- Compaci

COMPACI
Documentation
CmiA and COMPACI
stakeholder workshop
Atelier des promoteurs
CmiA et COMPACI
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
17th - 20th November 2009
Laurent Gouindé Sedogo, Minister for Agriculture, Hydropower and
Fishing Resources
Dear guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to attend this celebration and would like to seize the opportunity to express our
satisfaction about the initiatives started to boost the cotton sector in Africa and to improve the
conditions for all participating players from the sector – initiatives which we are pleased to support.
Thank you for choosing Burkina Faso for the Third Workshop of the Cotton Sponsors in Africa, which
was organised by the Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA) initiative in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and the German Development Cooperation.
We are all the more pleased to see that stakeholders and sponsors of the cotton sector have come
here from all over the world: this proves your interest and enthusiasm for this meeting in
Ouagadougou.
There are the actual participants of the Workshop: associations/ societies of cotton producers from
Benin and Burkina Faso, big cotton companies from seven African countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire,
Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia and Burkina Faso), spinning mills (Turkey), and big
international textile trade chains (Otto, Tchibo, Rewe, 1888 MILLS).
To all of you: welcome to Burkina Faso and I wish you a successful workshop. We feel that the topics
you are planning to discuss are very important: “the qualification of the smallholders to improve
their incomes“ and “the consolidation of the relations between the stakeholders to boost the
efficiency of the value chain“.
It is particularly now, when the cotton sector is facing difficult times, that a project like Cotton Made
in Africa is gaining major importance. This project serves the purpose of increasing the smallholders’
incomes by improving cotton cultivation with the aim of achieving a sustainable production and a
better competitiveness of African cotton, and this neatly fits into our country’s strategy, that is –
among other things – to promote this sector.
The project serves the purpose of achieving a better synergy and complementarity between cotton
stakeholders from several cotton-producing countries in Africa so that their product - "African
cotton" – will reach a better position in the international competition in the long run.
We hope that the experience made and the models developed within the framework of the CmiA
project will set useful standards for the promotion of further African agricultural projects.
The project, which was launched four years ago, has set noble goals and has already achieved very
encouraging success. Between 2007 and 2009, for instance, the sales of "Cotton Made in Africa"
textile products on the European and American markets increased from around 500,000 to about six
million units.
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s raise our glasses to a successful workshop of the African cotton sector.
Here’s to success for your work and to every success for Cotton Made in Africa. Long live African
cotton! I wish all of you a pleasant stay in Ouagadougou.
Thank you very much!
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Laurent Gouindé Sedogo,Ministre de l´Agriculture, de l´Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques
Chers invités,
Mesdames et Messieurs,
C’est un très grand plaisir pour moi de prendre part à la présente cérémonie et de pouvoir
manifester notre satisfaction et notre soutien aux initiatives engagées, pour contribuer à la
promotion de la filière coton an Afrique et à l’amélioration des conditions des acteurs de cette filière
tout le long de la chaîne.
Nous vous remercions pour le choix porté sur le Burkina pour abriter ce troisième atelier des
promoteurs de la filière coton en Afrique, organisé par Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA) en collaboration
avec la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates et la Coopération allemande au développement.
Notre joie est d’autant plus grande que nous constatons que les acteurs et promoteurs de la filière
coton, d’origines diverses à travers le monde sont ici réunis, témoignant ainsi de leur intérêt et
enthousiasme pour cette rencontre de Ouagadougou.
En effet, sont représentés à cette cérémonie : des organisations de producteurs de coton du Benin et
du Burkina ; des grandes compagnies de production de coton de sept pays africains (Benin, Côte
d’Ivoire, Malawi, Mozambique, Ouganda, Zambie et Burkina Faso) ; et des entreprises de filatures
(Turquie) ; de grandes chaines internationales de vendeurs de textiles (Otto, Tchibo, Rewe, 1888
MILLS).
Bienvenue à tous au Burkina et que les travaux de votre atelier soient couronnés de succès. Les
thèmes sur lequel vous avez choisi de vous pencher sont, de notre avis très pertinents : “la formation
des petits producteurs de coton, afin de leur donner les moyens d’augmenter leurs revenus et la
consolidation des relations entre acteurs des différents maillons pour accroitre l’efficacité de la
chaine de valeur de la filière”.
En ce moment où la filière coton traverse des moments difficiles, un projet tel que celui de « Coton
made in Africa » revêt une très grande importance. Ce projet qui vise l’augmentation des revenus des
petits producteurs de coton par l’amélioration de la culture cotonnière, afin d’induire une production
durable ainsi que le renforcement de la compétitivité du coton africain, entre en droite ligne des
objectifs de notre pays pour la promotion de cette filière.
La démarche de ce projet, qui œuvre à créer une plus grande synergie et complémentarité entre les
acteurs de la filière à travers plusieurs pays producteurs de coton du continent africain, afin que leur
produit, le “coton africain”, occupe durablement une meilleure place au niveau international.
Nous espérons que les expériences et modèles, qui seront développés à travers le projet CmiA soient
des références utiles pour la promotion d’autres produits agricoles africains.
Le projet, qui a démarré il y a quatre ans, s’est fixé des objectifs très louables et a déjà atteint des
résultats très encourageants. Ainsi, on est passé d’environ 500 milles unités de textiles de « Coton
made in Africa » vendus sur les marchés européens et américains en 2007, à environ 6 millions
d’unités en 2009. Ceci est le signe d’une forte progression très satisfaisante.
Mesdames et messieurs, Veuillez lever vos verres pour le succès de ce troisième atelier des
promoteurs de la filière coton en Afrique. Plein succès à vos travaux ; plein succès à Cotton made in
Africa ; Vive le coton africain. Bon séjour à tous à Ouagadougou.
Je vous remercie!
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Dr. Johannes Merck, CEO Aid by Trade Foundation
Dear guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
We are glad to welcome you to our gala dinner. At this point I would like to convey to you the best
regards of Dr. Michael Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Aid by Trade Foundation. To be
amongst so many friends and supporters of the initiative Cotton Made in Africa at this meeting in
Ouagadougou gives me an uplifting feeling. The initiative to help African smallholders to sell their
products by mobilizing of market forces is only just celebrating its fourth anniversary. But within
these four years quite a bit has been accomplished:
A CmiA cottonstandard has been developed and implemented on a broad scope;
A verification system has been developed and a guarantee of quality drafted;
The Cotton Made in Africa label was created;
An alliance of 25 retailers and brands has been brought together who are demanding
Cotton Made in Africa systematically offering it to their customers;
10 Million pieces of garments in CmiA-quality and with the CmiA hang tag were sold.
All of this would not have been possible if there wouldn’t have been so many supporters from the
very start, making CmiA one of the biggest Public Private Partner Initiatives ever. Responsible for this
very positive development are - on the one hand - the cotton companies, namely Faso Cotton in
Burkina Faso, Dunavant in Mozambique and Zambia, and I.C.A./AIC in Bénin. On the other hand the
demand alliance is crucial. Retailers such as the OTTO Group, Celio Tchibo, REWE and Puma took up
the challenge to place
Furthermore, the partnership with GTZ and DEG, who, in the name of the German Ministry BMZ,
provide significant funds as well as Know How and manpower, has particular importance for the
success of CmiA. Moreover, the COMPACI-program which is now starting with fundamental support
of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the BMZ secures the basis of supply and helps
significantly to initiate a self-supporting process of our social business Cotton made in Africa.
In the medium to long term CmiA aims at generating additional income for our ultimate target group,
African smallholder cotton farmers, without the need to rely on charity. By significantly increasing
income from CmiA licensing fees at the retail level, our initiative will increasingly be in the position to
finance smallholder training, social projects and the payment of dividends to the farmers. Once we
have reached such stage, the slogan „help for self help“ truly applies.
On our way we reached an important milestone in 2009: I am pleased to announce, that the Aid by
Trade Foundation realized its first year of profitability and we could subsequently engage in our first
joint social project for adult education in Burkina Faso together with DWHH and DEG.
