African farmers can produce cotton at less than 50 cents a pound

"African farmers can produce cotton at less than 50 cents a pound, compared with 73 cents for American farmers and even higher costs in Europe, according to date gethered in Burkina Faso." "Washington doled out $2 billion in direct cash subsidies to cotton farmers over the past year and another $270 million to cotton exporters... The United States government keeps the cotton price low: in late 2002, it was a meager 35 cents a pound." "Cotton... directly supporting more than 10 million small-scale growers across Africa."

Source: Lacey, Marc, "African's Burden: West's Farm Subsidies," The New York Times, 9/10/03, A10

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