Civil war, credit problems and defaults on farmer payments will cut cotton production in West Africa by more than 300,000 bales next season, a US report has warned.

Output from the six countries which represent the region's - and the continent's - main producers will fall to 1.90m bales in the 2009-10 marketing year, which starts in August, the US agricultural attaché in Dakar has warned.

While West Africa is a small player in terms of production, which the US believes will hit 106.5m bales in 2009-10, it ships almost all its crop abroad, making it a major exporter.

The region's exports of 2.16m bales forecast for the current year are in line with those of India and Brazil.

'Precarious state'

The cut in output reflects in particular a decline in Mali's harvest to a forecast 300m bales, down 22% on this season's crop, which was itself the worst harvest in at least 20 years.

Nearly $50m was needed to pay farmers for last year's crop and subsidise up-front expenses for next year's, the attaché, Robert Hanson, said.

"The cotton sector in Mali is in a precarious state that is likely to get worse before it gets better," he said.

"Millions of smaller producers are likely to stop producing cotton."

Payment issue

Meanwhile, Cote d'Ivoire output was being held back by the aftermath of civil war and "ongoing political uncertainties", Mr Hanson said, forecasting a 22% slide to 175m bales in production next season.

Chad's output would fall roughly 21% to 150,000 bales, dependent on "whether or not farmers get paid for the 2008 crop".

Mr Hanson added that West Africa's cotton sector "continues to decline despite the best intentions and efforts of national governments and the donor community".

The six countries cited in the report are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Senegal.