Make Cotton Sustainable

POINT OF VIEW  / PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK

The Fix For Africa's Food vs Cash Crop Dilemma

Africa has been growing cotton for a long time and it supplies over 10 per cent of the world’s cotton. But the question is that when a large part of the African population are starving, should they be growing cash crops (such as cotton) instead of food crops and is it ethical to buy that cotton from Africa? Or should African farmers grow food for themselves instead of growing cotton for the world?

In West Africa, conventional cotton farming not only harms the environment because of use of excessive harmful pesticides and fertilizers, it also leads to contamination in food crops that are sometime fatal.  It also gives the farmers meagre incomes which makes it difficult to meet their family needs.

According to a Pan UK’s short guide ‘Can Organic Cotton Feed Africa’, in 2002-2003 in Senegal’s Velingara region, a major cotton growing zone, 82 per cent of households in Nemataba village were hardly able to meet their daily food needs. Prices of synthetic fertilizers were rising and that of cotton was decreasing (as subsidized cotton from China and US flooded the market). African farmers were finding it hard to make ends meet.

The guide suggests that with careful planning and by practicing crop rotation, organic cotton cultivation can help African farmers to bring the food crisis to an end.

Organic farming is not just about leaving out chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is also about maintaining a balanced ecosystem that leaves the soil enriched for other crops. Crop rotation is an important aspect of organic cultivation. Farmers in Senegal for example, practice one of five different crop rotations across their fields. In the first year they grow peanut followed by cereals in the second and third year and cotton in year 4. The fields are left uncultivated in the fifth year for the soil to rest.

Consequently, organic cotton allows African farmers to produce more food crops and hence helps them contribute to their food security. Selling organic cotton also allows farmers to earn more money, enabling them to educate their children, buy tools for their fields and lead better lives.

To read the full story: Can Organic Cotton Feed Africa