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Your farm subsidies are strangling us (Friday, July 11, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- AMADOU TOUMANI TOURÉ and BLAISE COMPAORÉ, New York Times:
After too many years of Africa's being pushed to the global background,
it's heartening to see the world's attention being focused on our
continent. International support both financial and otherwise is certainly
needed to help combat the severe poverty and disease gripping our nations.
But first and foremost, Africa needs to be allowed to take its destiny into
its own hands. Only self-reliance and economic growth and development will
allow Africa to become a full member of the world community.
With the creation of the New Economic Partnership for African Development
in 2001, African leaders have committed themselves to following the
principles of good governance and a market economy. Nothing is more central
to this goal than participating in world trade. As the presidents of two of
Africa's least developed countries Burkina Faso and Mali we are eager to
participate in the multilateral trading system and to take on its rights
and obligations.
Cotton is our ticket into the world market. Its production is crucial to
economic development in West and Central Africa, as well as to the
livelihoods of millions of people there. Cotton accounts for up to 40
percent of export revenues and 10 percent of gross domestic product in our
two countries, as well as in Benin and Chad. More than that, cotton is of
paramount importance to the social infrastructure of Africa, as well as to
the maintenance of its rural areas.
This vital economic sector in our countries is seriously threatened by
agricultural subsidies granted by rich countries to their cotton producers.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee, cotton subsidies
amounted to about $5.8 billion in the production year of 2001 to 2002,
nearly equal the amount of cotton trade for this same period. Such
subsidies lead to worldwide overproduction and distort cotton prices,
depriving poor African countries of their only comparative advantage in
international trade.
Not only is cotton crucial to our economies, it is the sole agricultural
product for our countries to trade. Although African cotton is of the
highest quality, our production costs are about 50 percent lower than in
developed countries even though we rely on manual labor. In wealthier
countries, by contrast, lower-quality cotton is produced on large
mechanized farms, generating little employment and having a questionable
impact on the environment. Cotton there could be replaced by other, more
valuable crops.
In the period from 2001 to 2002, America's 25,000 cotton farmers received
more in subsidies some $3 billion than the entire economic output of
Burkina Faso, where two million people depend on cotton. Further, United
States subsidies are concentrated on just 10 percent of its cotton farmers.
Thus, the payments to about 2,500 relatively well-off farmers has the
unintended but nevertheless real effect of impoverishing some 10 million
rural poor people in West and Central Africa.
Something has to be done. Along with the countries of Benin and Chad, we
have submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organization which is meeting
in Cancún, Mexico, in September to discuss agricultural issues that calls
for an end to unfair subsidies granted by developed countries to their
cotton producers. As an interim measure, we have also proposed that
least-developed countries be granted financial compensation for lost export
revenues that are due to those subsidies.
Our demand is simple: apply free trade rules not only to those products
that are of interest to the rich and powerful, but also to those products
where poor countries have a proven comparative advantage. We know that the
world will not ignore our plea for a fair playing field. The World Trade
Organization has said it is committed to addressing the problems of
developing countries. The United States has convinced us that a free market
economy provides the best opportunities for all members of the world
community. Let us translate these principles into deeds at Cancún.
Amadou Toumani Touré and Blaise Compaoré are the presidents, respectively,
of Mali and Burkina Faso.
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