Switch to organic cotton in Uganda encounters set backs

A marketing row and the switch to organic farming among cotton companies operating in the Uganda are threatening to reduce output by to a half.

The firms are Dunanvant, Twin Brothers, South Base, Bo-Weevil, Copcot and Olam.

An investigation in the affected growing districts found out that farmers were forced into organic cotton growing after the buying companies threatened not to buy conventional cotton, promising a premium for organic crop.

However, farm field visits showed that organic cotton plants were stunted, with few cotton balls, thus affecting yields per acre. In several villages, farmers ferried yellow-turned cotton to local stores for sale instead of the white cotton. The farmers attributed the change in colour to lack of spraying and poor management of the crop. The prices depend on the number of buyers operating in an area.

In Kitgum, which has a monopoly buyer, organic cotton went for sh650 (US 38 cents) a kilo, the same as conventional cotton. In competitive areas, organic cotton went for between sh750 and sh1,000. Dunavant agents in Kitgum claimed that prices were low because "we had given robust extension services and organic farm inputs freely to the farmers to improve production." The agents also claimed they were also giving subsidised tractor services to the community.

A number of stores have closed because the ginneries rejected the poor quality organic cotton. This has left farmers stuck with the cotton. Dozens of cotton fields visited were not weeded, while the crops looked stunted.

In various villages, a spray pump is used to serve more than 100 farmers. Some farmers have therefore not accessed the pump for the entire season, leaving the pests to destroy the crops.

Farmers lack agronomic skills and inputs to manage their crops. They have also never used tractors.

Charles Ongom, a farmer, said: "We have not been given any tractors. We hire oxen for ploughing. We got few pesticides but very late, when the cotton had already been damaged by the pests. We planted 10 acres but we harvested only 200 kilogrammes."

Anthony Nyeko, another farmer, explained: "During the conventional period, I used to get 800 kilogammes from six acres compared to 380 kilogrammes which I got under organic farming." He lamented that there were no demonstration plots for the farmers to learn the basics of organic farming.

But Dunavant agents insisted they gave out 18 tractors to over 5,000 farmers to plough about 10,000 acres. They asserted that they had so far bought 872,837 kilos of cotton from 37,000 acres. This means that yield production per acre is 24 kilos.

They also claimed that about 300 spraying pumps were given to over 17,500 to farmers. This implies that one pump is shared amongst 60 farmers.

However, Komakech Ogwok, a Kitgum area official, dismissed Dunavant's claims. He said that farmers who wanted to hire Dunavant tractors were denied a chance. He said the tractors were only hired to a selected group of people who were not cotton growers. Ogwok also complained of sh650 per kilo of organic cotton.

He did not understand why Dunavant bought the same cotton at sh650 per kilo in Kitgum but sh750 in neighbouring Pader. Ogwok said a lot needed to be done to improve output, which would translate into better incomes.

New Vision