Subsidies paid to rival growers in the EU, US, China and India takes its toll on the earnings of West African cotton farmers, said Fairtrade Foundation. As per the calculations of the foundation, during the past ten years, the US, the European Union, China and India have paid about $47 billion (￡29 billion) as subsidies, in total, to their cotton farmers.

This has pushed the global prices of cotton down for the competitors, particularly in West Africa, wherein the farmers of the four biggest countries are losing around millions of dollars every year, according to an estimate by the charity Oxfam.

On the United Nations Human Development Index, these four West African countries rank between 134 and 163 out of 169 countries. This index measures income, life expectancy and education. Cotton constitutes around 5 to 10 percent of their economies and most of their exports, which are shipped to the manufacturing units in China and India.