APA-Bamako (Mali) Mali has lost its preeminent position as Africa’s topmost producer of cotton.
The announcement was made recently during a meeting of the Regional Program for Integrated Cotton Production in Africa (PR-PICA), held last week in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Mali lost its position to Benin last year.
The country has also been beaten to second place by Burkina Faso. This situation can be explained by the lean agricultural season of 2022/2023.
This year, Mali has only produced 390,000 tons of cotton, less than half of last year. This figure relegates it to third place among the continent’s producers of the so-called white gold.
Benin in first place generated 587,000 tons, followed by Burkina Faso. The last agricultural season in Mali did not live up to expectation. Some farmers were not even able to cultivate because of the high cost of inputs, partly due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Insecurity has considerably contributed to a significant decrease in cultivated areas. Some have also denounced the abusive use of pesticides and the invasion of pests.
As a result, Benin took first place in Africa from Mali with a cotton production of 700,000 tons, compared to 390,000 tons for Mali, which ranked third, and Burkina Faso second with 411,000 tons of cotton, according to the Regional Program for Integrated Cotton Production in Africa (PR-PICA).
The decline in cotton production in Africa is mainly linked to the difficulty in obtaining agricultural inputs and the appearance of a new pest that attacks cotton plants
In Mali, cotton growers fear that if corrective measures are not taken, the upcoming 2023-2024 season will be negatively affected by delays in the delivery of agricultural inputs, as well as the occurrence of other logistical problems.
MD/ha/fss/as/APA