The Limits of Cotton: White Gold Shows its Dark Side in Benin

One surprise theme of the star-studded resurgence of global concern about Africa has been cotton farming, an industry on which over 15 million Africans depend on for their livelihoods. Oxfam, a UK-based charity and development organization, has led an effective campaign to bring cotton subsidies in rich countries to the forefront of the debate on extreme poverty in Africa.

Eliminating the billions of dollars in handouts to some 25,000 American cotton growers would benefit countries in West and Central Africa that depend heavily on exporting the crop. However, the belief that cotton is a panacea for rural Africans ignores a huge problem: in the regions where the crop is grown, the land is being destroyed.

Leif Brottem is a Foreign Policy In Focus scholar (online at http://www.fpif.org). He wrote this article following two years of grassroots conservation work with local people in the most productive agricultural district of Benin.

See new article online at:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/160

With printer-friendly pdf version at:
http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/PR0507cotton.pdf