UC Davis Prof Describes Farm Bill’s Effects on West African Farmers

Posted: 28 June 2007

by Laura Rusu

Study shows practical effects of reforming US cotton subsidies.

A soft-spoken professor at the University of California, Davis, Daniel Sumner would typically be enjoying his summer break right about now.

Instead, he boarded a plane to Washington, DC earlier this month to teach congressional staff members and journalists about the practical effects of reforming US cotton subsidies in the 2007 Farm Bill. In a study commissioned by Oxfam America, Sumner and his colleagues estimated that this reform could substantially improve the welfare of more than one million West African households--10 million people—by increasing their incomes from cotton by 8 to 20 percent. This extra income could cover the annual costs to feed one million children or school at least two million.

A typical cotton-producing household in West Africa has about 10 family members, an average life expectancy of about 48 years, and an adult literacy rate of less than 25 percent. Cotton is often the only source of cash income for these families, most of whom live on less than $1 a day per person.

It’s a difficult life. And US subsidies don’t help. Because American producers get more agriculture subsidies with each additional pound of cotton they produce, the current Farm Bill encourages overproduction. When the surplus is dumped on international markets, the price for crops like cotton drops, undercutting the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers around the world.

According to Sumner’s study, substantial reform of subsidies would increase the world price of cotton by 6-14 percent, resulting in additional income for a West African household that could cover the annual health care costs of four to ten individuals, or schooling costs for one to 10 children, or a supply of food for one or two children.

Sumner said he has never been to Africa. But having completed this research, he understands the plight of these farmers. Even a modest increase in the world price of cotton could greatly improve their daily lives.

"It's not very much money to us -- it's a lot of money to them," he said.

Oxfam is working to reform the 2007 Farm Bill so that it better protects the environment, feeds the hungry, and gives farmers here and abroad the chance to make a decent living. Together with a diverse group of allies, we’re calling on Congress to reduce misguided commodity subsidies and redirect the money to the programs that need it most: conservation, nutrition, rural development, and the research and development of renewable source of energy.