Trends in agriculture over the past decades in West Africa have seen an increasing use of highly toxic pesticides –including POPs- in higher-value and frequently irrigated crops. Cotton production has one of the worst impacts on the environment of any crop in the region, due to the effects on the fragile soils and excessive use of pesticides such as endosulfan. In 2011, endosulfan became a POP under the Stockholm Convention hence this ongoing programme contributes directly to the implementation of the Convention in provision of sustainable alternatives to POPs.