I would now like to raise my glass and toast with you to our successful partnership and a very
interesting and mutually supportive stakeholder workshop 2009 in Ouagadougou.
Thank you very much!
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Dr. Johannes Merck, CEO Aid by Trade Foundation
Chers invités,
Mesdames et Messieurs,
Nous sommes heureux de vous souhaiter la bienvenue à notre dîner gala. Je profite de cette occasion
pour vous transmettre les salutations de Dr. Michael Otto, Président du Conseil de Surveillance de
l’Aid by Trade Foundation. Le fait de me retrouver au milieu de nombreux amis et supporters de
l’initiative Cotton Made in Africa réunis ici à Ouagadougou me réjouit tout particulièrement.
L’initiative destinée à aider les petits planteurs africains à vendre leurs produits en mobilisant les
forces du marché fête juste son quatrième anniversaire. Mais au cours de ces quatre années, un bon
travail a déjà été réalisé :
Des normes pour le coton CmiA ont été établies et mises en place sur une large échelle.
Un système de vérification a été développé et une garantie de qualité projetée.
Le label Cotton Made in Africa a été créé.
Une alliance de 25 commerçants et marques commerciales, tous demandeurs de Cotton
Made in Africa pour l’offrir systématiquement à leurs clients est née.
10 millions de pièces textiles de qualité CmiA et portant l’étiquette CmiA ont été vendus.
Tout ceci n’aurait pas été possible s’il n’y avait pas eu autant de supporters dès le départ, faisant de
CmiA l’une des plus grandes initiatives de partenariat public-privé. Ce développement très positif a
pu se faire – d’une part – grâce aux sociétés cotonnières, à savoir Faso Coton au Burkina Faso,
Dunavant au Mozambique et en Zambie et I.C.A./AIC au Bénin. D’autre part, l’alliance de demande
est cruciale. Des commerçants tels que le Groupe OTTO, Celio Tchibo, REWE et Puma ont relevé le
défi.
En outre, le partenariat avec la GTZ et la DEG qui, au nom du ministère fédéral allemand de la
Coopération économique et du Développement, fournissent des fonds importants ainsi que le savoirfaire et du personnel revêt une importance particulière pour le succès de CmiA. Et le programme
COMPACI qui démarre maintenant avec le soutien essentiel de la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates et
du BMZ en assure la base et contribue de manière considérable à la mise en route d’un processus
d'auto-soutien de notre activité sociale Cotton made in Africa.
A terme, CmiA vise à générer un revenu additionnel pour notre groupe cible, les petits producteurs
de coton africains, sans qu’il soit nécessaire de recourir à la bienfaisance. Avec des revenus en nette
augmentation provenant des commissions de licence au niveau des commerçants, notre initiative
sera de plus en plus en mesure de financer la formation des planteurs, des projets sociaux et le
paiement de dividendes aux planteurs. Une fois que nous aurons atteint un tel niveau, le slogan "aide
à l’auto-assistance" s’appliquera parfaitement.
Entre-temps, nous avons atteint un jalon important en 2009 : J’ai le plaisir d'annoncer que l’Aid by
Trade Foundation a réalisé sa première année de rentabilité et que nous avons pu nous engager
ensuite dans notre premier projet social conjoint pour la formation des adultes au Burkina Faso en
coopération avec la Deutsche Welthungerhilfe et la DEG.
Permettez-moi maintenant de lever mon verre et de boire avec vous au succès de notre partenariat
et de souhaiter que le workshop cotonnier 2009 ici à Ouagadougou soit très intéressant et
constructif pour tous les participants.
Je vous remercie !
5
Roger Peltzer, Program Director COMPACI
Dear friends, dear colleagues,
It has now been four years since some of us met for a symposium in Geneva at the invitation of
Dunavant and DEG and discussed whether the idea of Otto Group, namely to launch a brand for
African cotton produced in compliance with sustainability criteria, might be practicable and
compatible given the challenges and conditions for cotton production in Africa.
I remember well the very positive response of our partners, i.e. of Mr Talon in Benin, Mr. Diomande
in Côte d’Ivoire and our friends of Dunavant in Geneva and Zambia. Right from the start, the concept
of “Cotton made in Africa“ was seen as a great chance to increase the value of African cotton and to
improve its image all over the world. The manner, in which African farmers produce cotton is, in fact,
much more sustainable than the production conditions for cotton in other parts of the world.
“Cotton made in Africa” therefore offers a huge opportunity to communicate this.
While the concept “Cotton made in Africa” was but an idea in Geneva in 2005, it has today become a
reality. Over the past four years, we have made a huge step forward.
Today, we have a brand, which is breaking into the markets. And we have an authentic claim based
on clearly defined criteria and an independent verification procedure. Moreover, we have built up a
sales and follow-up system with renowned traders, ginneries and weaving mill which helps distribute
the product “Cotton made in Africa” via big trade chains efficiently and without essential additional
cost. Unlike the competing BCI initiative in the conventional cotton sector, which have so far not
managed to market a single kilogramme of cotton, "Cotton made in Africa” has made big progress.
We have also been able to convince the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of the “Cotton made in Africa” concept. We
have thus managed to mobilise considerable funds to accompany the cotton companies and the
African farmers with training programmes and to promote the introduction of CmiA criteria during
the long phase of the launch of CmiA cotton on the markets.
But what are the biggest challenges today? "Cotton made in Africa“ is an alliance of African cotton
producers and the trade chains in Europe and the United States. Both sides of this alliance are facing
challenges.
Our friends from the Aid by Trade Foundation, who are in charge with the sales, are facing the
challenge of considerably increasing the quantity of the products sold under the brand “Cotton made
in Africa”. We should achieve a quantity of 6 million in 2009 and of 13 million in 2010. This already is
a big achievement, as it corresponds to some 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes of cotton in 2010. If we,
however, consider the promise of making "Cotton made in Africa" a product of the main stream
market, then we have to admit that this quantity is by far not enough.
Moreover, we have decided – after long discussions – to introduce a dividend payment to the
producers under the “Cotton made in Africa” concept once we are capable of selling sufficient
amounts of “Cotton made in Africa” and obtaining enough income from licence fees. We have found
that such a dividend is necessary to honour the additional efforts which producers and cotton
companies make to comply with the CmiA criteria. It is also meant to boost adequate incentive
measures and thereby ensure a sustainable quality control also after the expiry of the subsidies of
the German Ministry of Cooperation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
So the big challenge is clearly this: 60 to 80 million of garments – the equivalent of 30,000 to 40,000
tonnes of cotton - need to be sold to make the "Cotton made in Africa" system financially
independent and to enable it to generate an appropriate dividend for the farmers, i.e. about 10%
more for seed cotton. And this is where our friends from the Aid by Trade Foundation come in, as
they have to reach this target by 2013. I am aware that this is a very ambitious target and that all of
us have to mobilise our ideas and efforts to help the Aid by Trade Foundation reach it.
But there is another major challenge, which concerns communication for our partners in Africa,
especially for the cotton companies. As far as the communication of the concept and idea of “Cotton
made in Africa” to the farmers and co-workers in charge of support is concerned, we have so far
been somewhat reluctant – with the exception of Benin. Because we were anxious that spreading
such information might stir hopes among the farmers which we eventually would be unable to fulfil. I
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Roger Peltzer, Program Director COMPACI
think that we should now put an end to this phase of non-information, which is even in contrast to
the “Cotton made in Africa” concept. In Benin, we have made very positive experience by bringing
together the farmers and representatives of European trade chains. The latter showed the farmers
catalogues featuring garments, which were made with the cotton produced by the farmers. This was
very well received by the farmers. The remuneration, which people (men and women) aspire for
their work, is not just about the money they can earn but rather also about the appreciation of the
quality of their work. The producers want to be proud of the result of their efforts. All these aspects –
appreciation, honour and pride – are frequently forgotten within the scope of development
cooperation, but they are of enormous importance.
