Donors have been invited this week by the WTO in Cotonou to discuss funding to support the African cotton sector, whose survival is threatened by massive cotton subsidies in rich countries. On the very same week, agricultural negotiations are restarting in Geneva and Europe is discussing its own reform of the cotton sector. West and Central African countries, such as Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Mali, face direct losses of income of $250m a year because rich country subsidies are depressing world prices.