ABIDJAN: A parasite known as “jasside” could reduce Ivory Coast’s cotton out by between 30% and 40% this year, the head of the cotton and cashew council Adama Coulibaly told Reuters on Wednesday. Jasside has attacked cotton crops before but it is the first time it hits at such a scale, Coulibaly said.

Crops in the north of the West African country first started to show signs of deterioration in July. “It is very concerning. Many plots have been destroyed,” Coulibaly said. “Many producers are in disarray.

We do not yet have figures but we estimate losses of between 30 and 40 percent this year.”

Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, was among Africa’s leading cotton exporters before civil war broke out in 2002. Its cotton sector has been recovering for the past decade after years of political turmoil caused production to plummet.