COMPACI Newsletter published
Up-to-date information of the Competitive African Cotton Initiative
The Newsletter of COMPACI (Competitive African Cotton Initiative), an initiative dedicated to the promotion of the African cotton sector, has just been published. Three times a year, it informs about the progress made in the projects of the initiative. The latest volume features reports from Benin, Burkina Faso and Zambia.
Cotton plays a major role when it comes to fighting poverty in Africa. This is why COMPACI has made it its aim to improve the competitiveness of African cotton. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) have commissioned DEG and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) with the implementation of COMPACI. With the help of local cotton farmers, the initiative wishes to improve the living conditions of 265,000 farmers in six African countries. In practice, the farmers are to be given the support required to increase their income by one-third, to produce more food and to improve the equipment of their farm holdings by the end of the project in mid-2012. The measures include the smallholders’ qualification in improved cultivation methods, pre-financing of inputs, the strengthening of cooperative structures and the marketing of cotton via the local cotton companies.
COMPACI ties in with the successful Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) project. This alliance was initiated in 2005 by the Otto Group with the aim of securing the availability of high-quality cotton from Africa on the long run, securing the smallholders’ income and improving both productivity and health protection. In addition to the Otto Group and DEG, GTZ, the German textile company Tom Tailor, the German Agro Action (Welthungerhilfe), WWF and cotton producers from Africa are committed to the project. DEG supports the initiative with PPP funds and contributes its experience in investments in cotton growing and processing. A major part of the cotton produced by the COMPACI companies is sold under the label “Cotton made in Africa”.
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