In this seminar you will learn that we, from now on, also have the possibility to accompany our
efforts aimed at productivity increases with projects in the social field, particularly the promotion of
school education. This is why I feel we should all start to communicate the "Cotton made in Africa“
project on the spot, i.e. to the farmers participating in the production of CmiA cotton. Why not, for
instance, set up a small sign reading “Cotton made in Africa” at each cotton field of the 200 primary
schools in Zambia, which are going to be integrated into the programme to boost the productivity?
Conclusion: the “Cotton made in Africa“ project has developed enough, we can now communicate it
to the farmers in a “more aggressive” manner. However, I recommend a bit of reserve with regard to
the promise of a dividend payment because it will take some time until we are ready and it will have
to be secured that we reach our sales targets in due time.
Let me finally make a few comments on the international cotton market. We and mainly you, the
African producers, do not live on a happy island, which is cut off from the global cotton market.
Neither cotton prices nor exchange rates have been favourable for African cotton over the past three
years. As a consequence, we have seen a considerable decline of cotton production in Africa. For
many farmers, cotton ceased to be attractive, cotton companies and internationally active cotton
traders have partly suffered considerable losses. Our project “Cotton made in Africa” and the
Compaci project together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation cannot escape this development.
However, the basic conditions for cotton seem to have somewhat improved. Demand for cotton as a
natural fibre will increase. A major part of the consumers continues to favour natural fibres and new
technologies are planned to help endow cotton with certain technical features offered by synthetic
fibres – such as water resistance. Moreover, cotton production will be reduced in some important
countries, for instance in the US. According to experts, this will lead to a structural gap between
supply and demand, which should support cotton prices in the medium and long term. And as
agricultural areas are limited in the world, the potential of the African producer should face a better
future.
I think that “Cotton made in Africa” is a good concept and the Compaci programme a reliable tool to
achieve an increase in the productivity of African producers. And the development on the world
market is another factor which speaks for African cotton.
With this optimistic comment I would now like to open our “Stakeholder Workshop” in
Ouagadougou.
7
Roger Peltzer, Program Director COMPACI
Chers amis, chers collègues,
Cela fait maintenant 4 ans que quelques-uns d'entre nous se sont réunis à l’invitation de Dunavant et
de la DEG dans un colloque à Genève pour discuter ensemble si l’idée du Groupe Otto de créer une
marque pour un coton africain produit selon des critères de durabilité pouvait être réalisée et
conciliée avec les défis et les conditions de production du coton en Afrique.
Je me rappelle encore bien que la réaction immédiate de nos partenaires, à savoir de Monsieur Talon
au Bénin, de Monsieur Diomandé en Côte d’Ivoire et de nos amis de Dunavant à Genève et en
Zambie a été très positive. Le concept de "Cotton made in Africa" fut perçu dès le début comme une
grande chance pour valoriser le coton africain et améliorer son image dans le monde. Et de fait, la
manière dont le coton est produit par les paysans africains est beaucoup plus durable que les
conditions de production de coton dans le reste du monde. "Cotton made in Africa" offre donc une
opportunité énorme pour le communiquer.
Alors qu’en 2005 à Genève, le concept "Cotton made in Africa" n’était qu’une idée, aujourd’hui il est
devenu une réalité. Nous avons fait au cours des 4 dernières années un grand pas en avant.
Aujourd’hui, nous disposons d’une marque qui commence à être connue sur les marchés. Et nous
avons une exigence crédible qui se base sur des critères bien déterminés et sur un système de
vérification indépendant qui marche. En plus, nous avons mis en place un système de
commercialisation et de suivi avec des commerçants, des filatures et des unités de tissage agréés qui
permet de fournir le produit "Cotton made in Africa" à la grande distribution d’une manière efficace
et sans un surcoût important. De cette manière, "Cotton made in Africa" a fait des progrès
considérables en comparaison avec les deux initiatives concurrentes dans le secteur du coton
conventionnel : le coton équitable et l’initiative de BCI, cette dernière n’ayant pas encore placé un
kilogramme de coton sur le marché jusqu’à ce jour.
Avec le concept de "Cotton made in Africa", nous avons aussi pu convaincre tout d’abord le Ministère
allemand de la Coopération et du Développement, ensuite la Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation et
mobiliser des moyens considérables pour accompagner les sociétés de coton et le cultivateur africain
avec des programmes d’encadrement et encourager ainsi l’introduction des critères CmiA lors de la
longue phase d’introduction du coton CmiA sur les marchés.
Mais quels sont les principaux défis à relever aujourd’hui ? "Cotton made in Africa" est une alliance
entre le producteur africain de coton et la grande distribution en Europe et aux Etats-Unis. Il y a des
défis des deux côtés de cette alliance.
Pour nos amis de l’Aid by Trade Foundation - qui sont en charge de la commercialisation - le défi
consiste à augmenter considérablement la quantité des pièces vendues sous la marque "Cotton
made in Africa". Nous devrions parvenir à 6 millions de pièces en 2009 et de 13 millions de pièces
en 2010. C’est déjà une grande réussite et cela correspond à environ 6 à 7.000 tonnes de coton fibre
en 2010. Mais par rapport à la promesse de "Cotton made in Africa" de devenir un produit de grande
distribution, cette quantité est encore très insuffisante.
Nous avons en outre décidé – après de longues discussions – d’introduire dans le concept de "Cotton
made in Africa" le paiement d’un dividende au producteur une fois que nous serons capables de
vendre des quantités suffisantes de "Cotton made in Africa" et d’avoir suffisamment de revenus
venant de "licence fees". Nous avons constaté qu’un tel dividende était nécessaire pour honorer les
efforts additionnels que le producteur et les sociétés de coton doivent déployer pour remplir les
critères CmiA et qu’un tel dividende serait aussi nécessaire pour soutenir des "incentives" (mesures
d'encouragement) en nombre suffisant pour faire perdurer un système d’encadrement de qualité
une fois que les subventions de la Coopération allemande et de la Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
ne seront plus là.
Mais le véritable défi est clairement le suivant : il va falloir vendre 60 à 80 millions de pièces de
vêtements – correspondant à 30 - 40.000 tonnes de coton – pour que le système de "Cotton made in
Africa" soit financièrement autonome et capable de générer un dividende raisonnable pour le
paysan, c’est-à-dire environ 10 % de plus pour son coton graine. Et là nos amis de l'Aid by Trade
Foundation doivent relever le défi, à savoir réaliser cet objectif jusqu’en 2012/2013. Je sais qu’il s’agit
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Roger Peltzer, Program Director COMPACI
d’un objectif extrêmement ambitieux et que nous allons devoir mobiliser toutes nos idées et toutes
nos forces pour que l’Aid by Trade Foundation soit en mesure de le réaliser.
Mais il existe aussi un grand défi de communication pour nos partenaires en Afrique, spécialement
pour les sociétés cotonnières. A l’exception du Bénin, nous avons été jusqu’à présent très prudents
en communicant aux paysans et aux collaborateurs des services d’encadrement le concept et l’idée
de "Cotton made in Africa". Nous avions toujours peur qu’une telle communication fasse naître des
espérances chez les paysans que pour finir, nous ne pourrions pas satisfaire. Je crois qu’il est
maintenant temps de dépasser cette phase de non communication qui est même en contradiction
avec le concept même de "Cotton made in Africa". Au Bénin, nous avons fait de très bonnes
expériences en rassemblant paysans et représentants de la distribution en Europe. Ces derniers ont
montré aux paysans les catalogues avec les vêtements faits avec leur coton. Et cela a été beaucoup
apprécié par les paysans. La rémunération que la femme et l’homme cherchent pour leur travail n’est
pas seulement la quantité d’argent à gagner, mais c’est aussi la reconnaissance de la qualité de leur
travail. La productrice, le producteur veulent être fiers des produits de leurs efforts. Tous ces aspects
reconnaissance, honneur et fierté sont souvent oubliés dans le discours de développement, mais ils
sont extrêmement importants.
