Progress and challenges in making productivity gains in cotton production by smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) alone only contribute to a limited share of world cotton production, but when added to production from Froncophone Africa Countries (FAC) their share of world exports is very significant, globally ranking second after the USA with 75% of the exported volume, Existing figures, albeit incomplete, provide evidence that FAC's cotton is among the most competitive in the world. This achievement is further noteworthy since the FAC's production does not benefit from any subsidy, while positive socio and economic impacts associated with cotton production have been emphasized by numerous academic works. The maintenance of, if not increasing, subsidy support to cotton production in many cottonproducing countries is challenging the sustainability of cotton in SSA, Correction of this current iniquifous situation needs to be contemplated through international negotiations the outcomes of which remain uncertain. In addition internal efforts must be implemented with a view of further increases in productivity arid competitiveness. This paper explores progress and challenges in making productivity gains at the field level based on data obtained from surveys implemented in Mali, Benin and Mozambique, representing countries with different backgrounds in cotton crop intensification. Compared to World average, yields currently achieved in SSA countries rank from above average to low and this range of the yield distribution is related to input use, the level of which is often for below the one encountered in many other cotton producing countries. However yields obtained by the best farmers can be for above the World overage and may be close to the best ones under rainfed conditions, The gap between the best former yield level and the overage yields in SSA countries is an indicator of the potential margins within which progress could be made in making productivity gains under the existing production techniques. Significant productivity gain is possible from existing techniques, as well as with provision of adapted complementary practices. It is nevertheless hard to associate the observed yield gap with particular cultural practices or to prioritize the practices to correct this gap. The notion of managing yield expectations in connection with the management of technical patterns is introduced. Reasons and constraints to non-optimal implementation of technical practices like plant population, thinning, timely use of fertilizers arid accurate spread of chemicals are identified. Prospects of conventional or new technologies in alleviating constraints to help move forward further productivity gains are outlined. Under the different institutional frames of SSA cotton sectors, the extent research implementation can play in helping to increase productivity is discussed. (Résumé d'auteur