Cotton production in Benin-the need for a more sustainable system

Cotton is a major earner of foreign exchange in Benin, but there is increasing concern about the impact of existing production on the ecosystem. The Netherlands government and Benin have signed a Sustainable Development Treaty of which organic cotton production may be a part. The researchers Peter Ton and Simplice Vodouhê report on the current situation.

Situated between Nigeria and Togo with a population of 5.25 million, Benin belongs to the West African Franc CFA monetary zone which has a fixed exchange rate with the French Franc(1). Informal trade flourishes largely due to the adjacent Nigeria market (population 120 millions) and the transit function of the Port of Cotonou. Official figures indicate that 45% of GNP is generated by tertiary activities, 15% from industry and 40% from agriculture. More than 60% of the population still depend on agriculture for their livelihood(2). The country is roughly divided into two parts. The south is densely populated and the north is sparsely populated depending on subsistence food production with cotton as a cash crop.
    Cotton production is extremely important for Benin, as it is for other West African countries like Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. At the national level, the government depends on it for income from taxes and also for foreign exchange with cotton supplying between 50-70% of export earnings per year. Cotton is also the motor for rural development and at the farmers' level cotton is the principal source of cash income.  It is complementary to food production in an economic as well as an agronomic sense.
    The many and varied interests related to cotton production explain the interventionist policy of the national government.  The Benin government provides farmers with a comprehensive 'production package', guaranteed outlet for seed cotton with a guaranteed price set in advance, loans for inputs to be repaid after the harvest, free distribution and extension services.
    The development of cotton production and  the expansion of the cotton area  attest to the profitability of cotton as a crop. Between 1982 (when current interventionist policy took off) and 1994, production increased nine-fold from 30,400 tons of seed cotton to 273,000 tonnes per year. The area under cotton increased from 26,500 to 205,000 ha. The Borgou province in the north is the main cotton producing region with two-thirds of national production. About 25% of the cultivated area in the Borgou province is now under cotton, and the area increases at about 20% per year(3). Lack of urban centres, poor infrastructure and high transport costs make sale of food products very difficult. This leaves cotton as the main option for earning cash. About 75% of cash income per household(4) per year is derived from cotton, whereas food production only contributes 3%(5).
    Although world market prices for cotton up to the year 2000 are forecast to decline structurally by about 1.5-2% per year(6), prospects for Beninese cotton production remain favourable in the middle and long-term. From a sectoral perspective, the 100% devaluation of the Franc CFA in January 1994 has considerably improved the competitiveness of Benin cotton on the world market. It should also be possible to compensate for declining prices through better management of the government-led cotton sector, the introduction of new varieties, the promotion and better use of animal traction, and extension of the cotton areas. Falls in price should be compensated for by the official stabilisation fund (FSS) which is enhanced during good years. This fund was successful in overcoming the cotton crisis of 1990/1992, for example.

Ecological problems of cotton production in Benin
The main threat to the cotton sector in the middle and long-term is not economic but ecological. Cotton production in Benin is detrimental to the environment through land degradation and pollution.
    The main factors  contributing to the degradation process are the expansion of cotton area and the cultivation techniques used. The rise of cotton production since 1982 is mainly the result of the expansion of the area. Yields improved very little and even seemed to fall in recent years. In Borgou province 32% of the growth of cultivated lands between 1982 and 1992 was due to the boom in the cotton crop. The amount of extra land cultivated could be still higher than the official statistics suggest since the prevailing agricultural system is shifting cultivation.
    Recently the government has tried to limit the cotton area because of a lack of ginning capacity and concern about the environmental effects. Quotas have been set for different agro-ecological zones, and seed distribution has been limited accordingly.  But producers have developed alternative strategies to obtain seeds. The government also seeks to organise intervention mechanisms to reinforce the profitability of competing food crops.
    The main ecological problems stem from deteriorating soil fertility, and the use of artificial chemical pesticides and fertilisers. But there are also indirect effects. Clearance of forests and pastoral lands for agriculture resulting in the marginalisation of semi-nomadic pastoralists and cattle herds can increase as a result of successful cotton farmers investing their wealth in expanded herds.

