Summary

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MOBIOM is the umbrella organisation for 73 village co-operatives that grow organic Fairtrade cotton and mangoes. It is located in the town of Bougouni in the Sikasso region of southern Mali, about 180 km south of the capital Bamako.

The member co-operatives are located across eight administrative zones (Bougouni, Yanfolila, Kolondièba, Garalo, Yorosso, Bla, Kita and OHVN zone), each home to around 10 co-operatives. In French-speaking Mali these groups are known as Coopératives de Producteurs de Coton Biologique (CPCB) or organic cotton producer co-operatives.

Background

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In spite of the huge importance of cotton to the global textile industry, world market prices have been in long-tem decline in real terms since the 1970s, notwithstanding a recent upturn in cotton and other commodity prices linked to the global financial crisis and Pakistan’s cotton production hit by severe flooding. While some of this decline can be explained by reductions in production costs and strong competition from synthetic fibres, the major cause is the payment of subsidies by rich cotton producing countries – notably, the US, China and the EU – to protect the domestic production of cotton and related industries.

As a result cotton farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America are struggling to survive, while developing countries which rely on cotton exports are losing out on vital foreign exchange earnings that could be allocated to health, education and other social development projects.

In Mali, as in other producer countries, the development of the cotton industry has also been held back by state monopoly of the sector. First steps in the privatisation process to address structural issues were taken recently but for political reasons this process appears to have temporarily stalled.

 

MOBIOM Structure & Strategy

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MOBIOM’s full name is Mouvement Biologique Malien or Malian Organic Movement. It was founded in 2002 by the development organisation Helvetas Mali specifically to participate in an organic cotton programme it had established in Mali in 1998.

MOBIOM is a registered not-for-profit co-operative society in which the General Assembly, made up of two delegates from each CPCB, is the main decision-making body. It elects a 15-member Board which in turn appoints an Executive Committee to manage the day to day running of the organisation.

Originally a federation of 16 co-operatives with a membership of 174 farmers, MOBIOM has grown to 73 co-operatives with 6,547 members, of which 30% or almost 2,000 are women. Seventy of the CPCBs grow cotton and three in the Bougouni zone grow mangoes.

MOBIOM is a member of the Union of Cotton Producer Co-operative Societies at local, regional and national levels and is also a member of the Union of Mango Producer Societies.

MOBIOM’s mission is to promote Fairtrade and organic cotton production and to represent and protect the interests of its members. Its strategy includes the following objectives:

• Improve the organisation’s operational performance by building the internal capacity and skills of MOBIOM and its member cooperatives
• Increase the production capacity of its member cooperatives for organic cotton, mangoes, sesame, shea butter, and  fonio (a type of millet)
• Ensure that the added value brings maximum benefits to the organisation’s members. This will be achieved through the marketing of MOBIOM’s products and services, and processing and product diversification (through research and development, and technical and technological innovations). In the medium term this should substantially increase members’ income and deliver high-quality products in sufficient quantities to customers
• Improve the socio-economic and political position of women within MOBIOM and their communities by developing specific activities targeted at women
• Improve the institutional profile of MOBIOM in Mali and abroad by developing an effective PR/communications network.

MOBIOM actively promotes product diversification as a strategic response to the fluctuations of the cotton market and to adjust to the effects of climate change such as unreliable rainfall. It has supported members in producing organic certified sesame, groundnuts (peanuts), shea butter and fonio as cash crops which are sold on domestic and international markets. MOBIOM is now exploring Fairtrade certification for these last two products and has plans to install sesame oil processing plants and construct a spinning mill which would generate considerable incomes, particularly for women.

 

Production

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Like all rural areas of Mali, the villages where MOBIOM members live have a high level of poverty and poor local infrastructure, with a lack of access to good roads, clean water, and healthcare. School attendance is low with most children helping their parents in the fields instead of going to school.

Agricultural households are typically between 12 and 30 people, made up of extended families of two to three brothers with their wives and between four and seven children each.

Cotton farms can extend to 10ha but the average farm is 2.6ha, with a little less than 1ha under cotton. Mango farms are smaller at 2ha on average. Families depend on agriculture and rearing livestock for their livelihoods. Men are responsible for growing the family’s staple foods of cereals and groundnuts while women cultivate small plots of groundnuts, maize, vegetables and rice to supplement the family’s diet or to sell at market. Men also rear cattle and women raise goats and poultry – livestock are seen more as insurance and would only be sold in times of great need. Households derive additional income from the small-scale trade in wood and condiments by women and from charcoal production by men.

Cotton is planted in June and July and the peak harvest period is October to November. When the seed pod or cotton boll is ripe it bursts to expose the seed cotton – the seeds attached to raw cotton fibre – which is then picked by hand. Farmers carry their crop by cart, bicycle or on their head to a central organic store ready for sale. On the designated sales day, the cotton is assessed for quality, weighed and recorded before being laid out for inspection. All MOBIOM’s cotton is purchased by CDMT¹which owns the only ginning factories in Mali and is the sole exporter. The ginning process separates the seeds from the cotton fibre or lint which is then compressed into large bales. Cotton seed is used locally for cooking oil, animal feed and industrial purposes. Other products like sesame, groundnuts and shea nuts are sold at the same market but mangoes are transported directly to the packing station after they are harvested. MOBIOM markets their mangoes and negotiates prices with buyers on behalf of members.

