Organic Cotton Production in West Africa

Location: Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali

Cotton production presents a double bind for West African smallholder farmers, providing much-needed cash income through a chemically intensive production system that has a negative effect on human and environmental health. Global market volatility is also problematic, leaving many farmers saddled with debt when prices fall. In contrast, organic cotton production offers a safer and more profitable alternative, with up to two to three times more profit and safe, biological forms of pest control and soil fertilization.