Soil fertility
Whereas European and North American farming occurs on fertile lands or lands upgraded with artificial fertilisers or manure, West African agriculture is characterised by a net exploitation of nutritive elements or 'soil mining'(7). In Benin cotton is the only crop using artificial fertilisers. Manure is used only on small pieces of land near to homesteads (champs de case). Even though farmers tend to use 30% less fertilisers on cotton than advised by extension services, the use of fertilisers makes cotton less 'exploitative' per ha than food crops(8).
    Concern about the soil fertility effects of cotton cultivation arises from the dynamics of cotton production. The growth rate of cotton area is expanding at 20% per annum-far faster than the area under food crops which is expanding at only 7% per annum. The overall impact of cotton cultivation on soil fertility is therefore significant even though, unlike food crops, farmers replace nutrients under the cotton cropping system. Secondly, the growing relative importance of cotton within the farming system has negative repercussions on the extent and quality of crop rotations and fallow periods. Moreover, cultivation techniques in cotton production differ from those in food production. For example, animal traction is used more frequently which has ecological implications because it can lead to total clearance of fields. The presence of organic matter is diminished, vegetation cover is reduced, and ground water availability is threatened. In addition, the monoculture character of the cotton crop becomes evident in the lack of crop rotation such as exists in food production-sorghum/beans, sorghum/maize, sorghum/maize/beans, for example. Cotton fields therefore often lack vegetative cover and organic matter to limit the impact of soil erosion.

Use of pesticides
In Benin, 90% of all pesticides imported are used on cotton. Spraying is recommended on a calendar basis at two week intervals starting from 45-50 days after the crop emerges. The number of sprays recommended is six or seven, but farmers generally spray only three to six times depending on sowing dates, infestation rate (with respect to the first spraying) and availability of pesticide products.
    Between 1982 and 1993 distribution of pesticides was in the hands of governmental institutions, but since then distribution of all inputs has been privatised. Governmental supervision of the quality of products continues. Farmers' access to pesticides and artificial fertilisers is guaranteed by the government through loans which are repaid after harvest. Pesticides have often been in short supply because amounts imported were calculated on the basis of the expected 'official' cotton area and the actual cotton area often surpassed the 'official' area. In addition, the institutions involved preferred to carry out a cautious import policy in order to avoid the build-up of stocks in the event of unfavourable growing seasons.
    During the 1980s, the government encouraged the use of pesticides. Although these were not subsidised (see table 1), their costs and use were not related in the loan repayment system which removed any incentive for efficient spraying. Until 1990, a forfait was deducted from the value of the harvested product, regardless of actual pesticide use per household. Part of the forfait was transferred afterwards to community groups in order to stimulate community development. When in 1990 the forfait system was replaced by a system of pesticides product use calculated per household, farmer's net income increased considerably due to rationalising pesticides use (see table 2).
    Pesticides used are mainly pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides. Active ingredients include dimethoate, cypermethrin, triazophos, profenofos, lambdacyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos(9). Herbicides have not yet been introduced on a large scale because of their high costs. Harvesting is manual and defoliants are not used.
    No information is available on pesticide poisonings, residues in water, contamination of rivers, residues of pesticides in cows that eat plant residues, effects on biodiversity, hazards to workers in ginning mills. However, insecticide spraying seems to be relatively limited in Benin in comparison to many other countries largely due to the high costs of products to the farmers. Research and monitoring of pesticide use should certainly be encouraged.

