Zimbabwe designates cotton as controlled commodity (Zimbabwe)

Following the impasse surrounding the cotton procurement price that has delayed the start of the 2012 cotton marketing season, the Zimbabwe Government has designated cotton as a controlled commodity.

 

Although the Government has become the sole buyer of cotton crop, its capacity to procure the white gold is being questioned in view of the liquidity crisis induced by the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States and the European Union.

 

Nevertheless, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), which represents several small-scale cotton farmers, has advised its members to hold their produce, while signalling that the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development would soon announce the new producer price.

 

A meeting of farmers and merchants held last week to fix the procurement price, ended undecided. While cotton growers sought prices between US$ 0.49 cents to US$ 0.50 cents per kg, ginners were prepared to offer only a price between US$ 0.29 cents to US$ 0.40 cents per kg.

 

Prior to the stepping in of the Government as sole buyer, one more meeting of the cotton growers and the ginners would be held on June 22, as a final effort to resolve the pricing impasse.