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afrol News, 24 June - The Ministers of Agriculture of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) are meeting in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) today to search for a common strategy to meet the world market crisis on cotton products. Cotton, which is a key cash crop in the savannah climate of West Africa, currently achieves very poor world market prices. Also the heavy subsidies for US and Chinese cotton producers are impeding West African access to world markets. According to the French news agency AFP, the Ministers of Agriculture from the eight UEMOA countries will have a three-day meeting in Abidjan to coordinate their national policies, including embarking on internal reforms. Also ways of resisting the growing competition were to be discussed. The Ministers' meeting was preceded by an experts' conference this weekend, also in Abidjan. The experts were to outline possible policy options for the Ministers. Ouagadougou-based UEMOA is a regional group of eight countries, founded in 1994 by the Heads of State of the West African countries using the Franc CFA common currency. Its mission is to promote economic integration and promote "growth, unity, solidarity and complimentarity among costal and Sahelian states." The member states include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
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