Five country-focused workshops will take place in the coming weeks to discuss the latest progress on a joint initiative undertaken by the WTO, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) to enhance the economic benefits of cotton by-products. Organized by the WTO in partnership with UNCTAD and ITC, the workshops will discuss the findings of feasibility studies carried out for each of the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) and Mozambique.

At these workshops, organised with the support of the Enhanced Integrated Framework, key stakeholders including cotton farmers, government representatives and development partners will discuss the findings of the feasibility studies and provide feedback and recommendations to be reflected in the final versions. Each report will include recommendations on how farmers could benefit more from cotton-by-products and elements of a business plan to facilitate future investment decisions.

The final reports will be published as official WTO documents and presented at the next WTO cotton meetings scheduled for 12-13 November.

The WTO-UNCTAD-ITC joint initiative was launched in November 2018 to analyse the economic potential of cotton by-products development in the least-developed countries, in response to a request by the Cotton-4 countries. The ultimate goal is to assist cotton-producing countries in creating new income streams for farmers and processors. The first phase of the initiative was for each participating country to conduct country-based feasibility assessment studies to prepare the way for potential fund-matching at a later stage.