Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi has called on the U.S. Congress to remove subsidies on cotton production from the 2007 farm bill (passed by the House of Representatives July 27, now before the Senate), saying the subsidies impoverished millions of African farmers.
A statement from the Benin government said Yayi had written to U.S. legislators to argue subsidies were depressing international cotton prices, forcing African farmers into debt.
Cotton accounts for 60 percent of exports from Benin, which acts as the spokesman for Africa's cotton growers. In sub-Saharan Africa's main producers - Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Benin- nearly 60 percent of the population relies on cotton for its livelihood.
"These subsidies represent an injustice for poor countries and deny them equal access to world markets," said the letter. "With a view to ending these practices which distort the international cotton trade and stop the poorest countries from seizing the opportunities offered by world trade, I invite the speaker and members of the American Congress who will examine the farm bill to remove any clauses which disrupt free trade."
The 2007 farm bill will set subsidies in the U.S. agricultural sector for the next five years, but a draft version by the House Agriculture Committee has hit opposition from the White House which says it misses a chance to reform the sector.
Yayi, a former banker elected last year on an anti-graft mandate, has promised to revitalise Benin's economy, including the cotton sector. His government last month raised the mandatory farmgate cotton price to 180 CFA francs ($0.38) per kg for top quality cotton, a 10 CFA franc increase from the previous year.
Despite Benin's 600,000 tons production capacity, cotton output has generally declined in recent years due to unfavourable rainfall and irregular input distribution. It reached 250,000 tons last season.
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