Organic Cotton Projects in Africa by Alexander Baier, supported by Isabel Jaisli

Organic cotton Organic Cotton Projects in Afrika Enormous amounts of synthetic chemi- Country Initiative Start Statistics for production season 2004/05 cal pesticides are used in conventional Producer Area Crop/Season cotton cultivation worldwide. Many of these pesticides are highly poisonous Sekem 1990 100 154 ha 754 t and dangerous to humans and the envi- Benin OBEPAB 1996/97 671 422 ha 379 t ronment. Organic cotton cultivation Burkina Faso Helvetas 2003 75 30 ha 18 t offers a sustainable alternative and is Mali Helvetas 1998 561* 298 ha* 170 t* already being practiced by an increasing AGROCEL 2004 253 98 ha 30 t number of farmers. Organic cotton cul- Senegal ENDA 1995/96 300* 120 ha* 35 t* tivation places, above all, emphasis on Tanzania Remei AG 1999 1.483 6.160 ha 3.000 t# the precautionary principle. Measures Uganda Lango 1994 12.000 6.075 ha 1.000 t are taken which support the ecological balance and avoid the negative econo- * Season 03/04, as no figures available for 04/05 mic effects of pests, or at least reduce # Estimates for the season 04/05 them. If pests attack, generally natural, locally available products are used to promoting the cultivation of organic pate in the cultivation programmes. The combat them. cotton. The initiators are often aid deve- following projects act as an example. lopment organisations or also private Organically produced cotton in Africa companies from the textile sector. The Egypt In many African countries cotton is of production of organic cotton offers SEKEM is the most important grower of great economic importance as an agri- many advantages to farmers, their fami- organic cotton in Egypt. This project cultural export product. In Burkina Faso lies and their communities. involves the complete production chain, for instance, every year 440,000 tons of from cultivation to the manufactured cotton fibre are produced on an area of product. In cultivation and manufactu- 500,000 hectares. Cotton is the most No meaning? ring areas, the project supports the eco- important export of this West African „It is said that organic cotton cultiva- nomic development of the population as landlocked country. Simultaneously, the tion is relatively meaningless, but I well as various health and education problems associated with conventional know that for the families involved in projects. What is so special about cotton production in developing coun- producing it and who have found SEKEM is that not only the farmers pro- tries are to be found in various African reliable partners, it is of great conse- fit from SEKEM’s experience. Ibrahim states. Cases of poisoning, sometimes quence”. Abouleisch, head of SEKEM and winner ending in death, are not rare. Poisonous Saro Ratter, advisor to organic cotton of the alternative Nobel Prize, was able pesticides which are licensed for use in projects. to convince the Egyptian government to cotton cultivation are also used to grow take advantage of SEKEM’s knowledge foodstuffs, resulting in a further load. Individual Projects and experience and put it to use in con- Many water sources contain pesticides Statistics alone do not illustrate the ventional cotton cultivation. This has residues, which not only affects humans, positive aspects of organic cotton pro- resulted in 400,000 hectares of integra- but also the animal and the plant world. duction. These positive aspects often ted cultivation, sparing humans and the In order to offer farmers an alternative, have far-reaching effects, well beyond environment the effect of over 30,000 many countries have started projects farmers and the families which partici- tons of pesticide every year.

Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk e.V. (PAN ) sers for their crops and they are paid cer in Africa, after Egypt. The “white Alternative Nobel Prize immediately. The payments are above gold” is the country’s main export and In 2003, Ibrahim Abouleisch and the average due to the premium for organic source of foreign currency. In 1998 Hel- SEKEM initiative were awarded the cotton. Farmers are therefore in the vetas started an organic cotton cultiva- alternative Nobel Prize for their acti- position to send their children to school tion project. The program aims to cover vities in sustainable development. The as they are able to pay the school fees. the whole of the production chain, star- prize was awarded in recognition of They are particularly proud of the fact ting with the farmers and ending with their development of organic cultiva- that their children are better in school, the finished garment in the shop. The tion methods. Apart from eco-textiles as they no longer come into contact final textile products are marketed by made from Egyptian cotton, SEKEM with poisonous chemical pesticides. This Helvetas themselves and also by well- also produces herbal teas and organic presumably subjective observation, is known Swiss (textile) companies. The foodstuffs. The initiative was particu- supported by scientific studies which harvest of raw cotton was 170 tons in larly praised for its work in the field have proved that exposure to pesticides 2003/04. The plans for the coming years of fair trade, the income from which leads to developmental disturbances. envisage a large increase in the crop, as is used to finance Kindergarten, Wal- well as in the number of farmers parti- dorf Schools and soon, a free Univer- Burkina Faso cipating. sity. As already mentioned, cotton plays an enormous role in the economy of Burki- na Faso. Since 2002, Helvetas, the Swiss Motivation of a farmer participa- Benin Association for International Coopera- ting in organic cultivation: Cotton is the most important export of tion, has been cooperating with UNPCB, „I noticed that the earth became less Benin, accounting for 64% of the coun- the largest cooperative of Burkina Faso and less fertile from year to year. I try’s exports. Because of the many pro- cotton farmers. The aim is to establish spent more and more money on blems involved in conventional cotton organic cotton cultivation in the coun- manure and pesticides but the har- cultivation, the organisation OBEPAB try. The goal of the project is also to vest became smaller and smaller. (Organisation Beninoise pour la Promo- establish a marketable crop rotation Now I am more independent and in tion de L’Agricultue Biologique) com- with crops such as sesame and shea but- the long-term our family will benefit menced a biological cotton project in ter. The first success, much due to the and be able to survive. the 1996/1997 season. The project was close cooperation with UNPCB, has alre- originally aimed to protect farmers from ady become apparent during the pilot Philip Sangare, 59 years-old the effects of pesticides. In the meanti- phase; farmers who normally cultivate in me, the project has been fruitful: the a conventional manner are already, at amount of organically grown cotton has the beginning of the season, using natu- Senegal increased from 5 tons in 1997 to 379 ral products for spraying and only use During the 1995/96 season, ENDA Pro- tons in 2005. The number of producers more poisonous synthetic chemical pro- nat, a local development organisation, also rose from 17 to 671, of which about ducts at a later stage of cultivation. This started the first organic cotton cultiva- a third are women. The farmers are very reduces production costs and benefits tion project in West Africa. It had a pro- enthusiastic about the project. A signifi- human health and the environment. found effect on the development of cant aspect for participants in the other similar initiatives in the region. OBEPAB project, apart from its benefits Mali This project proved that organic cotton to health, is that farmers have purcha- Mali is the second largest cotton produ- could be grown in West Africa. At that

Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk e.V. (PAN Germany) point in time this was in doubt. Organic Uganda cotton production is relatively low at Agriculture in Uganda is, as in Tanzania, present. On the one hand the project is not intensive. Therefore there is great searching for reliable purchasing part- potential in Uganda for organic cotton ners for exporting their product, on the cultivation. As yet, however, most of the other, a local grain type, fonio, has beco- organic cotton produced is sold on con- me a popular rotation crop for the ventional markets. Cultivation is mainly national market. Farmers can achieve a in the north of the country where the much better price for this crop than for soil is fertile and the number of pests is cotton with its depressed world market reduced by the so-called predator ants, price. the nginingini. The rotation crop sesame provides a second source of income for Tanzania the Lango project. This reduces the Cotton cultivation is of great economic dependency on cotton and is a further importance in Tanzania, especially in the export crop which covers the certifica- west of the country. About 40% of the tion costs associated with organic culti- population are engaged in the cotton vation. industry. Only small amounts of pestici- des and synthetic manures are used in Conclusion conventional cultivation methods, provi- The success of African cotton cultivation ding ideal conditions for the cultivation projects speaks for itself. More and more of organic cotton. Since the 1994/95 farmers wish to participate in the cur- season, the Gesellschaft für Technische rent projects. Other African countries Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) has encouraged have taken note of their success and farmers in Tanzania to cultivate organic there is a move to imitate them. At the cotton. In 1999 the Remei AG, a Swiss same time, it is clear that export yarn and textile trader took over the demand must rise, as well as national responsibility of cultivation and marke- and regional demand, to ensure the sur- ting for this project. Since then, the pro- vival of such projects. This can only be ject has been successfully continued achieved if consumers are made increa- under the name of Meatu bioRe Project. singly aware of the conditions existing In the meantime, 1,483 farmers are inte- in cotton cultivation. grated in the project, which harvested about 3,000 tons of raw cotton in 2004/05. A new acquirement is a demonstration farm where farmers are educated in successful methods of bio- logical cotton cultivation.

Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk e.V. (PAN Germany) Literature

Août (2002): Organic cotton country report: Senegal. PAN UK. London

KIT/NIPS (2002): Benin organic cotton project.

Ratter, S. (2002): Organic cotton country report: Tanzania. PAN UK. London Pictures: © PAN UK: page 1 Tulip, A., Ton, P. (2002) : Organic cot- © Enda Pronat: pages 2, 3, 4 below ton country report: Uganda. PAN UK. © Jörg Böthling: page 4 on top London

Helvetas (2005): Helvetas Bio-Baum- wollprojekte in Internet under www.bio-baumwolle.ch

Coiplet S. (2003) Alternative Nobel- preise für und SEKEM, in Internet under www.dreigliede- rung.de/news/03100200.html

Schwarzer A. (2004): Reines, weißes Gold, Südwind Magazin 4/2004, S. 18

John J., Diallo G. (2005): Organic cot- ton at Koussanar, Eastern Senegal in: Baier A., Hammer J. (2005): Procee- dings – Back to the roots: The far- mers’ perspective on organic cotton production and Marketing, PAN Ger- many, Hamburg

Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk e.V. (PAN Germany)