With the 2025/26
cotton season over,
West Africa's leading producers have turned their attention to the next crop. While Benin wants to strengthen its lead, Burkina Faso and Mali are looking to recover lost ground. Côte d’Ivoire, meanwhile, is focused on rebuilding after two difficult seasons.
Burkina Faso Targets a Strong Comeback
Burkina Faso announced its plans for the 2026/27 season on June 25, setting a production target of 532,000 tons of seed cotton. That would represent a 69% increase from last season's output of 314,293 tons and one of the biggest year-over-year gains expected in West Africa.
To help farmers reach that goal, the government kept the price of a 50-kilogram bag of fertilizer at CFA17,500 through a CFA15.8 billion ($27.4 million) subsidy financed by cotton companies. The measure is designed to keep production costs under control.
Benin Seeks to Stay on Top
After overtaking Mali as West Africa's biggest cotton producer in the 2025/26 season, Benin is aiming even higher. The government wants seed cotton production to rise by nearly 8% to 700,000 tons in 2026/27.
To encourage higher output, authorities introduced a CFA10 bonus for every kilogram produced if national production exceeds the 700,000-ton target. They also raised the fertilizer subsidy budget by 22.5% to CFA31.87 billion ($56.9 million), helping farmers cope with higher global fertilizer prices.
Mali Looks to Regain Lost Ground
Mali is hoping to reclaim the regional leadership it lost to Benin last season. The country is targeting 598,500 tons of seed cotton for 2026/27, up nearly 38% from the 433,700 tons harvested a year earlier.
The state-owned Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement des Textiles (CMDT), which oversees the cotton industry, plans to expand planted area by nearly 18% to 630,000 hectares. Reaching that target will require more fertilizer, pesticides, and insecticides—most of them subsidized by the government—as well as tighter control of pests, especially the jassid, which growers consider one of the sector's biggest threats.
Côte d’Ivoire Takes a More Cautious Path
Côte d’Ivoire is pursuing a more modest recovery after two consecutive seasons of declining production. The Professional Association of Cotton Companies of Côte d’Ivoire (APROCOT-CI) is targeting 400,000 tons of seed cotton in 2026/27, up 29% from the previous season.
Whether that goal is achieved will depend largely on the industry's ability to attract farmers back to cotton. In recent years, many have switched to more profitable crops such as soybeans and cashew nuts. Official data show the number of cotton growers fell by nearly 20% to 79,979 during the 2025/26 season.
