Impact of cotton dynamics on rural development: a case study of Korhogo area, in the northern and central Ivory Coast.

摘要

Unlike Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin, Cote d'Ivoire has a weaker cotton sector that accounts only for less than 10% of the country's export incomes. Cotton is the third most important industrial crop of the nation after cocoa and coffee. Nevertheless, cotton is the main cash crop and economic resource in the savannah area, although it has little relative importance at the national level. By 1995, fibre production averaged 150 000 tonnes per annum, of which 90% were exported. The present study focuses on the particular case of the Ivorian cotton sector that benefited from agricultural research and extension training programmes. Cotton cropping in Cote d'Ivoire changed from mixed cropping with food crops into a monoculture system that plays as the economic driver in the northern and central regions. Following some general comments, the second part of the paper reports on the technical impact of cotton cropping. The third part deals with the socio-economic impact, analysing farmer's agricultural incomes and their uses..