Ivory Coast launches project to support cotton sector

27 Jun '14

2 min read

Mamadou Coulibaly Sangafowa, Ivory Coast’s Minister of Agriculture launched a project to support cotton sector (SCP) in the country at a ceremony in Korhogo, located in the north-central region of Ivory Coast, last week, according to an official press release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Ivory Coast (also called Côte d’Ivoire).

The project aims at improving productivity and market access, as well as supporting cooperative organizations in Poro, GBEKE, Gontougo, and Bagoue of Hambol regions.

Ultimately, the project’s objective is to develop financing mechanisms to facilitate farmers’ access to technologies and more efficient extension services, and the use of animal traction for cotton with 20,000 oxen, said Minister Mamadou Sangafowa.

The Minister specified that the SCP also includes the establishment of a program of rehabilitation and maintenance of roads in the cotton and cashew producing regions.

Overall, the SCP would help consolidate the recovery of the cotton industry in Ivory Coast, where production is likely to increase to 440,000 tons from last year’s output of 300,000 tons.

The SCP is a variation of the National Agricultural Investment Program (NAIP). It follows funding agreements signed between the Ivorian Government and World Bank on the one hand, and convention resource allocation under the C2D between the Ivorian authorities and the French Development Agency (AFD) on the other.

Besides cotton, the project targets cocoa, rubber, palm oil, and cashew—the sectors that have been identified as potential sources of national growth in general, and in particular of agricultural GDP.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India