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End cotton subsidies pleads Africa
03 Dec '05
2 min read
Ahead of the important WTO trade meet in Hong Kong, Agriculture Ministers of Benin, Senegal and Guinea have urged rich nations to drop export subsidies on cotton.
Benin Agriculture Minister Fatiou Aplogan in a telling indictment said, "There is a silent tsunami going on which is going to destroy our populations in the next two years if nothing is done."
He spoke at the conference organized by France's most powerful farm union in Paris, the FNSEA stating that small farmers must be heard.
He further called for setting up of an emergency fund to tide over the losses due to decline in the cotton prices on the world market.
However, French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde concurred that subsidies to US farmers should go as they spell disaster to African economy, but differed on an emergency fund contending it will not solve the problem at its roots.
Jean-Paul Sarr, Senegal Agriculture Minister questioned whether African countries could have a say in the WTO negotiations as they accounted for merely two per cent of world trade.
Meanwhile, world's largest exporter, the United States says it will remove farm subsidies in 2010, and for starter, it will reduce domestic subsidies by 60 percent while completely removing it over a period. At the same time, it has also promised to cut import duties by 55 to 90 percent.
Benin Agriculture Minister Fatiou Aplogan in a telling indictment said, "There is a silent tsunami going on which is going to destroy our populations in the next two years if nothing is done."
He spoke at the conference organized by France's most powerful farm union in Paris, the FNSEA stating that small farmers must be heard.
He further called for setting up of an emergency fund to tide over the losses due to decline in the cotton prices on the world market.
However, French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde concurred that subsidies to US farmers should go as they spell disaster to African economy, but differed on an emergency fund contending it will not solve the problem at its roots.
Jean-Paul Sarr, Senegal Agriculture Minister questioned whether African countries could have a say in the WTO negotiations as they accounted for merely two per cent of world trade.
Meanwhile, world's largest exporter, the United States says it will remove farm subsidies in 2010, and for starter, it will reduce domestic subsidies by 60 percent while completely removing it over a period. At the same time, it has also promised to cut import duties by 55 to 90 percent.
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