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US farmers says cotton subsidies hurting Africans

Posted on: Saturday, 15 July 2006, 11:42 CDT

By Tiemoko Diallo

BAMAKO (Reuters) - A delegation of U.S. cotton farmers visiting West Africa said Washington's multi-billion dollar subsidies to its cotton industry were worsening hardship in the world's poorest region.

During a trip to Mali, West Africa's largest cotton producer, the group of farmers from California, Illinois, Vermont and Kansas witnessed conditions in one of the world' poorest countries.

Cotton provides a livelihood for nearly a third of Mali's 10 million inhabitants. The majority of people in the arid, landlocked country survive on less than a dollar a day.

"Subventions are causing problems to farmers in Mali, we have realized on the ground. Now we have the right words to spread that message," farmer Jim French told a news conference organized by the UK-based charity Oxfam.

"More than words, we will take back faces."

French said that he would work with non-governmental organizations, producers groups and religious organizations to seek a fairer trade system.

The United States is the world's biggest exporter of cotton and its producers received about $4.2 billion in government subsidies during 2004-05. West Africa's cotton producers say this depresses world prices and ruins their economies.

Francois Traore, president of the cotton growers association in neighboring Burkina Faso, noted that while there were only 25,000 cotton growers in the United States, there were between 15 and 20 million people in Africa dependent on the crop.

"We want the African farmer to be able to live from his work. The American farmer also lives from his work, but to the detriment of others," he said.

America's huge cotton subsidies have repeatedly been a stumbling block in world talks to cut trade-distorting farm tariffs, with the so-called C5 West African countries -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Senegal -- lobbying for a separate deal on cotton.

Malian trade unionist Soloba Mady Keita said local farmers only wanted respect for international trading rules.

"If there are no more subsidies in the market, then we will be able to play our hand because with our low production costs we are certain to sell cotton," he said.

Source: REUTERS

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