Benin bets on turning its cotton crop into clothes at home

PARAKOU, Benin -- The “Made in Benin” tags on Fatoumata Dosso’s fabrics represent an ambition much bigger than her fashion business: keeping more of the value of Africa’s largest cotton producer at home.The founder of DAF Collection said that the tag means her country is trying to take full advantage of the abundant raw material produced in Benin. For her, there is also the opportunity to support more women in her community who hope to earn a living from cotton. “I am more focused on promoting the traditional fabric of northern Benin,” she said inside her showroom in the northern city of Parakou. “What comes from elsewhere is already everywhere. I wanted to do something special.”Dosso is responding to government policy that discourages the export of raw material and stipulates that the West African country must do more to export finished products — from pineapple juice to garments marketed by world-famous brands, but still marked with Benin. Benin is Africa’s top cotton producer, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Benin produced 1.15 million bales of cotton between 2025 and 2026, accounting for 0.9% of global production.That sounds like a tiny share of the g...