Impact de la dynamique cotonnière sur le développement rural. Etude de cas de la région de Korhogo, au Nord et au Centre de la Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

Impact of cotton dynamics on rural development: a case study of Korhogo area, in the northern and central IvoryCoast. Cotton cropping is the main cash crop in several African countries. This is the case of Mali where it provides 45 to65% of exportation incomes. Other countries can be added as Burkina Faso where cotton represents the fi rst export productgenerating 50 to 60% of foreign currency returns and Benin, in a lesser extent (only 30% of exports). Unlike these threecountries, Ivory Coast has a weaker cotton sector which counts only for less than 10% of the export incomes. Cotton is the thirdmost important industrial crop of the nation after cocoa and coffee. Nevertheless, cotton is the main cash crop and economicresource in the savannah area, although it has little relative importance at the national level. By 1995, fi bre production averages150 000 tons per annum, of which 90% are exported. The present study focuses on the particular case of the Ivorian cottonsector that benefi ted from agricultural research and extension training programs, and made it evolving within agriculturalproduction systems. As a matter of fact, cotton cropping changed from a mixed cropping with food crops into a monoculturesystem which plays as the economy driver of these regions. The fi rst part is dedicated to general comments. The second partreports on the technical impact of cotton cropping. The third part deals with the socio-economic impact, analysing the farmeragricultural incomes and their uses.

Keywords

• Cotton
• farmer
• typology
• agrarian system
• progress
• income
• impact
• development