Togo’s Cotton Sector Faces New Setback Despite Resilience Efforts

Togo’s cotton industry experienced a further decline in production at the end of the 2024-2025 season, with output reaching 60,403 tonnes of seed cotton. This represents an 8.4% decrease compared to the initial forecast of 66,000 tonnes, and a 9.8% decrease compared to the 67,000 tonnes produced during the previous campaign. The Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT) released the data during a national review meeting held in Kara on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

Stakeholders attribute the decline primarily to climatic hazards, particularly irregular rainfall patterns in the cotton-producing regions.

Despite the decrease, NSCT officials and producers believe the figures reflect “the resilience of the sector” amidst ongoing challenges.

This decline marks another setback for the Singaporean group Olam, which has controlled the sector since 2020. Since the agri-food group’s takeover, national production has struggled to exceed 60,000 tonnes, with the exception of the 2023-2024 campaign, which saw a rebound to 67,000 tonnes.

Faced with this concerning trend, producers gathered in Kara have collectively committed to revitalizing the sector. For the 2025-2026 campaign, the ambitious goal is to sow 110,000 hectares of land to achieve a production of 93,000 tonnes of cottonseed.

To support this ambition, the government has decided to maintain incentive prices despite a challenging economic climate. The purchase price of cotton seed has been renewed at 300 CFA francs per kilogram, and fertilizer prices (NPKSB and Urea) have also been maintained at 14,000 CFA francs per bag. The NSCT stated that “this decision aims to relieve producers in the face of the widespread increase in input costs on the international market.”

More From Author

Togo Prioritizes Small Producers with New Funding for Sustainable Agriculture

Togo Clarifies Number of Seats in Upcoming Municipal Elections

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *