We need to find urgent solution to cotton issue - AProCA

12 Dec '11

3 min read

The Doha Round has ten years. Ten years now that what was supposed to make international trade a development tool for all the members of the World Trade Organization and more specifically the poor countries, sounds like a mirage. Ten years
Meetings come one after another and that discussions tall. Ten years of missed appointment and betrayed hopes.

- Gathered in General Assembly December 6, 2011 in Banjul, Republic of the Gambia,
- Recognizing the predominant place of cotton in the economies of cotton-producing countries,
- Recognizing the adverse effects of the subsidies granted by rich countries to their producers in the global cotton market, adversely affecting the development of the African cotton sector and their contribution to national economies,
- Recognizing the bottlenecks in international trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Doha Round,

We, cotton producers, grouped in the Association of African Cotton Producers (AProCA), are launching urgent appeal to governments and all stakeholders involved in international trade negotiations to a swift conclusion of the Doha Round.

We, cotton producers:
1. Demand an immediate and to all forms of cotton subsidies defined under WTO,
Having a distorting effect on the world market;
2. Reaffirm our commitments in Hong Kong engagements as the basis for any
Settlement on the cotton issue;
3. Declare that given the impact of cotton in the economies of African cotton producing countries, it is important that the cotton issue be given priority in response to the impact of the global financial crisis on African economies. For us African countries, more than ever, cotton is part of the solutions;
4. Demand that whatever the outcome of Doha Round, the cotton issue be the subject of a settlement without delay;
5. Reaffirm our full support to the Sectoral Initiative on Cotton and to C4
6. Invite all the developing countries to mobilization, unity and solidarity for a final settlement of the Doha Round that preserves and strengthens the efforts in poor countries.

Cotton is our main source of income. As a crop system, it has a direct ripple effect on other agricultural production and a positive impact on food security. The lives of millions of people depend on it.

The Association of African Cotton Producers was created on December 22, 2004 in Cotonou (Benin). Confronted by the crisis in the cotton sector which affects approximately 20 million people in West and Central Africa, cotton producers of twelve west and central African countries (Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Chad, Togo) met on December 21 and 22 in 2004 to analyze the crisis which affects the sector and to define together mobilization, positioning and actions' strategies to enable them to defend their interests.

The Association of African Cotton Producers