Vous allez apprendre dans ce séminaire que nous avons dès maintenant aussi la possibilité
d’accompagner nos efforts destinés à améliorer la productivité avec des projets sur le plan social
spécialement axés sur la scolarisation. C’est pourquoi, je pense que nous pouvons tous commencer à
communiquer le concept "Cotton made in Africa" sur le terrain aux paysans qui participent à la
production de ce coton CmiA. Pourquoi ne pas mettre un petit panneau "Cotton made in Africa" sur
chaque champ de coton des 200 écoles primaires en Zambie, qui vont être prochainement intégrées
dans le programme d’augmentation des rendements ?
En conclusion : le concept "Cotton made in Africa" est suffisamment développé pour que nous
puissions le communiquer d’une manière plus "agressive" sur le terrain. Par contre, je recommande
d’être encore prudent en ce qui concerne la promesse de paiement d’un dividende parce que cela va
encore prendre du temps et surtout il faut que nous soyons bien sûrs d’arriver à nos objectifs de
commercialisation dans les délais prévus.
Laissez-moi terminer avec quelques considérations sur le marché international du coton. Nous et
surtout vous les producteurs africains de coton ne vivons pas sur une île heureuse, détachée du
marché mondial du coton.
Les prix du coton et les cours de change n’étaient pas favorables au coton africain pendant les trois
dernières années. En conséquence, la production cotonnière en Afrique a considérablement baissé.
Pour beaucoup de paysans, le coton n’était plus attractif, des sociétés cotonnières ont en partie
réalisé des pertes importantes ainsi que les commerçants du coton sur le marché international.
Notre projet de "Cotton made in Africa" et le projet Compaci avec la Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
n’échappent pas à cet environnement.
Il semble quand même que les perspectives fondamentales pour le coton se soient plutôt
améliorées. La demande pour le coton comme fibre naturelle va augmenter. Il y a toujours une
préférence pour la fibre naturelle chez une grande partie des consommateurs et de nouvelles
techniques vont permettre aussi d’apporter au coton certaines caractéristiques techniques - comme
la résistance à l’eau - qui sont offertes par la fibre synthétique. Il y a aussi une réduction de la
production cotonnière dans quelques pays importants comme les Etats-Unis. Il en résulte, aux dires
des experts, une faille structurelle entre l’offre et la demande, ce qui devrait soutenir les prix du
coton à moyen et à long terme. Et dans ce contexte de ressources limitées en terres agricoles dans le
monde, le potentiel du producteur africain devrait être mieux valorisé dans le futur.
Il me semble que non seulement nous avons avec "Cotton made in Africa" un bon concept et avec le
programme "Compaci" un outil fiable pour mettre en œuvre une amélioration de la productivité chez
le producteur africain, mais que les données du marché mondial jouent aussi en faveur du coton
africain. C’est donc avec cette note optimiste que j’ouvre nos débats du "Stakeholder Workshop" à
Ouagadougou.
9
For the speeches of Mr. Richard Roger (Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation) and Francois Traoré,
President of the "Union Nationale des Producteurs de Coton du Burkina" (UNPCB) no written texts
are available.
En ce qui concerne les discours de Mr. Richard Roger (Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation) et Francois
Traoré, President de l´ "Union Nationale des Producteurs de Coton du Burkina" (UNPCB) il n 'a y pas
des textes écrites.
10
Program
17/11/09 Tue
Topic
Advisory Board
18/11/09 Wed
Date
Field Visit
Visit Ouagadougou
Gala Dinner
Time
09:00- 12:00
09:00-12:00
12:00 - 13:00
14:00 - 17:00
20:00 - 22:00
07:55 start
13:00 - 14:00
14:00 - 18:00
19:00 - 22:00
08:30 - 09:00
19/11/09 Thu
Content
Meeting of the Advisory Board
Visit Loango
Lunch Break
Guided Tour
Dinner in restaurant Gondwana
Field Visit
Lunch Break
Field Visit
Participants
All interested
All interested
All Groups
Roger Peltzer (DEG, Project Director COMPACI)
09:00 - 10:30
CmiA update: Achievements and challenges; Q&A
Christian Barthel (AbTF Global Sourcing)
Christoph Kaut (AbTF Development Policy)
10:30 - 11:00
Tea Break
11:00 - 12:00
COMPACI update: Achievements and challenges; Q&A
12:00 - 13:00
13:00 - 14:00
REWE Sustainability Strategy - a brief overview; Q&A
Lunch Break
Ayka Spinning: Experience working with CmiA / Ayka manufacturing
in Ethiopia; Q&A
Working Groups (part 1)
Stakeholder
Workshop (Day 1)
Roger Peltzer (Project Director COMPACI)
Wolfgang Bertenbreiter (GTZ, COMPACI)
Markus Geibel (DEG, COMPACI)
Torsten Stau (Textiles & Commodity Manager, REWE Group)
Tanju Kavlakli (Chief Representative, Ayka Tekstil)
All Groups
Rudy v.Gent (for Peter Aagaard, CFU, Zambia)
Melchior Landot (ALDC, Zood Nooma Burkina Faso)
Alifa Mahamat (Sodecoton, Cameroon)
Ben Sekamate (Dunavant, Uganda)
Christoph Kaut (AbTF, Head Development Policy)
Caroline Peyre (Programme Manager, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe);
Imorou Ali (Technical Advisor, GTZ Benin), et al.
1) Conservation Farming: Experience in Western and Southern Africa
15:00 - 16:00
2) CmiA and Social Projects: Experience in Burkina Faso and Benin
and future Challenges and Opportunities
16:00 - 16:30
16:30 - 18:00
20/11/09 Fri
Aid by Trade Foundation (Dr. Johannes Merck)
Minister for Agriculture, Laurent Gouindé Sedogo
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Richard Rogers)
Francois Traoré (UNPCB)
Introduction to the Stakeholder Workshop
14:00 - 15:00
20:00 -21:30
08.30-10.30
11:00 -13.30
13.30-14.30
Stakeholder
Workshop (Day 2)
Speakers
Members of AB only
14.30 - 17:00
Tea Break
Working Groups (part 2)
1) as above
2) as above
Dinner
Credit Schemes: CmiA Country Experiences, Côte D'Ivoire
Ginnery Audit and CmiA Verification, Lessons learnt so far
Lunch Break
Working Groups
1) ICRW: Presentation of Gender Design Study
2) NORC: Presentation of Design Study Impact Assessment
17:00 - 18:00
Conclusion
20:00 - 21:30
Dinner / Farewell
as above
Vamissa Diomandé (Ivoire Coton); Imourou Ali (GTZ Benin); Gracious Hamatala
Sascha Sobek and Anja Meinecke (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
All interested
1) Rehka Mehra, Jennifer Schulte (ICRW, US)
2) Eric Weiss (NORC, US)
Christoph Kaut (AbTF Development Policy)
Roger Peltzer (Project Director COMPACI)
11
Contributions
Title
CmiA update: Achievements and challenges
Speakers
Christoph Kaut (AbTF Development Policy)Christian Barthel (AbTF Global Sourcing),
Stephan Engel (AbTF Sales & Marketing)
The process and development of the initiative Cotton made in Africa (launched and
managed by the Aid by Trade Foundation located in Hamburg) is brought out. The
presentation is divided in the following parts: Philosophy & Structure, Development Policy,
Global Sourcing Support and Marketing & Sales.
Scope
Discussion/ Q&A
Question:
What is the purpose of the license fees: should it be utilized for marketing efforts in order
to increase demand for CmiA? Or are the revenues dedicated to increase the farmers’
income respectively to finance social projects in the CmiA cotton growing regions? The
objectives seem to be somewhat contradictory. A more systematic way would be to invest
in marketing so that ultimately demand and prices for the farmer increase.
