Tendai Chara

FOR cotton farmers in Guruve, Mashonaland Central Province, the beginning of the cotton selling season on May 18 brought with it dampened spirits, desperation, anxiety and, to a lesser extent, relief.

The decision by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) to pay farmers using groceries left them in a quandary.

Most of them were not sure if they will grow the cash crop in the next planting season.

Farmers in Mahuwe and areas surrounding Guruve Centre and in Chitsungo told The Sunday Mail Society of their disappointment after Cottco used groceries to pay for deliveries.

Godfrey Nyahundi, who operates a bottle store at Mahuwe, said: “We are operating under difficult times. Our patrons were deprived of their buying power and business is very low. As you can see, this place is almost empty.”

For Fungai Goredema, the cotton selling season has brought misery and despair.

“I was given a carton of cooking oil as payment for the cotton that I delivered. I wanted to have a few beers but as you can see, this is what I got after six months of toiling,” a clearly distraught Goredema said.

Local transporters are feeling the heat as fewer people are now travelling to and from Mahuwe.

“In the past, traders used to come from as far as Harare to sell their wares to cotton farmers. The farmers do not have the means to buy the goods, hence the vendors are no longer coming. I used to hire out my truck to the traders, but, by now, no one is interested in my services,” Noel Chagaka said.

He said while more than 10 bus companies used to ply the Harare-Mahuwe route during the cotton selling season, there are now only two buses currently servicing the once-busy route.

But, the situation has inadvertently helped solve rampant prostitution at Mahuwe and Guruve Centre, which often rises to alarming levels during the marketing season.

When The Sunday Mail Society visited these two places, only a handful of the ladies of the night were on the prowl.

“Business is very low. People do not have money. The cotton farmers are being paid through groceries and in most instances, the men are sending their wives to collect them,” Martha, one of the few ladies at Mahuwe, said.

Shop-owners have been unfortunate.

Some have since closed shop due to subdued business, while others have turned their grocery stores into lodgings.

“Seriously, how can companies resort to barter trade in this era? Cotton companies are driving shop-owners out of business. Government must intervene and bring back sanity to the cotton industry,” Simba Sisimayi, a businessman at Chitsungo Business Centre, said.

Temba Mutimba, a cotton farmer from Chitsungo, is bewildered.

“Our cotton used to fetch high prices and we would go on shopping sprees. I remember my family would buy groceries that would take us to the next selling season. The groceries that I got this time do not even last a month,” Mutimba said.

According to the farmers, Cottco made the decision to barter trade their cotton without consulting them.

The farmers also alleged that the companies are forcing them to accept groceries that they do not want.

However, Cottco managing director Pious Manamike set the record straight.

“When Government launched the financial inclusion programme, whose objective was to have a banking society, we mobilised our farmers to either open bank accounts or mobile money wallets to enable them to be paid through these platforms, moving away from the cash system that had been the traditional payment method for over 20 years.

“The response from the farmers was overwhelming, with 90 percent opting for the e-wallet platform and for the past four years, the e-wallet platform has been the main payment method.

“ Last year in June, Government, having observed some malpractices in the use of the e-wallets, suspended their use when we were just about to start our marketing season.

“…a producer price that was beyond our reach as a company was also announced. In response to these unfolding events, the farmers who were now stranded requested Cottco to bring them some grocery and hardware items of their choice by individual preferences,” explained Mr Manamike.

Farmer, he added, were free to wait for their money, if they wish, and they will get it as soon as it is availed.

But, a section of the farmers, mostly women, were, however, happy with the new payment arrangement.

“In the past, our husbands used to squander the money realised from cotton sales with girlfriends and prostitutes. I welcome this arrangement since our men do not have access to the money which they often abuse,” said Laina Gwizo.

Local cotton companies are reportedly struggling to pay this year’s producer price for cotton pegged at $85 per kilogramme (US$1,02), which many, particularly small ones, might not afford.

However, Cottco has started paying farmers some advances on the e-wallet platform as the company awaits the announcement of the payment modalities from the authorities.

Farmers are being paid an advance of $3 000 per bale.

Cottco, according to Mr Manamike, has also launched a campaign to facilitate the opening of about 48 000 bank accounts for farmers that do not have.