Boon for cotton farmers

IT’S a boon for cotton producers who this season reaped a bumper harvest coupled with a 

“good crop and good price” offered by ginners following a pro-active intervention by 

Government to ensure fair pricing of the white gold.

The Agriculture Marketing Authority has maintained a tight grip on the sector and last 

week withdrew buying licences from three companies that had not fulfilled the Reserve Bank 

of Zimbabwe requirements of declaring offshore funds.

The private companies — Graphax, ETG Parrogate Zimbabwe and China Africa — had been issued 

licences to buy cotton without first bringing offshore funds, raising furore that they 

wanted to circumvent the RBZ Foreign Exchange Act.  Cotton Traders and Marketers 

Association of Zimbabwe chairman, Mr Stewart Mubonderi, has since appealed to the Zimbabwe 

Anti-Corruption Commission to probe the licences issuance scandal, arguing that it has the 

potential to derail efforts to revive the cotton sector that had been crippled by a 

parasitic contract farming regime.

In Manicaland, only Cottco is now buying the white gold, amid revelations that the over 90 

percent of the crop was produced under the Presidential Inputs Scheme. Cotton Producers 

and Marketers Association provincial treasurer-general, Mr Skumbuzo Tondlana, hailed 

Government’s stance since the beginning of the cotton buying season a fortnight ago, for 

ensuring trading normalcy.

He said his association, which comprise of resources poor small-holder farmers, was 

expecting a cumulative 70 000 tonnes of white gold, adding that farmers were happy with 

the price. Mr Tondlana added that cotton farming was a trade benchmarked by escalating 

demands for high quality lint — and farmers this season improved both the eminence and 

yield of their crop in order to get better returns on their investment.

He attributed this season’s success to the Presidential Inputs Scheme. “About 99 percent 

of the crop in Manicaland was funded through the Presidential Inputs Scheme, and these 

other companies that had their buying licences withdrawn actually wanted to cause chaos by 

stealing the crop whose production was sponsored by Government — by encouraging side 

marketing. They did not fund any production in Manicaland, and that is why they operate 

during the night, encouraging side marketing,” said Mr Tondlana.

“This season, we have managed to glean the highest cotton yield in 15 years. It is a 

bumper harvest, and farmers are happy with the prices. Cottco is paying $0.47 per 

kilogramme, before grading, and the farmers will be paid the balance after grading.  “We 

expect Grade A cotton to fetch 55 cents per kg. This enables cotton producers to break-

even and recoup production costs, unlike in past seasons where the process to bring the 

rightful pricing regime was hamstrung by the ginners’ refusal to play ball,” added Mr 

Tondlana.

Mr Tondlana said there was need for cotton value addition to enable farmers to accrue 

maximum benefits from their sweat and create employment in rich cotton producing 

communities.

“We need to invest in ginning equipment that process cotton lint to create employment. 

Farmers should also be paid for the seed and not only the lint. Ginners are accruing 

benefits from the seed (for the subsequent season), oil and cake (stock feed).  “Farmers 

need to do toll-ginning, that is to make an arrangement with ginners to have their crop 

ginned (before payment is done) so that they can be paid for the lint, seed and oil,” said 

Mr Tondlana.

Mr Tondlana, whose association has more than 30 000 producers, said the Presidential 

Inputs Scheme and Command cropping should be extended to cotton next season. “We want the 

farmers empowered next season. The whole industry had collapsed due to a contract farming 

regime that underfunded production leading to poor harvest. Government should continue 

capacitating cotton farmers,” said Mr Tondlana.

Over the years cotton prices ranged between US35c and US42c per kg, resulting in the 

Cotton Ginners Association being rapped for having a stranglehold over ginning companies, 

thereby negatively influencing firms to charge blanket prices which disadvantage farmers 

and must be reformed to allow individual companies to determine their own prices as a long 

term solution to challenges facing the sector.

The model used to fund cotton production and price formulation crippled farmers’ 

operations, forcing producers to demand reforms to end the CGA’s monopoly. Ginners on the 

other hand said there was need to review each stage of the chain through increasing 

yields, Government subsidy of farmers as well as restoring merchants’ confidence in 

funding cotton production.

CGA argued that the cotton prices were arrived at by taking three factors into 

consideration, that is the cost of production for farmers, the cost of production for 

ginners and the likely international cotton prices when it is sold.

BY Samuel Kadungure, Senior Reporter.