Cotton prices increased by 200%
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Ngoni Chanakira
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 12:01
HARARE – ZIMBABWE’S struggling cotton farmers are smiling all the way to
their commercial banks after the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Joseph Made
gave them a 200 percent hike for their “white gold”.
Cotton prices have been increased from the paltry US$0,30 per kilogramme to
US$1, a more than 200 percent hike for the cash-strapped farmers who had
regularly complained to the minister.
In the region, cotton farmers are paid between US$0,80 and US$0,90 which
makes local cotton farmers the best paid.
“In Malawi, for example, cotton farmers are currently getting US$0,80 while
in South Africa they get US$0,90 per kilogramme,” an official from the
Cotton Marketing Board (CMB) said in an exclusive interview.
Farmers interviewed said they welcomed the price hike which would go a long
way in solving their production costs which were escalating annually.
“We pay a lot of money for such items as fertiliser and inputs,” a communal
farmer said in an interview.
“So, this US$1 will go a long way in trying to solve our cash problems. The
money is very welcome but it has come a bit late.”
The official from the cotton organisation said now that the price had been
increased he hoped production would go up from the current 20 percent
especially from communal farmers.
While it is very expensive to produce cotton prices are generally low even
on the international arena where the majority of the cotton produced is sold
in Liverpool in the United Kingdom (UK).
Zimbabwe produces among the best quality cotton lint in the world and such
designer label shirts including Van Heusein being made in the country but
sent to the UK for labelling.
The majority of the cotton is sold by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Limited
(Cottco) and Quton (Private) Limited, a private player in the industry.
Most of Zimbabwe’s cotton is hand-picked as opposed to mechanisation done
internationally.
“This makes the quality of our cotton to be very high and attractive,” the
official pointed out.