Togo: Cotton Output Surges but Farmers Remain Unsatisfied

Agriculture

Wednesday, 05 June 2024 18:40

Togo: Cotton Output Surges but Farmers Remain Unsatisfied

(Togo First) - Togo's 2023/2024 cotton season has come to a close. Compared to the previous season, output and yield, respectively, stood at 67,718 tonnes and 844 kilograms per hectare, up 45%.

According to Olam, all regions of Togo saw their performance improve, generating gross revenues in a surplus of CFA20 billion. However, farmers are not pleased.

"We've been watching Olam for over three years, and right now, it doesn't give us the confidence to be with them moving forward," said Koussouwè Kouroufei, president of the Fédération Nationale des Groupements de Producteurs de Coton (FNGPC).

The organization regroups five regional Unions for 27 prefectural Unions with 3075 producer groups, totaling 153,000 cotton growers.

Kouroufei complained that compared with other countries such as Chad and Côte d'Ivoire, where Olam is said to have significantly increased yields, results in Togo are far from expectations, stagnating at between 600 and 700 kilograms per hectare.

He also complained about stagnant yields well below expectations, unexplained debt increase, and chronic delays in distributing essential inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.

"And worse still, they hang debts on the federation every campaign, without us knowing where these debts come from," the FNGPC’s boss added.

Olam took over Togo’s Cotton Company, Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT), in 2020. Its arrival was expected to have led to output doubling but the Asian group failed to meet expectations. Except this year, the output has declined steadily since Olam came.

"We, the farmers, that's our job and we've already started planting. Olam wasn't there, we were producing, so even if he leaves or stays, we're still going to produce. As head of the federation, we've already given instructions to our fellow growers to prepare the fields, and we're encouraging them to start sowing. The problems are there, but we reassure them that solutions will be found as they come," Koussouwè Kouroufei told Agridigitale.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

REFORMS OVERVIEW

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At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

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In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

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