MOBIOM production (tonnes)

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
cotton	47	81	170	386	613	797	1,253	1,054
mangoes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

    

Organic Fairtrade Project

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Helvetas Mali is a partner of the Swiss development organisation Helvetas. It set up a pilot organic cotton programme in Mali which ran from 1998 to 2002 and aimed to improve farmers’ incomes, support sustainable production, and reduce the harmful effects of conventional cotton production on community health and the environment. The supply chain it put in place forms the basis of the organic Fairtrade cotton supply chain in the Bougouni region that was started in 2004 and is a joint project between three organisations: Helvetas Mali, Max Havelaar Switzerland (the Swiss Fairtrade organisation) and US global cotton trader Reinhart Inc.

The project works closely with CMDT – a public-private enterprise that has been part-owned by the GEOCOTON Group (formerly DAGRIS) since the partial liberalisation of the cotton sector in Mali. CMDT is responsible for managing the production, transport and marketing of cotton and also plays an important role in seed distribution and providing agricultural training and advice to producers.

MOBIOM was set up by Helvetas Mali to help producers grow cotton under fair and sustainable conditions by working closely with all participants in the vertical value chain. For the farmers, conversion to organic production means they are no longer exposed to toxic agrochemicals, ground water is not polluted, and soil fertility is increased. They also benefit from access to training, reduced risk through diversification, access to credit and transport, knowledge exchange within their farmers’ group and guaranteed sales of their cotton at a higher price.

Members have replaced expensive synthetic insecticides and fertilisers with plant-based insect repellent and organic manure - significantly reducing both costs and their chances of falling into debt. Soil fertility has been improved and there has been a reduction in the incidence of complaints such as headaches and skin rashes caused by handling chemical pesticides. Many farmers have also adopted intercropping vegetables with cotton, particularly gombo (okra), as a way of reducing costs. Since joining Fairtrade, MOBIOM has sought to protect the environment and combat climate change by organising awareness-raising campaigns about the effects of tree-felling and the promotion of reforestation.

MOBIOM and Fairtrade

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MOBIOM’s production of seed cotton was organic certified by ECOCERT in 2002, followed later by mangoes. These products were Fairtrade certified in September 2004 but MOBIOM doesn’t currently have a Fairtrade buyer for their mangoes.

All MOBIOM’s seed cotton is currently sold to Fairtrade buyers via CMDT. MOBIOM receives the Fairtrade minimum price of €0.50/kg (FCFA328) for organic Fairtrade cotton, compared to FCFA 170/kg which is paid to producers of conventional cotton. Cotton contributes 50% of MOBIOM members’ income and this higher price alleviates poverty in several ways. It increases their food security and ability to purchase food, ensuring they have enough food all year round; it helps cover the costs of primary healthcare needs, children’s school fees, and clothing for the family, and also enables repayment of loans and investment in other income-generating activities. For example, farmers have been able to invest in the purchase of animals, carts, bicycles, and mopeds, and build houses with corrugated iron roofs.

Fairtrade Premium

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On top of the minimum price, MOBIOM receives the Fairtrade premium of €0.05/kg (FCFA34) to invest in business or community development. Just under half of the premium is used to cover MOBIOM’s operating costs and the remainder is used by CPCBs to finance community projects selected by their members and approved by MOBIOM. A number of projects are ongoing and others are awaiting approval or allocation of funds. In 2009 completed projects included:

• Construction of 17 storehouses for secure storage of farm inputs and the separate storage of the organic cotton harvest
• Construction of a literacy centre to continue efforts to address the high illiteracy rate: over 80% of MOBIOM’s members are illiterate, which creates difficulties in the management of the CPCBs and particularly in the dissemination of information about production, markets and contracts
• Construction of a maternity clinic – this greatly reduces problems that arise when pregnant women with complications would otherwise have to be taken long distances to other hospitals that provide maternity care
• Construction of 3 large-diameter well projects to provide safe drinking water for villagers and their livestock. The new wells have significantly reduced the workload of women as they no longer have to carry out the time-consuming and strenuous task of collecting water and have more time to rest and go about other activities
• Construction of 2 cereal banks where members can store cereal and improve food security. Farmers have to sell cereals before they rot unless they have clean, dry and secure storage facilities
• Purchase and repair of primary school desks and benches. Ideally members would like to build more schools but unfortunately sufficient premium funds are not available. While producers are clearly benefitting from organic cotton production, they want their children to be educated so they have the opportunity to find better-paid work as an alternative to farming.
  

Cotton in Mali

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Mali is Africa's second largest cotton producer after Egypt and produces around 500,000 tonnes of cotton a year. Cotton is grown on over 16,000 family farms and provides a livelihood for more than 3.2 million people. It accounts for 8% of GDP and is the country's main source of foreign currency, accounting for between 30% and 45% of total export earnings, worth FCFA80bn-FCFA125bn ($157m-$245m).

  [1] Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement du Textile, or Malian Textile Development Company.

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 Fairtrade Foundation October 2010