On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, the Minister of State for Development and Coordination of Government Action, at the head of a ministerial delegation, met with producers from the North to dispel the elements of misunderstanding that are weighing on the current 2022/23 campaign

The sale prices of agricultural products are the basis of exchanges between cotton and soy farmers and the ministerial delegation. The farmers present at the meeting explained their difficulty and the debt situation in which they find themselves with the current price policy. The President of the Su Tébo Bère-Win Association in Parakou and spokesperson of the delegation, Paul Sounon, believes that “for one hectare of soybeans, the expenses amount to 232,000 francs (...)”. He thus informs the Minister that the producer is in debt.

After listening carefully to producers' complaints, Abdoulaye Bio Tchané asserted that “it is not the government that sets prices. The government approves the prices.” For him, “before, 23 years ago, 25 years ago, it was the government that fixed prices. We arrived at a position where we said to ourselves “but, it's not us who buy”. The government doesn't buy cotton, ginners buy cotton, sit down and discuss prices! If you get along well, great! But, if you don't get along, the government steps in and says, given the information I have on the international market, this is the price that would be the best.”