South-South Initiative on Cotton

Productive Capacity-Building in Cotton-Textile Garment Value Chains and Networks in Africa

The initiative focuses on 11 selected cotton-producing countries:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.

Issues addressed by the initiative:
Cotton plays a significant role in African countries. The cotton-producing countries in Africa export most their cotton fibre directly without adding value. Despite competitive labour costs, African cotton and textile companies cannot meet the challenges of international competition on a quota-free cotton market.

  • Trade distorting subsidies in developed countries
  • Products do not meet international standards
  • Low productivity
  • Lack of modern production facilities
  • Lack of knowledge and experience on how to run a business in a competitive market
  • Inefficient use of domestic resources
  • Lack of foreign direct investments (FDI)
  • Lack of regional and national strategies for developing cotton-textile-garment value chains

The key stakeholders of the Initiative:

  • Government authorities
  • Representatives of the private sector
  • Cotton farmer representatives
  • Private and public cotton textile and garment operators
  • Regional and national support institutions

Technical cooperation counterpart organization:

  • African Cotton Association (ACA)
  • International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
  • South India Cotton Association (SICA)
  • China Cotton Association (CCA)

Purpose of the Initiative:
The goal of the programme is to ensure sustained competitiveness of the Cotton-Textile-Garment sector in African countries. The programme focuses on product innovation and  investment promotion. The South-South Initiative contributes to poverty reduction through employment generation and value chain improvement.

Immediate goal and expected outcomes and outputs:
The immediate goal of the programme is to assist African cotton-producing countries to improve productive capacity-building in cotton processing through south-south cooperation with India and China. The cotton and textile industry is more advanced in China and India than in Africa. African countries could benefit from the transfer of equipment, technology and niche product ranges from China and India. Comprehensive supply chain and infrastructure development shall attract foreign direct investment from China and India.

Expected end-of-programme situation:

  • Creation of new jobs
  • Stimulation of business creation
  • Training for 250 experts and technicians
  • Productivity enhancement of selected textile companies
  • Increase of export revenues of selected textile companies
  • Boosting the cotton processing industry
  • Promotion of investment opportunities
  • Stronger worldwide partnerships
  • Replication of the programme in other cotton producing countries

 


    South-South Initiative on Cotton