Answer:
CmiA is a new and original label concept, which combines notions of origin and social
claims. It is in between purely qualitative and origin labels like Cotton made in the USA and
the fair trade concept. The license fee therefore has to serve in the medium and long term
both purposes – reinforcement of the marketing and creating welfare for the farmers – at
the same time. The latter one is also quite important in relation to public communication.
Question:
It would be highly to the benefit of the African Economies, if the concept Cotton made in
Africa could be further developed to a concept “Textile made in Africa”.
Answer:
Up to know the supply chain is as such, that African countries are rarely competitive, when
it comes to produce efficiently over the whole supply chain. This is also due to the fact,
that the countries normally don’t have local supplies for all accessories, which are
necessary for an industry to reply immediately to incoming orders. Furthermore the
necessary infrastructure is lacking in most places.
However strategically Cotton made in Africa has Africa as a production location in mind.
With the Ayka-Group a first textile completely made in Africa (Ethiopia) could be realized.
Further opportunities will be carefully analyzed and taken into consideration, when
possible.
Question:
I remember still very well the first discussion we held on the concept on Cotton made in
Africa in 2005 in Geneva. Already at this occasion we discussed the potential benefit of
GMO cotton for the African Farmer. When I hear now, that the CmiA farmer can earliest
count with a dividend payment in 2012/2013 I demand myself, whether the alternative
GMO cotton is not far more attractive. We saw yesterday a GMO cotton field, which will
produce 1.7000 kg cotton. In average the farmer´s productivity with GMO seems to
increase by 25 – 30% in Burkina Faso. This is much more than we can expect from CmiA. So
why does GMO cotton remain excluded from CmiA?
It has also to be remarked, that the Burkina GMO cotton hast been developed on the basis
of local varieties, that it can be reutilized after one season and that Burkina Faso still has
property rights in it.
Answer:
GMO for the time being is rejected by most of the European consumers. CmiA furthermore
risks having powerful NGO campaigns against it, if we go for the time being for the
marketing for GMO cotton. This is why Aid by Trade Foundation voted a three year
moratorium with respect to GMO cotton. In the same time however we commissioned
studies, to analyze exactly the results GMO-cotton brings in Burkina Faso in comparison to
conventional cotton. If this studies confirm systematically, what we have seen yesterday,
then this will have certainly an influence on the public discussion in Europe and thus on
12
Contributions
the future attitude of the Aid by Trade Foundation.
Another challenge is to develop the US-market for CmiA. There we don’t have the negative
attitude to GMO. So a strong position of CmiA in the US-market could help CmiA not to
depend only on the public opinion in Europe.
Question:
The Compaci program and the CmiA verification do foresee very strict guidelines and
obligation for the local cotton companies to follow. Are there similar obligations from the
marketing side with respect to specific objectives to be achieved in marketing of CmiA?
And is the implementation of these objectives similarly closely monitored like the
implementation of the Compaci program in the ground?
Answer:
This is a very valid point. And we will have to make sure, that there will be always also a
precise reporting on the progress in the marketing side to the whole stakeholder
community.
File name of
presentation
CmiA.pdf
13
Contributions
Title
COMPACI update: Achievements and challenges
Speakers
Scope
Roger Peltzer (Project Director COMPACI), Markus Geibel (DEG, COMPACI)
An overview is given about the scope of the COMPACI project including the contractual
and management structure as well as the 6 sub-grantees and consultant services that are
involved in COMPACI. Challenges and future steps in COMPACI are outlined.
Discussion/ Q&A
Questions:
There are 4 important questions for the marketing side of COMPACI to answer:
1) Strategy to market the cotton (Clear value proposition, e.g. “Improve lives”))
2) Assumptions underlying that strategy must be clear (e.g. transparent value chain)
3) Do operations reinforce that strategy?
4) Who is the ultimate customer? (Transparency not only to the end consumers but also
to the farmers)
Comment to above question:
There is a continuous work on the market strategy and the value proposition. It will be
furthermore refined.
The Aid by Trade Foundation is managed in a transparent way. Financial data is available
to all stakeholders. It hast to be considered, whether this data can and should be also
published to the public.
Comment:
It is important to point out the contributions of all partners including the retailers.
The outputs 1-3 of the COMPACI program that focus on the cotton production side are
clear but the output of retailers (Output 4 of the COMPACI program) are not clearly
outlined
Should be made clear what producers expect from retailers
Comment:
One stakeholder is missing: The governments of the COMPACI/CmiA-countries. They
should become part of the program in order to lessen distortions (risk!)
Comment :
The retailers’ (and their suppliers’) task is to create products desirable to the end
consumer. A clear and transparent value proposition is therefore the key for a successful
marketing.
Comment:
It is a continuous effort/challenge to make CmiA known to the producers and there is
the need for different strategies in different end consumer markets.
Important are the following features: Understandable message, give the LOHAS more
background information, simple answers/stories and a beautiful product.
Marketing should be part of the retailers’ job
File name of
presentation
COMPACI.pdf
14
Contributions
Title
REWE Sustainability Strategy - a brief overview
Speakers
Scope
Torsten Stau (Textiles & Commodity Manager, REWE Group)
REWE Group builds their sustainability strategy on 4 pillars (as you can see in the
presentation). The textile business follows 3 different sustainability strategies due to
different costumer focus. Cotton made in Africa will be the key sustainable element with
min. 15 % share on total volume.
Discussion/ Q&A
The big issue of Organic Cotton is raised by the audience. One attendee points out
that in his view organic cotton is not sustainable.
Organic Cotton for REWE comes mostly from India and is very much asked in babyand home textiles (7%).
Is it not too complicated to have three different sustainable strategies (1200
styles)?
No, because textile and vegetable are the first key elements regarding
sustainability.
The advantage of CmiA for REWE´s sustainable products is basically, that they can
sell for the same price.
REWE could also produce Q-Tips made by CmiA-cotton in the future.
Regarding sustainability REWE also sells FSC-certified wood, and MSC-certified fish.
File name of
presentation
REWE.pdf
15
Contributions
Title
Ayka Spinning: Experience working with CmiA / Ayka manufacturing in Ethiopia;
Q&A
Speakers
Scope
Tanju Kavlakli (Ayka Turkey), Kursat Cetinkoz for (Ayka Ethiopia)
Ayka is a Turkish based vertical set up ready garment producer and a partner to the CmiA
initiative since more than two years. Ayka was looking for new investment opportunities
all over the world and found the best conditions in Ethiopia. Ayka is investing in a vertical
operation in Ethiopia. The spinning mill is ready and operating already. During the
stakeholder workshop, Ayka introduces both, the Turkish and the Ethiopian operation.
Discussion/ Q&A
Question:
Are there any accessories, printing and stitching facilities available in Ethiopia?
Answer:
Yes, there are. A big part of the production of accessories will be done by Ayka themselves.
Question:
Was the AGOA agreement with the US a reason for the investment in Ethiopia?
Answer:
Yes, it was one but not the only reason.
Question:
Does Ayka pay the salaries on a level above or below the average income?
Answer:
All people are very happy to work at Ayka and receive their salaries on time. No
complaints about the height of the salaries were heard. Salaries are on the medium level
to keep the balance of the region.
Question: Will you have weaving machines in the future?
Answer: There are no plans for weaving machines yet. The home-textiles will be produced
in knitted fabrics.
Question:
What is the yearly capacity of cotton usage?
Answer:
The capacity will be around 5000 to 6000 tons of cotton annually. The local cotton has
been purchased from 3 – 6 regions of Ethiopia. Today Ayka in total has purchased about
900 tons of CmiA project cotton.
Question:
Would Ayka also be willing to invest in the development of the local cotton production?
Answer:
Yes, Ayka would be willing to deal with any serious partner in the development of the local
cotton and would also invest in it.
Remark by one of the listeners:
I hope that Burkina Faso will open up for foreign direct investments the way Ethiopia has
done. A big step of development would be done then!
