three cotton companies operate in the major production areas, namely Burkina Faso–
SOFITEX, Faso Coton and SOCOMA. These companies purchase cotton at the
same price and follow a common pricing scheme. However, despite maintaining the
“one-stop” approach, cotton prices are now negotiated among the principal stakeholders within the sector (Vitale 2018). Despite the increase of cotton output in past
decades, there are mixed perspectives about the success of these reforms in increasing the sustainability of the sector (Vitale 2018; Kaminski 2009; Boafo et al. 2018).
Ghana
The main industrial crops produced across the different agro-ecological zones of
Ghana include cocoa, cotton, rubber, coffee, shea, sugarcane, tobacco, oil palm and
citronella. Below we examine the drivers and production patterns for three rather
different industrial crops, namely cocoa, cotton and jatropha. These crops have
experienced radically different trajectories influenced by their different agronomic
characteristics, modes of production, national policy priorities they cater for, and
international circumstances.
Cocoa has been the most important export crop of Ghana since its introduction in
the mid-nineteenth century. Ghana is currently the world’s second largest producer
of cocoa behind the Ivory Coast (FAOSTAT 2019). As one of the main export crops,
cocoa has been central to Ghana’s development, economic growth and poverty
alleviation efforts, as it supports about 800,000 households (Vigneri and Kolavalli
2018; GSS 2014). The evolution of the Ghanaian cocoa sector spans four distinct
phases: (a) introduction and exponential growth (1888–1937); (b) stagnation
followed by a brief but rapid growth following independence (1938–1964);
(c) near collapse (1965–1982) and (d) recovery and expansion following the introduction of the Economic Recovery Program (ERP) (1983–present) (Quarmine et al.
2014; Williams 2009). It is worth mentioning that during the collapse phase cocoa
production fell from about 580,000 tonnes (in 1964) to less than 170,000 tonnes
(in 1984) (FASOTAT 2019). Since then, the cocoa output has been increasing
constantly reaching record output in 2017, standing at more than 880,000 tonnes
(FAOSTAT 2019).
Similar to Burkina Faso, the first coordinated efforts to promote cotton production
in Ghana in the northern semi-arid regions of the country started following independence. Cotton output increased significantly until the late-1990s, albeit not to the
same levels as other West African countries (i.e. 26,000 tonnes in 1998) (FAOSTAT
2019). The international cotton price decline of the 1990s affected the sector to the
extent that it is now virtually at the point of collapse (Howard et al. 2012), with the
total output currently amounting to less than 1% of cotton output in Western Africa,
despite excellent growing conditions in the northern part of the country. Overall,
cotton production has been driven by various factors during different periods
including, rural development, exports for foreign exchange earnings and the production of raw material for local textile industry (Boafo et al. 2018). Similarly, the
reasons behind the sector’s underperformance are multi-faceted (Boafo et al. 2018),
104
M. P. Jarzebski et al.
SOFITEX, Faso Coton and SOCOMA. These companies purchase cotton at the
same price and follow a common pricing scheme. However, despite maintaining the
“one-stop” approach, cotton prices are now negotiated among the principal stakeholders within the sector (Vitale 2018). Despite the increase of cotton output in past
decades, there are mixed perspectives about the success of these reforms in increasing the sustainability of the sector (Vitale 2018; Kaminski 2009; Boafo et al. 2018).
Ghana
The main industrial crops produced across the different agro-ecological zones of
Ghana include cocoa, cotton, rubber, coffee, shea, sugarcane, tobacco, oil palm and
citronella. Below we examine the drivers and production patterns for three rather
different industrial crops, namely cocoa, cotton and jatropha. These crops have
experienced radically different trajectories influenced by their different agronomic
characteristics, modes of production, national policy priorities they cater for, and
international circumstances.
Cocoa has been the most important export crop of Ghana since its introduction in
the mid-nineteenth century. Ghana is currently the world’s second largest producer
of cocoa behind the Ivory Coast (FAOSTAT 2019). As one of the main export crops,
cocoa has been central to Ghana’s development, economic growth and poverty
alleviation efforts, as it supports about 800,000 households (Vigneri and Kolavalli
2018; GSS 2014). The evolution of the Ghanaian cocoa sector spans four distinct
phases: (a) introduction and exponential growth (1888–1937); (b) stagnation
followed by a brief but rapid growth following independence (1938–1964);
(c) near collapse (1965–1982) and (d) recovery and expansion following the introduction of the Economic Recovery Program (ERP) (1983–present) (Quarmine et al.
2014; Williams 2009). It is worth mentioning that during the collapse phase cocoa
production fell from about 580,000 tonnes (in 1964) to less than 170,000 tonnes
(in 1984) (FASOTAT 2019). Since then, the cocoa output has been increasing
constantly reaching record output in 2017, standing at more than 880,000 tonnes
(FAOSTAT 2019).
Similar to Burkina Faso, the first coordinated efforts to promote cotton production
in Ghana in the northern semi-arid regions of the country started following independence. Cotton output increased significantly until the late-1990s, albeit not to the
same levels as other West African countries (i.e. 26,000 tonnes in 1998) (FAOSTAT
2019). The international cotton price decline of the 1990s affected the sector to the
extent that it is now virtually at the point of collapse (Howard et al. 2012), with the
total output currently amounting to less than 1% of cotton output in Western Africa,
despite excellent growing conditions in the northern part of the country. Overall,
cotton production has been driven by various factors during different periods
including, rural development, exports for foreign exchange earnings and the production of raw material for local textile industry (Boafo et al. 2018). Similarly, the
reasons behind the sector’s underperformance are multi-faceted (Boafo et al. 2018),
104
M. P. Jarzebski et al.