Hanging by a Thread

The textile industry was one of the first manufacturing activities to become organized globally, as mechanized production in Europe used cotton from the colonies. Africa, the least developed of the world’s major regions, is now increasingly engaged in the production of this crop for the global market, and debates about the pros and cons of this trend have intensified. This book illuminates the connectioins between Africa and the global economy. The editors offer a compelling set of linked studies that detail one aspect of the globalization process in Africa, the cotton commodity chain. From the contents Part I. Global Cotton, Local Crises Chapter 1. Producing Poverty: Power Relations and Price Formation in the Cotton Commodity Chains of West Africa. Thomas J. Bassett Chapter 2. Cotton Production in Burkina Faso: International Rhetoric versus Local Realities. Leslie C. Gray Chapter 3. Mali's Cotton Conundrum: Commodity Production and Development on the Periphery. William G. Moseley Chapter 4. The Decline of Bt Cotton in KwaZulu-Natal: Technology and Institutions. Marnus Gouse, Bhavani Shankar and Colin Thirtle Part II. Organizing Cotton: National-Level Reforms and Rural Livelihoods Chapter 5. The Many Paths of Cotton Sector Reform in East and Southern Africa: Lessons from a Decade of Experience. David Tschirley, Colin Poulton and Duncan Boughton Chapter 6. Cotton Production, Poverty, and Inequality in Rural Benin: Evidence from the 1990s. Corinne Siaens and Quentin Wodon Chaper 7. Rural Development is More Than Commodity Production: Cotton in the Farming System of Kita, Mali. Dolores Koening Chapter 8. Cotton Casualties and Cooperatives: Reinventing Farmer Collectives and the Expense of Rural Malian Communities? Scott M. Lacy Part III. Alternate Futures: Genetically Engineered and Organic Cotton Chapter 9. Geneticall Engineered Cotton: Poliltics, Science, and Power in West Africa. Jim Bingen Chapter 10. Organic Cotton in Sub-Saharan Africa: A New Development Paradigm? Brian M. Dowd Conclusion. Hanging by a Thread: The Future of Cotton in Africa. Leslie C. Gray and William G. Moseley Includes Statistical table, bibliography, tables, photos b/w. 216x 140mm Pages 297