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Capturing the Margins: World Market Prices and Cotton Farmer Incomes in West Africa

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  • Bassett, Thomas J.

Abstract

World cotton prices soared to record levels in March 2011, reaching $2.20 a pound in contrast to 40–80¢/pound between 2000 and 2010. The price spike serves as a natural experiment that offers insights into the relationship between world cotton prices and producer prices in West Africa. A comparative study of Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire shows that national and regional level processes such as price setting mechanisms, inequalities in knowledge and power, and the oligopsonistic structure of West Africa’s cotton economies exert a strong influence on the share of world market prices that producers ultimately receive.

Suggested Citation

  • Bassett, Thomas J., 2014. "Capturing the Margins: World Market Prices and Cotton Farmer Incomes in West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 408-421.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:59:y:2014:i:c:p:408-421
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.01.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Claire Delpeuch & Antoine Leblois, 2013. "Sub-Saharan African Cotton Policies in Retrospect," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31(5), pages 617-642, September.
    2. Kaminski, Jonathan & Headey, Derek & Bernard, Tanguy, 2011. "The Burkinabè Cotton Story 1992-2007: Sustainable Success or Sub-Saharan Mirage?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1460-1475, August.
    3. Delpeuch, Claire & Vandeplas, Anneleen, 2013. "Revisiting the “Cotton Problem”—A Comparative Analysis of Cotton Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 209-221.
    4. John Baffes, 2005. "The "Cotton Problem"," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 109-144.
    5. Delpeuch, Claire, 2011. "African cotton markets at crossroads : will the price spike turn into a new kick-start ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5847, The World Bank.
    6. Michel Fok, 2005. "Coton africain et marché mondial : une distorsion peut en cacher une autre plus importante," Working Papers halshs-00008938, HAL.
    7. John Baffes, 2011. "Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(9), pages 1534-1556, September.
    8. David Tschirley & Colin Poulton & Patrick Labaste, 2009. "Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa : Learning from Reform Experience," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2604.
    9. World Bank, 2010. "Burkina Faso - Promoting Growth, Competitiveness and Diversification : Country Economic Memorandum, Volume 1. Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 12325, The World Bank Group.
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    Cited by:

    1. Luna, Jessie K. & Dowd-Uribe, Brian, 2020. "Knowledge politics and the Bt cotton success narrative in Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Jessie K. Luna, 2020. "‘Pesticides are our children now’: cultural change and the technological treadmill in the Burkina Faso cotton sector," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 449-462, June.
    3. Gerard, Andrew & Lopez, Maria Claudia & Mason, Nicole M. & Bizoza, Alfred R., 2022. "Do government zoning policies improve buyer-farmer relationships? Evidence from Rwanda’s coffee sector," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Matthew D. Turner & Molly Teague & Augustine Ayantunde, 2021. "Livelihood, culture and patterns of food consumption in rural Burkina Faso," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(5), pages 1193-1213, October.

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