Côte d'Ivoire/Cotton industry: AFD satisfied with INTERCOTON's cooperation and commitment to the RESCO project

The French Development Agency (AFD) has expressed its satisfaction with the cooperation and level of commitment of the cotton interprofession (INTERCOTON) in the implementation of the Resilience of Cotton Systems in Northern Côte d'Ivoire (RESCO) project.

For three days, from June 12 to 14, 2024, an important mission led by INTERCOTON, coordinator of the RESCO project, visited the cotton basin to ensure that the activities of this project, initiated by the State of Côte d'Ivoire with the support of the AFD three years ago, were running smoothly.

The Director of AFD in Côte d'Ivoire, Adrien Haye, expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation and level of commitment shown by the players involved, in view of the results reported from the field and the recommendations made by the various parties for the smooth running of the Project towards a mid-term review.

"We also met with cooperatives of women who are the wives of cotton growers and, as such, are part of the cotton cooperatives. The aim is to support these women's cooperatives via the RESCO project in the implementation of their activities... via investment projects", added AFD project team manager Thierry Duplan.

The mission visited maize seed fields produced under the project, which aims to grow and store 3.8 tons in Ferkessédougou. A meeting was also held with the beneficiaries of the oxen used for harnessed cultivation, in particular the women of the COIC zone in the village of Klotiakaha, as well as with the COWOS cooperative society.with the COWOSI COOP CA cooperative accompanied by the management board, and finally a visit to a Farmers' Field School (FFS) dedicated to stony cordon.

In addition to these actions, there were exchanges on support for income-generating activities with the AYFSG women's association in conjunction with the SOCOFOSE COOP CA in Napié, a visit to the extension of the CPMIA in Napié, a meeting with thea dynamic grouping in the village of Labelekaha, and a visit to the cotton station of the Centre national de recherche agronomique (CNRA) in Bouaké with the start of construction work on the 4.6 km fence, followed by exchanges with the CNRA at the Côte d'Ivoire cotton grading center on project sheets.

The State of Côte d'Ivoire, through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has signed a credit agreement with AFD for the implementation of the RESCO project for a period of four years (2021-2025).

The aim of this project is to support the sustainable development of the cotton sector in a context of climate vulnerability through a gender-sensitive approach. Project implementation is coordinated by INTERCOTON, the project's delegated project manager.

The RESCO project is structured around four components: sustainability of cotton systems and innovation, improvement of labor productivity, marketing support and institutional capacity building.

Source: www.aip.ci/