COTTON production has continued to go down, a worrying trend that has left players in the sector not only demoralised, but with some abandoning the crop. The ‘white gold’ is fast losing its lustre as farmers have been enticed by the lucrative production of tobacco. Gone are the days when areas such as Gokwe, Sanyati and Chegutu used to be a hub of both commercial and small-holder level cotton production. Today the usually budding white fields have been replaced by tobacco, maize and even soya-bean fields. In the past cotton farmers have been crying foul over the returns realised after selling their crop. With the crop suitable for most of the country’s provinces including Manicaland, Midlands, Matabeleland North and South and Mashonaland West and Central, it is not surprising to note that at one time the crop was one of the country’s major foreign currency earners. Cotton can fair well in areas such as Chipinge, Nyanyadzi, Beitbridge, Mazowe Valley and Shamva. Following the Land Reform Programme in 2000, the cotton production sub-sector had made a smooth transition from a production system based on large-scale commercial farmers to one almost entirely reliant on smallholder production. An estimated 250 000 smallholder farmers produced 99 percent of Zimbabwe’s cotton crop mainly through contract farming schemes with cotton ginning companies. At least 25 percent of the country’s rural population derived livelihoods from cotton farming. The cotton industry which proved to be a significant source of income and employment that was vital for economic growth is indeed facing challenges that require urgent attention. Total land area put under cotton is on a downward spiral. Last year, the country’s small-scale cotton farmers stood at 170 000, down from 200 000 in 2013. Forecasts for this season show that output will dip below an estimated 145 000 metric tonnes produced during the previous season. The tell-tale signs of poor cotton prices are there for everyone to see. Even contracting firms who finance 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s cotton output are now investing their moneys elsewhere. And yet it cannot entirely be a gloomy picture that cotton output in Zimbabwe is going down on the back of poor prices which are pushing farmers to produce other viable crops which also thrive in their ecological regions. The past marketing seasons of the crop have been marred by price disputes between farmers and ginners with the former arguing that the prices offered by the latter were not viable. These disputes have negatively affected the growth of the crop and future output levels. It seems cotton production is a lucrative business for ginners rather than the farmers. Yet it is the farmer who toils in the fields in the hope for better returns. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Wonder Chabikwa said farmers were not happy with the prices that ginners were offering. “The issue of returns is one that has negatively affected the sector and many farmers have abandoned cotton production,” he said. “Ginners insist on using international prices when setting prices for the local produce, but there are other factors which they do not consider.” To determine producer prices, the cotton industry uses international lint prices as a benchmark.
In most producer countries, the price is normally estimated because the actual price will be known at the time when the lint is sold. Cotton prices are ranging from US30 cents to US79 cents per kilogramme. Chabikwa said the cost of production for local growers was higher than in other countries. “In countries such as India, China and Burkina Faso they get subsidies of between 30 to 50 percent on inputs and this is not the case for Zimbabwean farmers hence we cannot expect the local farmer to be happy with the same price offered to the farmer in Burkina Faso.” The sharp increase in global cotton stocks, particularly those warehoused in China, the biggest consumer of the crop coupled with an influx of cheap synthetic fibres is another pushing factor on the low cotton prices. Chabikwa said to counter such effects it was time for the country to value add on cotton. “The only solution we should adopt is to have all our cotton to be beneficiated in the country and we sell the finished products,” he said. “By so doing we will have no problem in lack of markets. “If we increase the value of our product the textile industry will in turn be able to subside and support the farmer thereby reducing the cost of production.” Players in the local cotton sector need to understand that the world cotton market is a volatile one hence knowledge of its volatility is vital to those engaged in buying or selling raw cotton. By so doing the fortunes of the cotton production sector might be turned around.