Use of artificial fertilisers
Fertilisation is of utmost importance for West African agriculture in the middle and long-term. In Benin, policies are mainly focused on the use of artificial fertilisers. Research is in hand on the use of manure, but this has only been promoted on a small-scale to date. Problems related to the increased use of manure include the separation between agriculture and pastoralism in the north, lack of cattle in the south, lack of transport, and the increased need for weeding on manured fields.
    Practically all artificial fertilisers in Benin are used for the cash crop cotton. Recommended doses per ha are 200 kg NPKSB and 50 kg Urea for the north, but farmers tend to use about 30% less, as is the case with pesticides. Although recommendations differ between regions, they are too general to be well-adapted to local environments and to compensate effectively for the loss of nutrients.
    From a more qualitative perspective, it is important to stress two other ecological problems related to artificial fertilisers. First, the application of fertilisers induces a growth 'boom' in the cotton plant. This leads not only to higher yields but also to unbalanced growth in plants which makes them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Secondly, adding concentrations of nutrients around plants affects biological activity in a negative way. So although artificial fertilisers compensate partly for loss of nutrients, they also favour the development of pests and the vulnerability of fields to soil erosion.

Alternative cultivation techniques
All involved in the sector in Benin are aware of the dangers of cotton production dynamics and cultivation techniques on the ecosystem in general and on soil fertility in particular. But solutions to these problems have to be found within the political and economic context.
    Research has shown that some alternative cultivation techniques can be both economically and environmentally promising. One of these techniques is  very-low-volume (VLV) insecticide spraying that is progressively being introduced throughout the country in association with a new 'threshold-based control' which aims to replace calendar spraying with spraying related to pest infestation levels.  The VLV technique is both economically and environmenatlly beneficial(10). 
    Another initiative designed to make the country's cotton production more sustainable is organic production. The initiative under the Sustainable Development Treaty with the Netherlands aims to utilise the emerging market for organic cotton fibres in Europe and the United States(11). Organic production would, at least on a small-scale, contribute to more sustainable agricultural practices. The development and introduction of more ecologically adapted cultivation techniques would be financed by the price premium paid, thereby combining the environmental and economic benefits of conversion. In addition, experiences gained with organic agriculture could also be of great importance to conventional cotton production and research.
    Criticisms regarding the creation of organic cotton projects include scepticism about the development and sustainability of the market, scarce scientific evidence of the ecological benefits of organic agriculture in tropical zones and, more generally, scepticism about organic agriculture amongst some policy-makers and researchers. In a practical sense, the organisation of the Benin cotton sector also poses barriers to organic production. Not only does the government have an export monopoly on cotton, but it has a comprehensive interventionist policy for all national cotton production. Finally, the structure of organic cotton trade calls for direct links between producers and manufacturers-links that are non-existent in conventional cotton trade and which would demand strong organisational and negotiating power on the part of farmers' organisations.

Peter Ton works as a research assistant at the Department of Human Geography of the University of Amsterdam. Simplice Vodouhê is a lecturer in the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences at the National University of Benin.  

References
1. Up to 1994 1 French franc = 50 francs CFA. Since 1994 1 French franc = 100 francs CFA.
2. UNDP, World Development Report, New York, US, 1994.
3. Ton, P., Katoen: de witte motor. Analyse van plannen tot wijziging van het overheidsbeleid in de katoensektor in Bénin. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1993, 134pp.
4. The average household consists of 9 persons, but this may vary up to 40.
5. Ton, op. cit.
6. Coleman, J.R. and M.E. Thigpen, Should sub-Saharan Africa expand cotton exports? Policy Research Working Papers International Trade, World Bank, Washington D.C., US. May 1993, 40p.
7. Van der Pol, F., Soil mining: An unseen contributor to farm income in Southern Mali. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1992, 48pp.
8. Van der Pol, Ibid. and Van der Pol, F., A.C. Gogan and G. Dagbenombakin, L'épuisement des sols et sa valeur économique dans le département du Mono, Bénin. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1993, 80pp.
9. Ton, P. and S. Vodouhê, Des opportunités d'établir des liens commerciaux en coton durable entre le Bénin et les Pays-Bas. Foundation Ecooperation/University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, December 1994, 82pp.
10. Vodounnon, S., Une nouvelle méthode de lutte plus respectueuse de l'environnement et plus économique en culture cotonnière au Bénin: la lutte étagée ciblée, Recherche Coton et Fibres, Cotonou, Benin, 1993, 17pp.
11. Ton and Vodouhê, 1994 op. cit.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 28, June 1995, pages 14-15]