Contrary to the ambitions of Burkinabè cotton producers, who were aiming for 800,000 tonnes of seed cotton, production for 2018-2019 stands at 436,0000 tonnes, a drop of 29% compared to the past campaign. This leads Burkina Faso to occupy the fourth place of producers on the African continent behind Benin, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire.

Climate change, the boycott of some producers and the threat of terrorism are among the reasons that have had a strong impact on cotton production in Burkina Faso.

Yields at field level fell from 697 kg to 672 kg per hectare. A decline in cotton production due to climatic hazards characterized by droughts and floods. The terrorist threat in the eastern region has caused some producers to abandon their fields as well.

Wilfried Yaméogo, General Manager of the Burkinabè Textile Fibers Company (Sofitex), the main cotton company in Burkina: "It must also be said that there was the boycott movement (a dissatisfaction among producers, preventing others from invest in cotton cultivation) which was observed in particular in Kénédougou, which therefore did not allow for a production potential of the order of 80,000 hectares in the Kénédougou area".

A target of 800,000 tonnes

For the next campaign, several measures are taken in order to go up the slope. The cotton companies are committed to clearing the unpaid bills from the producers and the purchase price of cotton will increase. Ali Compaoré, Managing Director of the Société cotonnière du Gourma (Socoma): “It is therefore a matter of processing and internal and external unpaid bills within the cooperatives. As a second measure, we received 13.6 billion CFA francs from the Burkinabè State to bring this price of inputs to 14,000 francs, the bag of MPK fertilizer such as urea fertilizer, against 15,000 francs is practiced and the campaign is over".

With a target of 800,000 tons, cotton producers want agricultural inputs to be made available as soon as possible for a good start to the 2019-2020 campaign.