From Benin to Arkansas
Alex Daniels, a 2011 IRP Fellow, examined the differences in cotton growing in the West African nation and his newspaper’s home state.
In this small West African nation, at least 300,000 farmers cultivate plots of cotton, the country's single largest export. But it doesn't come without hardship. Seven years ago, cotton farmers from Benin snagged the international spotlight. At international trade talks in Hong Kong, they mounted an unsuccessful attempt to end farm subsidies in the United States that they said were undermining their biggest cash crop. Now, they've been stymied by a combination of natural forces "” alternating years of flood and drought "” and man-made problems, including corruption and mismanagement.
In Tiny Benin, Cotton Is King
Each day, Sambo Sero balances his hand-hoe over his shoulder and disappears onto the path that is barely visible from the dirt road. He navigates the twisty route for hundreds of yards in his bare feet, through weeds as tall as he is, passing scattered hardwoods and a field planted in yams.
With No Money to Fight U.S., 4 Took Cotton Case to WTO
In 2002, Brazil took the United States to international trade court, using its muscle as a large trading partner to force U.S. concessions.
In Benin, Genetically Modified Cotton Not Option for Now
Dismayed, Sero Modougou walked among his cotton plants, scanning the damage.
Beninese Scrape by on Average of $730 a Year
The van, having made pickups at roadside gas stands throughout Cotonou, snaked along pitted, dirt side streets toward the drop-off point.
Cotton Growers in Limbo
As Congress prepares to craft a new farm bill in the coming weeks, Arkansas cotton growers are bracing for tens of billions of dollars in cuts in the cash payments and taxpayer backed loans that they have received for years.
West African Preaching School Helped by Southern Churches
In the land of Vodun, a form of spirit veneration more popularly known in the West as Voodoo, religion is an essential facet of life.
More from this Reporter
- Batesville to Benin: West African Preaching School Helped by Southern Churches
- Cotton Growers in Limbo
- With No Money to Fight U.S., 4 Took Cotton Case to WTO
- In Tiny Benin, Cotton Is King
- Beninese Scrape by on Average of $730 a Year
- In Benin, Genetically Modified Cotton Not Option for Now
From Other Reporters in This Country
Also appeared in…
- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette