Cotton trade has been characterised as a “success story” in the developmental process of African countries. However, the agricultural subsidies that the developed nations provide to their cotton farmers have global trade-distorting effects. They reduce the income of African cotton producers and force them to implement cultivation methods that adversely affect the environment.

 
Nikolaos P. Zirogiannis
Department of Resource Economics
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA, U.S.A.
nzirogia@resecon.umass.edu