While most of us were getting ready to celebrate the holiday season, our Beyond Cotton team held two missions to Mozambique and Benin to validate the main aspects of the cross-sector studies that will be the basis for the preparation of country-specific projects. From 11 to 21 December, the team discussed with government officials and stakeholders the demands and potentials of the cotton chain in each country.
The Beyond Cotton project aims to support smallholder cotton producers and public institutions in Benin, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania. The project will connect cotton by-products, such as oil and cake, and associated crops, such as corn, sorghum and beans, to reliable markets, including school feeding programmes. The Beyond Cotton initiative will contribute to generate income for the smallholder farmers and to increase food and nutrition security in rural areas.
In many cotton-producing countries, the main challenge is to find steady markets for cotton by-products and associated food crops. There is usually an assured, growing market for the cotton fibre, but selling the remaining oil and cake and the associated crops that are commonly grown in rotation with the cotton may be difficult.
The profit generated by the commercialization of the cotton fibre is not enough to maintain the family, and the demand for sustainable cotton fibre remains unmet, due to the lack of interest of smallholder farmers to invest in this production system. By better structuring the value chain of cotton by-products and associated products, the Beyond Cotton initiative will increase income and improve the food and nutrition security status of rural families, increase agricultural production and link it to school feeding programmes, and create incentives for more smallholder farmers to invest in sustainable cotton production.
Mozambique
From 11 to 14 December, the team was in Mozambique and had meetings with the country’s Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security, Cotton Institute, and Ministry of Health, and with the Brazilian Embassy in Mozambique. They also held a workshop with 30 representatives of 14 institutions directly involved with agricultural production and food and nutrition security in the country. The goal was to integrate the activities of the project with national food and nutrition security policies.
Participants of the workshop validated the diagnosis of the cross-sector study and pointed out some of the main aspects of the logical framework that will be prepared to guide the implementation of the Beyond Cotton project in the country.
The stakeholders decided to implement pilot projects in two provinces, Manica and Tete. These provinces were selected because they are a priority for the Cotton Institute of Mozambique and for the country’s school feeding programme. The Ministry of Health is promoting specific food crops to meet nutrition needs in each region of the country. The Beyond Cotton activities will complement this initiative by strengthening commercialization channels for these crops.
Benin
The team was in Benin from 17 to 20 December. The mission agenda was similar to Mozambique’s: meetings with government officials and the Brazilian Embassy, and a workshop with stakeholders to discuss the cross-sector study and the main aspects of the country project. They decided to implement pilot projects in the next three years, connecting food produced by smallholder cotton farmers to the school feeding programme.
Government officials highlighted the links between the Beyond Cotton initiative and the country’s policies for agriculture, health, social protection, and school feeding. By improving the structure of the cotton chain and its by-products and associated food crops, the initiative can contribute to generating income for rural families and fulfilling the goal of reducing the double burden of malnutrition in 15 percent by 2025.
The Beyond Cotton project is being implemented by the Centre of Excellence against Hunger, with coordination of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and financial support from the Brazilian Cotton Institute. In Benin and in Mozambique, the initiative will be integrated to the bilateral cooperation projects related to the cotton chain developed by the Brazilian government (Cotton4+Togo in Benin and Shire-Zambeze in Mozambique).
