Togolese Cotton Sector Stakeholders Visit Burkina Faso

Togolese farmers, policy makers, and other stakeholders from the Togolese cotton sector recently attended a three-day tour of Burkina Faso Bt cotton fields in the largest cotton growing regions of Bobo-Dioulasso and Boucle du Mouhoun from October 7-10, 2014. During the visit, participants had discussions with scientists, farmers, and SOFITEX officials. They also visited SOFITEX laboratory on seed quality control.

Mr. Karim Traoré, the President of the National Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina Faso (UNPCB), said, "Contrary to the popular belief, adopting GM cotton in Burkina Faso was not a government command or a coercing from the Monsanto firm; we had a pest control problem and this is what led us to grow Bt cotton."

Visitors were exposed to both conventional and Bt cotton fields and were impressed by the performance of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso farmer's fields. "It was important for us to come see what exactly was happening in the field of cotton in Burkina Faso. At first I was skeptical concerning the real benefits of Bt cotton, but after this visit, I am convinced that Bt cotton is beneficial for the farmer, and this is what we want for the Togolese farmers as well" said BozirohTchidah, the adviser to the Director General of the New Togolese Textile company, (La Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo, the NCST).

Yosso Hodabalo, chairman of the National cotton farmers' Federation in Togo (Fédération Nationale des Groupements de Producteurs du Coton/Togo, the FNGPC) said, "The most revealing part of this trip was the field visits. The purity of the Bt cotton boll is just beautiful. We were simply amazed. At home, we usually do more than ten sprays of pesticides on cotton and we still get lower yields compared to Burkina farmers. For us, Bt cotton is god-sent because we will spend less and still get good yields. We will report our observations to the relevant authorities back home. We hope that the Togolese government will hear our plea. Our government is looking into the possibility of introducing Bt cotton in Togo."

To read more on the tour, please go to http://www.lefaso.net/spip.php?article61215 or contact Brigitte Bitta at b.bitta@isaaa.org.