C4 Seeks End To Subsidies In Other Cotton Producing Countries
Cotton producing countries of Africa called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to find a solution to cotton trade distortion caused by other countries.
Four cotton producing countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad, named the C4, called for an end to cotton subsidies being given to farmers in the US, India and China as it impacts domestic cotton prices.
“For the past 20 years, the distortions caused to cotton trade have continued to compromise the lives of millions of cotton producers in Africa”, Chad’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Ahmat Abdelkerim said.
These countries also demanded reparations for damages caused so far. The four countries submitted a draft on cotton to the WTO in preparation for the conference in the United Arab Emirates.
Ibrahim Malloum, a Chadian official responsible for trade issues said the cotton sector employs more than 20 million people in the C4, and is worth $2 billion.
