulton 97

Structure and Organization of Oil Sectors 97

Performance of Oil Sectors, Seed Pricing, and Returns to Farmers 101

Conclusions 103

9 Cotton Research Duncan Boughton Colin Poulton 105

Cotton Research Organization and Performance 106

Articulating Research Demand: Insights from the Typology? 108

Conclusions 111

Section IV Comparative Analysis: Outcomes

10 Yields and Returns to Farmers Colin Poulton Patrick Labaste Duncan Boughton 117

Cotton Yields 117

Returns to Farmers 122

Conclusions 131

Annex A10. Methodology for Focus Group Discussion on Farmer Types 134

11 Cost Efficiency of Companies, Overall Sector Competitiveness, and Macro Impact Nicolas Gergely 139

Company Cost Efficiency 140

Overall Competitiveness 145

Macro Impacts 147

12 Conclusions Patrick Labaste Colin Poulton David Tschirley 153

Summary of Expected and Realized Performance across Key Indicators 154

Ways Forward for African Cotton: Cross-Cutting Challenges 164

Ways Forward for Particular Sector Types 174

Appendix A Statistical Tables 181

Notes 205

Bibliography 213

Index 219