Needs-based decision-making for cotton problems in Africa: A response to Hillocks

This Forum contribution forms a response to the thoughtful article on the role of Bt cotton for African smallholders by Rory Hillocks in International Journal of Pest Management 51( 2): 131 - 141. We urge a more nuanced approach to consideration of pesticide-related and other technical issues in the conventional cotton sector, including recent estimates of external costs to health from current patterns of pesticide use, even at the low application levels in volume/area terms reported from Africa. We examine economic and institutional aspects of cotton production and the debates centred upon the potential of Bt cotton for resource-poor farmers in developing countries. Based on research and project experience over the last decade, we discuss the role of organic cotton and the benefits it provides for African men and women smallholders, and conclude with a summary of the potential for expansion and policy, research and development needs.