Conclusions/
recommend.
The retailers visiting the meeting were expressing their interest in the operation of Ayka in
Ethiopia. In the context of CmiA, it was recognized as a good opportunity to keep the
supply chain as a big part in Africa.
Ayka plans for April 16th 2010, a big opening ceremony in Addis Abeba, where some of the
partners of CmiA accepted to join already.
Ayka.pdf
File name of
presentation
16
Contributions
Title
Speakers
Scope
Working Group 1: Conservation Farming: Experience in Western and Southern
Africa
Melchior Landot (ALDC, Zood Nooma Burkina Faso), Alifa Mahamat (Sodecoton, Camerun),
Ben Sekamate (Dunavant, Uganda), Rudy v.Gent (for Peter Aagaard, CFU, Zambia)
Three experiences on conservation measures related to cotton production have been
presented.
1. Zambia: Addressing declining productivity and the threat of climate change with
conservation agriculture
2. Cameroon: Conservation farming in Northern Cameroon - from water harvesting
to direct-seeding, mulch-based cropping systems.
3. Burkina Faso: Conservation Farming experience in Burkina Faso
A fourth presentation from Uganda complemented the previous presentations with
aspects related to organic cotton farming and related social projects.
The decline in soil fertility and loss of soil has been addressed by all presentations and
their impact on cotton production but also on crop production in general and the
livelihood of peasant farmers have been illustrated. The participants addressed the
different methods applicable under different agro-ecological, socio-economic and policy
framework conditions and constraints as well as the suggestion of possible solutions. The
various measures presented could possibly be organized in three groups.
1. Good agricultural practices, like early planting and weeding, crop rotation, …
2. Specific measures to improve soil and water conservation, while there are
techniques specifically addressing erosion control, water harvesting and
improvements of soil texture and fertility as well as combinations of both.
3. Combination of methods addressing climate change issues either in an adaptive or
preventive way (examples from Burkina Faso and Zambia)
Overview of some soil and water conservation measures presented
Crop rotation (legumes > 30%) Ripping
Rotation de cultures (> 30 % de Travail/labour à sec
légumineuses)
Erosion control (stone bands)
Contrôle d’érosion (cordons
pierreux)
Early planting
Semis précoce
« pot holes »
« zai »
Bandes végétalisées
Vegetalized contour rows
(Early) Weeding practices
Désherbage précoce
Direct seeding
Semis direct
Cover crops
Plantes de couverture
Organic manure/fertilizer
Fumure organique
Mulching
Paillage
Intercropping
Cultures associées
Agroforestry
Agroforesterie
Discussion /Q&A
During the discussion especially land preparation techniques (plowing, ripping, minimum
tillage, ripping, pot holing/”zai” as well as zero tillage and direct seeding have been
controversially discussed as to the experiences gained and the feasibility in different
countries. Some of the methods are applicable on smaller areas but less feasible for larger
areas (e.g. pot holing or hand hoeing is OK on smaller surfaces and tractorized ripping
would be an option on larger fields, combined with chemical weed control).
Soil erosion control through contour stone lines has provided positive results in Burkina
Faso but has been less appreciated in Côte d’Ivoire and is muss less used in participating
countries from eastern and southern Africa. Transport logistics and the cost of transport of
stones from collection sites to the field are some of the limiting factors and have been
funded from project resources. Reducing erosion can also be addressed through improved
17
Contributions
soil cover (cover crops, mulching, minimum or zero tillage and direct seeding) as the
examples from Zambia and Cameroon showed.
The use of organic fertilizer has been unanimously accepted for promotion in conservation
farming and different methods are proposed for its production. Best practices for
production, transport and field application should be shared.
Generally, it was agreed that best practices (“proved” methods) would need to be
identified which are suitable for the different agro-ecological and socio-economic
conditions. The proposed exchange of experiences is a first step.
Two more general issues have been raised which oppose the larger adoption of soil and
water conservation techniques:
The mindset of the farmer (and of extension staff) and ignorance of alternative
methods
Policy framework conditions, like subsidies, incentives, available inputs and land
tenure
Conclusions/
recommend.
The first issue can be addressed through training and extension supported by appropriate
extension tools and didactical material and CmiA and COMPACI will contribute to this. It
has been suggested that the mindset is also a result of previous and recent policies. This
issue is more complex and would need to be analyzed in more detail when looking at the
prospective for up scaling conservation farming in cotton production and lessons might be
learned from Zambia the ambitious objective is to reach 250,000 farmers until 2011
(120,000 today). The up scaling of good agricultural practices and conservation farming
requires and offers also business opportunities for service providers (e.g. land preparation
and weeding). Incentive systems for agricultural extension staff like those portrayed in the
latest COMPACI newsletter in Côte d’Ivoire by Ivoire Coton could be used an example to be
adapted and adopted in other contexts.
The link of soil and water conservation with climate change could not be addressed in the
discussion.
Promotion of SWC in cotton farming – road map/next steps
What to achieve
Until when or When to do it
Complete the documentation
of the workshop (send
abstracts of one to two pages
maximum)
Explore more the experiences
in other countries specially
with regard to:
Erosion control
Ripping
Pot holing
Organic manure
Organize regional/thematic
workshops on SWC
To be sent latest by 4
December 2009
th
Who does it (lead)
Who assist/contributes
Each presenter,
facilitated/coordinated by
documentation team
Within the next two month,
until end of January 2010
All those involved in the
promotion of SWC facilitated
by Rudy van Gent (southern
and eastern Africa) and Stefan
Kachelriess-Matthess
(francophone West Africa)
To be determined, probably
two regional thematic WS in
2010
Facilitated by Rudy van Gent
(southern and eastern Africa)
and Stefan KachelriessMatthess (francophone West
Africa)
The regional thematic workshops should focus on “hands on” experience and be limited in
terms of number participants.
A community of practice for the exchange of experiences and the promotion of soil and
water conservation has been proposed and contact persons for each participating country
have been identified.
18
Contributions
File names of
presentations
Zambia
Uganda
Malawi
Gracious
HAMATALA
Emmanuel
MBEWE
Vishnu GIRI
Ben
SEKAMATTE
Spencer
ZINYEMBA
Côte
d’Ivoire
Aba ACHI
Bénin
Burkina Faso
Younoussa
Ali IMOROU
Emilienne
GUIRÉ
Adama
YAMEOGO
Ouesséni
TRAORÉ
Activities within this group will be linked with activities and results from the verification
and the M&E team. The possibility of establishing an exchange platform related to the
cotton university (“Université de cotton”) will be explored.
Experiences which could also be shared within this community of practice in future are
good agricultural practices related to integrated pest management (IPM), credit schemes
and general issues in organization and setup of agricultural extension services within the
scope of COMPACI.
Conservation farming Burkina Faso.pdf
Conservation farming Cameroon.pdf
Conservation farming Uganda.pdf
Conservation farming Zambia.pdf
! Detailed summaries of each presentation elaborated by the speakers are also stored on the DVD as
Agriculture de conservation au Burkina Faso.doc
Conservation farming in Northern Cameroon.doc
Conservation agriculture in Uganda.doc
Conservation agriculture in Zambia.doc
19
Contributions
Title
Speakers
Scope
Discussion /Q&A
File names of
presentations
Working Group 2: CmiA and Social Projects: Experience in Burkina Faso and Benin
and future Challenges and Opportunities
Christoph Kaut (Head Development Policy AbTF), Caroline Peyre (Chargée des
Programmes, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe), Imorou Ali (Technical Advisor, GTZ Benin)
Christoph Kaut presents the systematics and implementation of social projects by the
AbTF. Caroline Peyre introduces the pilot social project in Burkina Faso, an adult literacy
program for 5000 CmiA-smallholders in cooperation with the NGO Organic. The third
presentation by Imourou Ali is about a project in Benin. 10000 school uniforms were
produced for children of CmiA smallholders. This project was initiated by local farmers and
is co-financed by the farmers, the ginning mill ICA, GTZ and AbTF.
