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Cotton production is in free fall in Mali. The former African fiber champion is expected to harvest a quarter of what he produced last year. The poor textile economy associated with Covid-19 is not the only reason.
It will be one of the worst cotton crops in Mali’s history. Less than 80,000 tons of fiber compared to nearly 300,000 tons last year. The Covid-19 epidemic that has paralyzed the global textile industry is the origin of this decline, but other African countries are not experiencing such a jump in their cotton production: less than 75%.
Sudden fall in producer prices
“In Mali, there has been an accumulation of errors in decisions and their timing,” sums up George Toby, vice chairman of CICCA, the International Committee for Cooperation between Cotton Associations. The Malian public company that manages the cotton sector, CMDT (Malian Company for Development of Textiles), still had a third of production in 2019 on its hands when Covid-19 blocked everything.
Cotton strike
“Already in May, after a 30% drop in international prices, CMDT announces to the producers a corresponding sudden drop in the price per capita. Kilo of seed cotton to the producer, 200 CFA francs against 275, the very good price for the year. previous ”, explains cotton expert Gerald Estur. No more pumping into the support fund that the producer organizations have, it is empty. Second brutal blow, the fertilizer supplement is removed. Many manufacturers then decide to strike in cotton.
The support fund is empty
The representatives at the head of producer organizations are renewed this year. “This election climate has radicalized dissatisfaction,” said Baba Berthé, CEO of CMDT. Unlike other West African states, the Malian authorities have also been slow to respond to improving the price per capita. Kilos of cotton, he emphasizes. When the 50 CFA franc bonus was announced in the first days of June, the rain stopped. “It’s too late to sow cotton.
Vital cotton for the budget
Farmers will certainly produce more millet, sorghum and maize this year, but cotton accounts for 12% of Mali’s budget revenue. The prospects for a harvest four times lower than last year are bleak as the country is in transition and can no longer sell its livestock in neighboring ECOWAS countries.
The very weakened CMDT
As for CMDT, pressured by the banks, it is admitted by its CEO in “a very tight cash flow situation, selling cotton at a loss with an unprecedented stock of input, while it will be necessary to pay suppliers, pick up cotton and take it off. This fragility, according to some observers from the sector, could lead to privatization.
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