Page 7 - 13 Cotton SA November 2017

International Cotton Advisory Committee
Publication: Review of the World Situation Vol.70

uilding on previous very few farms are
Bwork, the ICAC recently mechanized and that these
published a paper two countries are the two
estimating the total largest cotton producers in
employment in the cotton the world. However, China
production sector. Total has been mechanizing its
employment figures include cotton production in
not only cotton growers, recent seasons due to the
but also employment high cost of labour, and
directly related to cotton one should expect the
production such as labour total labour involved in
used during harvesting as cotton production to
well as those in cotton decrease over time.
production related sectors
such as marketing. Cotton production also
provides significant
Estimating the total number employment in Eastern
of cotton growers and and Southern Africa, which
others employed in cotton is the second largest
production helps to assess region.
the size and importance of
the cotton sector in the
country's economy and
employment. In addition,
knowing how many persons
work in cotton production
around the world provides
an indication of the global
importance of the cotton
agricultural sector in terms
of employment.

China has by far the largest
number of growers and
employs the most people in
cotton production, with
India in second place. This is
due to the fact that the
average farm size in both
countries is very small, that

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