Les cotonniers (Gossypium hirsutum L.) génétiquement modifiés, Bt : quel avenir pour la petite agriculture familiale en Afrique francophone ?

Abstract

Gnetically modifi ed cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. Bt.): what future for small family farms in French-speaking Africa?After a massive adoption in South Africa, genetically modifi ed cultivars are at the door step of francophone Africa. In order toanticipate the impact of Bt cotton on small-scale farming we propose a simple profi t analysis of the crop based on our resultsfound in South Africa and data collected by our colleagues in Mali. Whereas the introduction of Bt cotton can be justifi ed bya threat of the appearance of the bollworm resistance to insecticides, its profi tability seems to be uncertain. The farmer profi tmargin depends on yield level linked with climatic, agricultural and environmental conditions and with the technology feewhich the farmer must be charged for. With a 210 FCFA purchase price for raw cotton, a 25 USD fee per hectare seems to bethe upper limit for which the farmer wouldnʼt be exposed to fi nancial risk. Given the recent drop of the purchase price, theexistence of a technology fee supported by the small-scale farmer is very questionable. At a more general level of the cottonsector, the success of Bt adoption rests on several keys: 1) the prevention of the Bt-toxin resistance; 2) the strengthening of thecontrol of stinging pests; 3) the updating of the seed production sector and 4) the improvement of the extension and trainingnetwork. Bt cotton must be considered as a tool which is part of the integrated crop management but not as the solution of thepoverty alleviation.

Keywords

• Bt cotton
• small-scale farming
• incomes
• francophone Africa