Malawi's ministry of agriculture has singled out poor prices by buyers as one of the major factors affecting the development of cotton production in the country. Preliminary production estimates released by the ministry in early March indicate that despite various efforts put in place to stimulate cotton production, the crop will only register a marginal increase of 490 tonnes to 59,043 from 58,553 tonnes registered in 2006.
Cotton has been earmarked as a strategic crop, with potential to earn the country foreign currency country to help counter the effects of the worldwide anti-smoking lobby and poor prices that have hit tobacco, the country's number one foreign exchange earner in recent years.
Secretary for Agriculture Patrick Kabambe said the situation surrounding cotton is similar to that in the tobacco industry. "Just as in tobacco, cotton production this year has been affected by poor prices which has forced many farmers to stop growing the crop and focus on other profitable ventures," he said.
Government last year put in place a minimum price at which buyers were expected to buy the crop from farmers. However, like in the tobacco industry, cotton buyers resisted paying the set price and offered farmers less.
Currently, government is negotiating with members of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) to waive rules of origin requirements for minimum levels of Malawian-produced cotton in textiles the country manufactures and exports within SACU. It wants Malawi to be allowed to use a higher percentage of imported cotton in its SACU-exported textiles because the country is failing to produce enough of its own cotton to meet the require SACU requirements.
Similarly, the country is failing to take full advantage of the trade window opened by the United States of America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to failure to produce enough cotton to meet the demand.
source : The Nation
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