USAID¿s WEST AFRICA COTTON PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

The U.S. Government’s assistance to the West African cotton sector is a direct response to concern raised at the 2003 Cancun Ministerial Meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) about USG subsidies to its cotton producers, and the impending trade distortions. The assistance to the sector also supports the USG’s commitment to reducing poverty and hunger in West Africa. The West African Cotton Partnership Project (WACPP) will support regional and national institutions, and organizations (public and private), that prioritizes smallholder men and women cotton farmers; and, will build uponthe successes and lessons learned of USG’s past investments, while strongly emphasizing three keyareas:• Sustainable Agricultural Productivity;• Partnerships;• Benefits for Women;Working with and through the national and regional entities (private, public and semi-private) will facilitate the dissemination and scale-up of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and approaches for eventual sustainable agricultural productivity and growth through-out the cotton producing areas of the C-4 countries. This new approach will require strategic results driven by partnerships and levels of collaboration that is new to the sector.