Cameroon's Cotton Revival in the Grip of Economic Crises

In the second half of the 80s, cotton growing was hit by a crisis largely undermined by the fall and volatility of world cotton prices and, in part, by the country's economic difficulties. This situation was the starting point for the Bretton Woods international bodies to question the CFDT model. According to these institutions, the organizations in charge of cotton marketing were cumbersome, costly and often opaque, allowing no real control and leading to misappropriation of funds to the detriment of producers. Between 1994 and 1997, Cameroonian producers, like those in other countries, benefited from a rise in world prices and the devaluation of the CFA franc. Indeed, since the early 2000s, the cotton sector has been the victim of another crisis, the origin of which is attributed to subsidies from the United States, the European Union and China. This crisis has led to a drop in production and export revenues, resulting in deficits in the sales figures of African cotton companies.