Stopping organic cotton in Uganda

An article from a newspaper this week in Uganda reports that President Mseveni has "banned" organic cotton from northern Uganda. In the last few years, organic cotton production has grown rapidly there due to overseas buyers clamouring for the stuff. According to Uganda's President, the main cotton buyer Dunavant has failed to provide the organic growers with sufficient organic pesticides making them vulnerable to crop failure. The government has zoned areas where organic must be grown. If cotton production takes place outside these areas, they will be declared "illegal". It is not clear exactly what support the government of Uganda provides to cotton farmers either in the zone or without. In general developing countries have very low levels of support for agricultural extension particularly since structural adjustment programmes began in the 1990s. It is therefore unclear why a government providing so little in the way of agricultural extension would discourage the private sector in this way.