Ajustements nationaux de mécanismes prix face aux fluctuations du prix mondial: les leçons du coton en Afrique Zone Franc
The French colonial power committed itself in promoting cotton, well before its colonization was achieved. Promotion eventually succeeded only from 1952 onward, thanks to the set up of a pricing mechanism which integrated the needed adaptation to world price fluctuations. Since 1985, this mechanism was adjusted several times, along the collapses of the world price which came out more frequently with great magnitude. The adjustments did not lead to the expected results, although production kept on increasing, because the cotton sectors were close to bankruptcy several times. In most African francophone countries, the very conflicting relationship between stakeholders resulted directly or indirectly from the mechanism adjustments. This article analyses the errors and difficulties in adjusting pricing mechanism under the pressure, still very vivid, of world price fluctuations.
Evolution institutionnelle, approche statique et dynamique de la performance en relation avec les objectifs de développement
Le Projet Resocot est un projet de recherche dont la realisation a associe des equipes du Nord et des equipes africaines, dont certaines etaient au depart peu familieres avec l'approche theorique suivie. Ce projet est destine a mettre au point une methodologie et des outils pour aider a apprecier les performances des filieres cotonnieres et a aider les acteurs concernes a piloter ces filieres pour gagner en performance. A l'heure ou plusieurs filieres africaines sont deja passees a une gestion inter-professionnelle, les produits du projet peuvent s'averer utiles pour faciliter les echanges entre les acteurs afin de parvenir a une vision partagee des problemes avant de decider des actions pour les resoudre.
European Neutrality in Historical Perspective
This chapter places the neutrality policies of the established European neutral states—Austria, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland—in historical context. It explores the origins of neutrality in the idea of non-belligerency in war and the history of neutrality in modern European international politics, highlighting the way in which quite a wide variety of states were or sought to be neutral at various points in the nineteenth century or the first half of the twentieth century. The chapter then shows how the Cold War division of Europe resulted in Austria, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland (along with Yugoslavia) emerging as a distinctive neutral group of states between the two blocs. The chapter also reviews how the European neutral states’ foreign and security policies have adapted since the end of the Cold War. It finishes with some conclusions about neutrality in general and the neutrality of the established European neutral states in particular.