Togo: African cotton producers get together to boost the sector

A meeting devoted to the professionalisation of the cotton sector has been taking place in Lomé since Tuesday 21 November. Organised by the African Cotton Producers Association (AProca), the meeting brought together players from 15 countries in the western and central regions of the continent.

The aim of the initiative is to discuss strategies for improving the sector, the mechanism for setting prices on the international market, the search for financing for processing, and capacity-building for producers.

A number of resolutions are expected to emerge from the discussions on Thursday.

Since the 1970s, cotton has been a driving force in the transformation of agricultural production systems and a major component of local economies in the savannahs of West and Central Africa (WCA).

The process that began under colonial rule gained momentum in the post-independence period, during which cotton was central to the agricultural policies and development of several WCA countries.

In Togo, cotton is the country’s leading cash crop, and also the main source of employment in rural areas. Since 2009, the Togolese government has been working to reform this sector with the creation of the New Cotton Company of Togo (SNCT) to boost production.

The new guidelines applied to the cotton sector reflect the government’s determination to make the sector a pillar of Togo’s economic development.

This sector has a key role to play in the positioning of the Adéticopé Industrial Platform.’ (PIA), providing a site for its processing. The Togolese authorities are therefore right to attach importance to the productivity of this local raw material.

Kodjovi Makafui