The presentations of the social projects, which are under way in Burkina Faso an Benin
basically revealed the following questions
Questions
a) Who are the beneficiaries of these projects? Only the CmiA cotton farmers and their
families? Or the whole community in the CmiA cotton region?
b) Should the social projects be designed in a way, that they give farmers an additional
motivation to participate in CmiA?
c) When one sees, that the needs for improvement of primary schools in the cotton
growing areas are enormous, it hast to be asked, whether the social projects can have
some visible impact on this situation?
Answers
CmiA is still in the beginning with the implementation of social projects. There is still a lot
to be learned and there is not one solution which fits for all situations. The single projects
are also driven by the proposals of the local partners.
A few elements are however important:
a) There is a growing interest of retailers to participate in social projects apart and above
the license fee they pay for CmiA.
b) Social projects should focus on primary schools and alphabetization. This has an
immediate impact on the claim of CmiA.
c) CmiA needs a good investment – benefit relation. Thus low cost measures, which have a
broad impact, are preferred against capital intensive investments like building new
schools.
Social projects 1.pdf
Social projects 2.pdf
School uniforms Benin.pdf
20
Contributions
Title
Credit Schemes: CmiA Country Experiences
Speakers
Imourou Ali (GTZ Benin); Vamissa Diomandé (Ivoire Coton); Gracious Hamatala (Dunavant
Zambia)
An overview is given about the use of credits by smallholder cotton farmers in the project
countries Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia. The credits are used to facilitate land
preparation by financing draft animals and plowing devices (Benin and Côte d’Ivoire) as
well as tractors (Zambia). Country experience concerning prefinancing, lending system and
loan repayments are presented.
Question:
What is the national policy on loans in Côte D’Ivoire considering the fact that a private
company is giving out loans and not a registered MFI?
Answer
As the cotton companies are traditionally concerned with the prefinancing of farmers, no
objections have been raised so far by the banking authority with respect to the ochsen
financing facility.
Question:
Is the loan policy of Ivoire Coton sustainable?
Answer:
Interest rate: The BCEAO (West African Central Bank) refinancing rate is at 5%, the
inflation currently at 4%. Ivoire Coton can get bank finance at 6 – 7 % p.a. Therefore an
interest rate of 11- 12 % to the farmers corresponds to a real interest rate of 7 – 8 %. If
loan losses can be limited to less than 5% (what is the case), the ochsen financing program
of Ivoire Coton is financially viable.
Loan sum:
Only farmers with min. 4 ha of cotton can get draft animal credit Calculation:
100.000 FCFA (= 150 EUR) per ha for inputs
150.000 FCFA (= 225 EUR) for draft animals and equipment
Total: 250.000 FCFA (=375 EUR)
A farmer should be able to repay the loan with 1.3 ha of cotton (1.200 kg/ha)
Comment Zambia:
There is a need for service providing farmers in rural areas.
If farmers are enabled to provide additional services, this increases cash income of farmer
in order to repay loan.
In rural areas of Zambia there are hardly any financial institutions implied in providing
loans to farmers. One solution might be to supply loans to experienced famers, who then
provide services to surrounding farmers on a credit basis to be repaid with the crop.
Question regarding the presentation from Benin:
The structure seems very complicated: Who is going to manage all these players and who
is going to be responsible for the monitoring of the loans?
Answer:
The structure will be refined and carefully tested.
Question:
OLAM’s challenge in Côte d’Ivoire is the repayment of loans. Which mechanisms does
Ivoire Coton use to manage repayments?
Answer:
1) Annual repayment with delivery of cotton
2) Selection and follow-up with farmers is key
3) The cooperative structure of the producer groups is helpful although the “Caution
Solidaire” has been abolished.
Question:
Why did Ivoire Coton shift from group to individual accountability?
Scope
Discussion
/Q&A
21
Contributions
Conclusions/
recommend.
File names of
presentations
Answer:
Experienced that good farmers left the system as they had to pay for bad repayment
performance of bad farmers.
Comment:
80-90% of MFIs in Africa only do trade finance for a few weeks or months. In agriculture
we need >1 year finance. As most MFIs refrain from taking this risk, farmers often have no
alternative. Furthermore, interest rates should be reasonable, because an agricultural
investment cannot not pay in average interest rates of 25 – 30 %.
The three presentations show three different models of credit schemes:
1) Ivoire Coton actually serves as a large micro credit bank for the farmers – probably one
the largest in rural areas in SSA. Their key success factors are: high repayment
rates, Know the business and the needs of the farmers, select the customer well,
close follow-up in the field.
2) Benin: only started but AIC has the advantage of 2 MFIs belonging to cotton farmers.
The system is strongly based upon the farmer cooperatives and intends to
introduce cooperation with local cooperative banks (Difference to pure micro
banks: Cooperative banks mobilize funds through savings from their memberfarmers)
3) Dunavant Zambia focuses on the build-up of tractor service providers with intentions:
(1) Reduce risk of pre-financing: Increase cash income of the credit recipient to
repay loan and (2) High outreach: Help other farmers to get early services
(planting etc.)
Credit schemes Benin.pdf
Credit schemes Ivoire Coton.pdf
Credit schemes Tractor lease programme Zambia.pdf
22
Contributions
Titel
Ginnery Audit and CmiA Verification, Lessons learnt so far
Speakers
Scope
Sascha Sobek and Anja Meinecke (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
The presentation is divided in the following parts: Verification Governance, Timeline
Verification 2009-2012, Overview verification life-cycle (Responsibility of the Management
Entity within the verification; Complaint mechanism), Continuous Improvement Process,
Insights conducted Ginnery Verification
Discussion /Q&A
Questions and comments regarding the Verification itself:
What are examples for critical findings?
Worst case of child labour and the use of certain pesticides belong to the exclusion criteria
for example.
PwC adapts its work on site to the cotton calendar.
We will know more about the costs of CmiA Verification after the completion of the first
third party Verification. Current estimates are around 1 US-Dollar per smallholder per
year. For the time being AbTF pays for the CmiA Verification.
Interviews on different levels guarantee a cross-check (e.g. minimum wages and labour
contracts are considered). Methods are not only developed to point out the issues of
matter but to solve problems. Different practices can be shared between the management
units.
Third party verification will be done in West Africa utilizing Ecocert and Africert. Both
companies are independent verifiers.
The CmiA criteria matrix was agreed upon by all CmiA stakeholders during the past
stakeholder workshop in Hamburg in December 2008. The criteria matrix will be adjusted
based on the findings of the first third party verification.
A lot of different labels on the market claim to sell sustainable cotton, but only CmiA
requires an independent verification on farm and ginnery level.
Questions and comments regarding additional costs:
Who takes the costs when you realize problems? Solving problems always means new
investment for the ginnery (new techniques). Who will support the additional investment?
Improvement does not come without investment!
Comments regarding dust:
There are two types of dust. Ginning produces dust everywhere in the world, but Africa
has got the highest dust rate. But whatever investment would not solve the dust problem!
More important is the approval of safety for the workers!
Conclusions/
recommend.
File name of
presentation
Still some critical issues have to be addressed:
1. Working hours: The ILO does not allow working 7 days per week for 3 month. This has
to be changed within the next two years. One day off per week is a must.
2. The dust problem has not been defined yet. What type of dust is acceptable?
How to finance additional investment?
PWC.pdf
23
Contributions
Title
Working Group 1: ICRW: Presentation of Gender Design Study
Speakers
Scope
Rehka Mehra, Jennifer Schulte (ICRW)
The ICRW-Team presented first results of the study on how increasing women’s
participation does contribute to success of COMPACI program.
Résumé of francophone sub group following the presentation on gender issues in
COMPACI
The presentation of the gender team has been appreciated and participants have been
invited to comment and give their point of view or comment on what they found most
interesting/striking
Women play a major role in cotton production in West Africa, but are underrepresented in
leading positions.
