Cotton in West and Central Africa: Adapting a Successful Model to New Realities

THE FILIÈRE INTEGRÉE—AN AFRICAN SUCCESS STORY: Cotton production is an important smallholder export crop for Africa in general and for Francophone WCA in particular. From independence to the mid-1990s, the filière integrée approach to cotton sector organization in Francophone WCA was cited in the development literature as a success story. The defining characteristic of the filière integrée is the singlechannel relationship between producers and a monopoly cotton company that vertically integrates the diverse functions associated with cotton production, processing, and exporting. The vertical integration facilitates the task of providing input credit and encourages investments in research and extension services needed to foster intensive cropping practices and high yields. At independence, the vertically integrated structures introduced by the French were maintained relatively intact, with the only change occurring in the 1970s through a switch from a monopoly managed by the Compagnie française pour le développement des fibres textiles (CFDT) to national monopolies managed by a public-private partnership between the CFDT (currently operating as Geocoton) and each national government, with the latter holding the majority shares. This approach successfully:  provided access to extension services, inputs, and credit (with high repayment rates) for a broad range of farmers; the result was generalized increases in yields and incomes that contributed to poverty reduction;  helped create farmer organizations and build their capacity;  guaranteed an output market and stable cotton prices, hence reliable incomes for farmers;  developed effective technical packages through regional sharing of research;  created jobs both upstream (input supply and extension) and downstream (ginning);  supplied tax revenues to support national budgets; and, in some cases  invested in economic and social infrastructure in the cotton producing zones. The performance was impressive, with yields quadrupling or quintupling from the 1950s through the This Policy Brief introduces a series of synthesis papers on the relationship between cotton sector structure and performance, drawing on recent studies of cotton sectors across Africa. The series is targeted at the wide range of stakeholders involved in cotton sector reforms in West and Central Africa (WCA). This introductory brief focuses on the cotton sector structural model most prevalent in WCA—the ‘filière integrée’. The brief reviews the early successes of the ‘filière integrée’ approach and the more recent history of crisis and reforms. This sets the stage for comparisons between the ‘filière integrée’ system of WCA and other systems that are described in subsequent briefs. WACIP/MSU POLICY BRIEFS http://www.aec.msu.edu/fs2/cotton/index.htm#c