Alternative possible à la production traditionnelle du coton en Afrique dans une perspective de développement durable? Le cas du système de production biologique et équitable au Mali

SUMMARY
The general objective of this work is to analyze the viability of the culture of organic fair trade cotton in comparison with that of conventional cotton. The study was conducted with a sample of 45 farms with 15 farms per system, and following a systemic approach at three levels: the land of cotton cropping systems based on cotton and across the operation.
At the cotton, whatever the socio-economic producer, cotton compared to conventional cotton has lower average yields, work time higher and smaller plots (0.85 ha production organic fair against 2.35 and 1.76 ha respectively in conventional production calendar and thresholds. organic fair trade cotton generates less revenue because of smaller plots. Nevertheless, the cotton is organic fair identified two broad categories of farms: farms with high levels of resources have an important livestock farms and poor with little means of production, for which the organic fair trade cotton is one of the few alternatives for income money. It should be noted that the level of these poor farms, it is often women and dependent operations manager who practice organic cultivation of cotton. Only farms with high level of resources that have a herd can derive significant profits from the cultivation of organic fair trade cotton.
The alternative organic fair this effect allows access to land and access to the culture of cotton formerly marginalized groups, including women, unlike conventional cotton where only the manager manages the cultivation of cotton. There is thus improving the status of women. However, the lack of sustained management of soil fertility and nutrient compromises obtaining better yields - which is a key success factor to be and remain competitive.
Level of cropping systems, comparative analysis of the performance of cropping systems confirms that productivity and valuation levels of the working day cultures and cultivation systems based on organic fair trade cotton are lower than obtained by conventional production.
At the farm level, conventional production systems produce between 29% (SPCca) and 43% (SPCs) more grain from the organic production system. Reflecting the fragility of food security in the region in case of massive conversion to organic production. Regarding environmental sustainability, it appears that the most important contribution of organic cotton is safe for human health and the environment of the inputs used.