U.S. farm policy sows ire in Africa

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Djiguina Tounkara, a cotton farmer from Kita in landlocked Mali, says President Bush's need to court the U.S. farm vote has made it difficult for him to feed and clothe his family.

A respected Muslim elder with 12 acres of cotton, Mr. Tounkara has no electricity or running water in his home, but he does have a handle on the intricacies of U.S. domestic politics. He understands the need of American politicians to support U.S. farmers, but said it is killing him. Federal subsidies to U.S. cotton farmers have distorted the world cotton market, making it impossible for Mr. Tounkara to make a living.

Mr. Tounkara, representing about 16,000 farmers in his district, came to Washington last month for the U.S.-Africa Trade Summit. He said he was forced to send two of his eight children to the city to earn money to help support the family.

He said all the aid, debt relief and good will the United States pours into Africa count for little if he and his neighbors throughout the continent are ruined.

"The U.S. subsidies have a direct effect on my market price. They control my market price. I cannot get what I should for my cotton," he said late last month, shrugging his shoulders in helplessness.

The Freedom to Farm Act of 2002 -- containing $190 billion in subsidies over 10 years -- guarantees U.S. farmers 72 cents a pound for cotton. Mr. Tounkara spends about 20 cents to produce a pound of cotton but is paid less than 15 cents a pound at current prices.

"It is the same for us all. The responsibilities I have as a father -- school, health care, food -- I cannot do. All the cotton we grow is planted and picked by hand. We want to mechanize, but can't. Farmers are being driven out," he said.

Zan Dossaye Diazza, agricultural director of the Mali Cotton Consortium, said subsidies to U.S. and European farmers are blocking Africa's economic development -- though African development is a specific goal of U.S. foreign aid to Mali and the rest of the continent.