What is the Best way to Produce Cotton?
In promoting cotton production, the French colonial officials were not interested in supporting the local textile industry. Rather, they wanted to use cotton exports to raise revenues to pay for the expenses of colonialism and to provide cotton for the French textile industry, which at this time, was dependent on imports from the United States. Once the colonial officials had been made this choice, they had to devise a strategy for expanding cotton production. They faced a basic choice, should they support the development of large plantation-type cotton farms, similar to the large farms that produced cotton in the southern United States, or should they encourage the small-scale Malian farmers to expand their cotton production? Below are a number of factors that French colonial officials may have taken into consideration as they made their decision on which cotton production strategy to follow. Carefully study the following data. DECISION MAKING: • Economic objectives and realities of t
