November 22, 2004

Record Cotton Harvest Expected for West Africa 

West Africa’s Franc Zone cotton producing countries are set to produce a record cotton harvest this year, according to official USDA estimates released on November 12, 2004-. Cotton within the Franc Zone is typically planted from May-July and harvested from October-December.  The 2004/05 harvest forecast is 4.72 million bales, up 0.28 million bales or 6 percent from last year.   The Franc Zone produced 4.44 million bales of lint last year, which was above the 5-year average of 4.0 million bales. The previous record production was set in 2001/02 with an output of 4.50 million bales.  

Francophone Africa, or the cotton “Franc Zone” of west and central Africa, includes the following nine countries in order of raw cotton production for this year: Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Togo, Chad, Senegal, Central African Republic, and Niger.  In general, this year's seasonal rainfall was near average for most major cotton regions, and for the most part adequate rainfall was received throughout the season. This year many West African grain farmers suffered from the worst locust invasion in 15 years, but most cotton farmers were not terribly affected as the locust invaded the northern Sahelian belt and major cotton regions are located further south.

Cotton output for 2004/05 is expected top reach record levels for Burkina Faso and Togo, with Burkina Faso anticipating a record crop of 1.07 million bales planted on a record area of 550,000 hectares.  Mali and Benin will also produce near record crops of 1.12 and 0.69 million bales, respectively.  Early reports indicated that Cote d’Ivoire’s cotton crop was close to recovery this year with farmers able to buy inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.  However, recent violence in the northern cotton regions raise new concerns that Cote d'Ivoire farmers may not be able to sell their crop to local gins or payments could be delayed.  Reports from last year's instability in northern Cote d’Ivoire indicate that many farmers opted to smuggle their cotton to buyers in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali as these buyers were offering cash for their crop, but at reduced prices.

Summary USDA cotton estimates for West Africa are presented below which are largely based on in-country government and non-government reports, FAS attaché reports, field travel, news wire reports, agro-meteorology data, and near real-time satellite imagery (Crop Explorer).  Each year the FAS attaché in Cote d’Ivoire submits a cotton report during May or June.

Summary Cotton Production Estimates by Country 

Related Links with the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

    Rainfall and NDVI Analysis in African Franc Zone during 2004 growing season

    World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) for November 12, 2004

    Annual FAS attaché cotton report from Cote d'Ivoire (May 14, 2004)

    Crop Explorer (for West Africa)

    PECAD Update in 2003:  Bumper Cotton Harvest Expected in West African Franc Zone

    PECAD Update in 2002: Several Cotton Regions Dry in African Franc Zone during 2002

For more information, contact Curt Reynolds
with the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division, at Curt.Reynolds@fas.usda.gov or (202) 690-0134.