Real Lives: Cotton in Mali
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MEET GNAGNA TRAORé
An elderly widow, Gnagna Traoré shares her insight on how the growing of cotton in Fana has changed.
Gnagna Traoré grows peanuts, millet, and cotton on her 10-hectare (24 acre) farm near Fana. Farming supports seven people in her immediate family. Madame Traoré and her grandson run the farm together since her husband passed away.
The family counts on growing cotton to earn cash. Since they get so little for their millet and peanuts, cotton is their sole source of income. Last year they grew cotton on one hectare and borrowed money to buy fertilizer and pesticide for it. At the end of the growing season they sold all their cotton, but the price was so low they lost money. Desperate to make money this year, they have borrowed more money to grow cotton on three hectares, gambling that a slightly higher price will help them get ahead.
Madame Traoré said that growing cotton was not always so difficult.
"You used to get something out of cotton," she explained. "We used to help the men on the farm, and we got paid for it. We got money out of it from our husbands, for our families.
"Back in those days there really was money in cotton. Now there is nothing. You plant, you wait, you harvest, and spend days and days and days harvesting... and in the end you still have nothing and you can't feed your children."
