@conference{1,
abstract = "Background
In West and Central Africa, the economic and social importance of cotton production used to be claimed in terms of income distributed to farmers and its contribution to GDP, to the balance of payments and to the livelihood of rural populations in the corresponding production areas. The figures put forward were seldom updated. In addition, farmers benefiting from cotton were presented as a whole, regardless of their possible differentiation in terms of farm size and endowments. 
This paper focuses on results from the economic analysis of a study using the VCA4D method, a method promoted by a specific European program to deal with value chains considering their economic, social and environmental dimensions. The study was undertaken in 2019 in Cameroon, where a single cotton company (Sodecoton) operates in marketing and ginning seedcotton and crushing cotton seeds. Small- or industrial-scale fiber processing was taken into account.
Results 
For the 2017-18 campaign, with seedcotton production of 254,181 tons by 152,612 cotton growers on 182,610 ha, the total added-value was CFA F 95.9 billion (€ 146 million) corresponding to 0.6% of GDP. The total generated income was CFA F 48.2 billion (€ 73.5 million). Out of the total added-value and income, growers accounted for 38.4% and 67.8%, respectively. The contributions of the cotton company to the two mentioned economic indicators were 39.3% and 17.6%. Its cotton fiber exports generated CFA F 106 billion (€ 161.5 million) amounting to 16.8% of all agricultural exports, i.e. 5% of the national balance of payments. After deduction of Value Chain imports, the net foreign currency return was CFA F 51 billion (€ 77 million). Through tax payments, the cotton value chain contributed CFA F 9.2 billion (€ 14.0 million) to the national budget, 68.0% of which came from the cotton company. In terms of employment, around 27,000 people in villages received remuneration from the management and marketing activities related to cotton production, while 3,200-3,500 people received salaries from the cotton company on a permanent or temporary basis.
The contribution of cotton growers differed depending on the size of the cotton acreage on the farm. The four types of farms with a cotton acreage of less than one ha, 1-5 ha, 5-10 ha and more than 10 ha amounted to 70.1%, 24.8%, 4.0% and 1.1% of all farms, respectively. However, their respective shares in farmers' contributions to added-value were 29.1%, 35.6%, 23.8% and 11.5%. Most of the children of primary school age were found in the most numerous small "cotton farms" where cotton income should account more to help materialize the schooling purpose.
Conclusion
In a country where the very low level textile industry hampers value addition, smallholders producing cotton contribute substantially to the total added-value and extract an even larger share of the total income distributed. Economic contribution of larger cotton farms (over 5 ha of cotton) accounts much more than their share in farm numbers. The concern for economic performance bears the risk of excessive attention being paid to large farms at the expense of smaller ones for which the preservation, if not improvement, of cotton income matters furthermore for poverty alleviation in the context of a lack of alternative cash income.
",
author = "Michel FOK",
booktitle = "7th World Cotton Research Conference",
title = "Differentiated contribution of smallholders 
to the value of the cotton chain in Cameroon
",
year = "2020"
}