What Kenya can learn from Burkina Faso’s cotton production dip

What Kenya can learn from Burkina Faso’s cotton production dip

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Michael Onyuro

During a dialogue on biotech crops and the Big Four agenda at the University of Nairobi On April 24, critics of biotechnology misrepresented the facts about Bt cotton farming in Burkina Faso.

The truth of the matter is that cotton production in Burkina Faso is continuing its downward slide three years after the country phased out the use of pest-resistant genetically modified (GM) cotton. Last April, the Inter-professional Cotton Association of Burkina (AICB), an industry body comprising farmers and other sector players, set a production target of 800,000 tonnes for the 2018-19 cotton season. But the country produced just 436,000 tonnes — despite offering farmers a record $27.4 million in incentives in the form of subsidies on insecticides, fertilisers and irrigation facilities.

The 436,000 tonnes produced represented a decline of 29 per cent from the 2017-18 output of 613,000 tonnes, which was down from the 2016-17 season output of 682,940 tonnes. The decline in production has been consistent over the last three years, much to the worry of industry players.

The figures were disclosed at a media briefing organised by the AICB in the capital city of Ouagadougou to mark the start of the 2019-20 cotton season. Burkina Faso, previously Africa’s largest cotton producer, is now fourth, trailing Côte d'Ivoire (455,000 tonnes), Mali (653,000 tonnes) and Benin (675,000 tonnes).

The decline in production has been attributed to a number of factors, including regional farmer boycotts over unfair treatment, insecurity resulting from terrorist attacks and bad weather. But farmers also blame the situation on increased pest attacks following the government’s decision to phase out GMO cotton and return to conventional seeds.

“Yields per hectare have never been so low,” noted Francois Traore, former president of the Burkina Faso National Union of Cotton Producers. “In my opinion, this decrease is mainly due to the parasitic attacks on cotton farmers and the poor quality of inputs.” AICB Secretary Ali Compaoré told a media briefing that “pests seriously undermined production efforts” over the course of the season.

As part of an effort to deal with increasing devastation by insect pests, Burkina Faso in 2008 approved the cultivation of GM (Bt) cotton, which offers inherent resistance to the destructive bollworm. These pests have the potential to destroy up to 80 per cent of yield on cotton farms.

Insecticide spray

Source: businessdailyafrica.com

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