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other companies that had their buying licences withdrawn actually wanted to cause chaos by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