It was generally criticized, that the gender study didn’t properly reflect the role of women
in the rural household of Sahel countries and the specific distribution of duties and income
in these families. While the man gets the income of the cash income, he has to bear
specific cost like schooling, medical treatment, funerals, and celebrations. The women
have income from vegetable gardens, milk production and often certain cotton plots
assigned to them. The income is basically utilized to feed the family. There was a general
consent in the group that one would have to be very careful in “interfering” in this
traditional scheme of family organization. Any gender strategy has to be carefully designed
according to the prevailing patterns in the different countries and regions.
Women farmers are often “good adopters” of promoted production methods although not
always being direct participants of specific training (courses), indicating information
exchange between couples. It is acknowledged that some women farmers (cases from
Benin) even perform better than male colleagues.
Women have been “deliberately excluded” from cotton production due the hard work and
handling of pesticides, and participants even felt that cotton production is not specifically
suited to female farmers.
Next steps
Attention should be made for the writing of the final report that the specific
context is appreciated and that the evolution of realties is portrayed.
The findings are shared amongst the CmiA units, beginning of 2010 and comments
and feedback should be given by country to the gender team via the management
team.
Final conclusions for project implementation are then formulated.
A common strategy with adaptations to socio-economic context of each CmiA unit
is then formulated.
Discussion/ Q&A
Conclusions/
recommend.
Summary of the Anglophone sub group:
Question:
What the income of women is spent on compared to men?
Answer:
Received a broad range of responses and qualitative information but women
proportionally spend more on children’s nutrition and health than men.
Comment:
Gates stresses the focus on women as they experienced that projects often fail as training
is only targeted at men, while women are doing the job. Gender focus is important to
impact income increase of households.
Question:
It is difficult for cotton companies to change gender relations in households. How to do it?
Answer:
Some answers given in the presentation, e.g. more female extension staff as mind set at
24
Contributions
the beginning.
Comments:
In Uganda there are often also children-headed households, families broke where wives
took more responsibility, mixed experience with women extensions staff.
Dunavant Zambia experienced big challenges as some male trainers left the project as
soon as female trainers joined. Incorporated gender aspects in their statistics. Dunavant
now focuses also on women training as they experienced that there is no real handover of
men to women when the first participated in the training but cotton farming is both their
business.
Question:
Should there be different actions in different countries?
Answer:
From entry point countries are different but for all is the key: giving access to training for
women.
Comment:
More female extension staff for more women training is most promising. One good
example at GLCC where one lady is getting others for women training.
Question:
Do women have less access to credits as they are more risk-averse?
Answer: No, the reason is that women do not have access to credits as they are not the
landowners but their husbands.
Comment from Zambia:
Less access of women is also because of religious and cultural reasons, which is very
difficult to overcome. The only alternative is to address women explicitly for special
women training.
Question:
Is literacy of women an issue for access to credits?
Answer:
No, women find their way to get access.
Question:
Where should a 100$ to be spent on for biggest leverage?
Answer:
Of course education helps women to increase access to credits but many other things are
important, too.
Question:
What can Dunavant Zambia do in practical?
Answer Zambia:
Begin with a structured gender policy following ICRW’s recommendations, recruiting
female staff, targeting women groups, which are existing as they promise the biggest
impact.
Question:
Is the situation different in organic cotton production?
Answer Uganda:
Yes, e.g. more women are scouting, spraying (pesticides not harmful) opposed to
conventional.
Question:
Does it not constitute additional work for women if they have to attend more training?
Answer:
No. It is leverage. Women are rationalizing and optimizing their
resources under constraints.
File name of
presentation
ICRW.pdf
25
Contributions
Titel
Working Group 2: NORC: Presentation of Design Study Impact Assessment
Speakers
Scope
Eric Weiss (NORC)
The presentation is divided into the following parts: M&E system objectives, system
design, implementation model (Norc roles and responsibilities, local partners´ roles, data
paths in the M&E system), data collection methods (quantitative surveys, qualitative focus
groups), special M&E considerations, data integration and interpretation, schedule for
M&E activities.
Question:
This is an enormous program. Can we know what will be the cost of the M&E exercise?
Answer:
The cost is around 2,8 Mio USD. The program is designed as such, that Norc will
systematically train local research institutions and local cotton experts. It will also rely on
the utilization of focus groups interviews, which are less costly then quantative surveys. So
it is planned, that M&E can be continued at a much lesser cost once the Gates Financing is
not more available.
In general M&E has to be seen as a big opportunity to learn on the Compaci-program
impact. That can and will help in the future design of extension services and programs.
Question:
How we can make sure, that the collection of all the required data doesn't overload the
management of the cotton companies with too much "bureaucratic" work?
Answers:
There are two answers:
- Compaci Management will make sure, that data collection within the normal "Gates
Subgrantee Reporting", within Verification and within M&E is streamlined, so that basically
the same data set can be utilized of all theses purposes.
- The quantitative surveys and the focus groups interviews are done by local research
institutions. They should not have to rely too much on the logistics of the cotton
companies.
Discussion /Q&A
File name of
presentation
NORC.pdf
26
List of participants
Surname
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
Achi
Alifa
Arbenz
Barthel
Belem
Bertenbreiter
Cavalleri
Cetinkoz
Chipungu
Christ
Cook
Diomandé
Dreikauss
Earlam
Engel
Gagnon
Geibel
Guiré
Giri
Gudz
Hamatala
Isherwood
Kaboré
KachelriessMatthess
Kaut
Kavlaki
Keller
Kokoyè
Lamb
Landolt
Leynaert
Lohrie
Lutz
Malloum
Mbewe
Mdaihli
Mehra
Meijering
Meinecke
Merck
Mockewitz
Motley
Möhring
First name
Aba
Mahamat
Curt
Christian
Monsieur
Wolfgang
David
Kürsat
Amos
Marco
Davon
Vamissa
Mona
Nick
Stephan
Baerthélémy
Markus
Emiliènne
Vishnu
Stephen
Gracious
Antony William
Azarata
Organisation
Ivoire Coton
Sode Coton
Reinhart
AbTF
Faso Coton
GTZ
Dunavant
Ayka
GLCC
DEG
BMGF
Ivoire Coton
Otto
Plexus
AbTF
AIC Benin
DEG
Faso Coton
Dunavant
CLUSA
Dunavant
Telkomsa
GTZ
E-mail
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Stefan, Dr.
Christoph
Tanju
Peter
Senou Jean
Chloe
Melchior
Marc
Achim
Paul
Ibrahim
Emmanuel
Marina
Rekha
Daniël
Anja
Johannes, Dr.
Lara
Chris
Ute
GTZ
AbTF
Ayka
GTZ
AIC Benin
McKinsey
Terra-Verde
Faso Coton
Tchibo
GTZ
Somdiaa
Cargill
GTZ
ICRW
DWHH
PwC
AbTF
AbTF
1888mills
BMZ
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
vamissa_DIOMANDE/[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
27
List of participants
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
Neubert
Neumann
Okbay-Reichert
Patel
Peltzer
Peyre
Rogers
Sabel-Koschella
Salcedo
Sawadogo
Schneider
Schulte
Sekamatte
Sobek
Sourabie
Stau
Talon
Traoré
Van Gent
Weiss
Yaméogo
Younoussa
Zinyemba
Susanne
Robert
Ulrike
Ravi
Roger
Caroline
Richard
Ulrich, Dr.
Peter
Oscar
Sarah
Jennifer
Ben
Sascha
Ibrahim
Torsten
Jean-Claude
Ousseini
Rudy
Eric
Adama
Imorou Ali
Spencer
NORC
Delikatessen
Otto
Dunavant
DEG
DWHH
BMGF
GTZ
Plexus
Zood-Nooma
GTZ
ICRW
Consultant
PwC
WACIP
REWE
ICA
Faso Coton
GTZ
NORC
Faso Coton
GTZ
GLCC
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
28