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Farmers now being used as 'slaves' for raw materials - ZNFU

Farmers now being used as 'slaves' for raw materials - ZNFU
By Joan Chirwa-Ngoma
Sun 08 July 2012, 13:22 CAT

ZNFU says farmers are now being used as 'slaves' for raw materials following failed negotiations over cotton pricing for this marketing season.

During a full meeting facilitated by Vice-President Guy Scott which was attended by agriculture minister Emmanuel Chenda, ginners, the Cotton Association of Zambia and the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) at Cabinet Office on Friday afternoon, ginning companies only moved an inch higher from an initial offer price of K1,600 per kilogramme of seed cotton to K1,700, way below last year's price of around K3,200.

"Government's effort to intervene in the cotton price impasse has totally
collapsed in the face of the Republican Vice-President Dr Guy Scott and the
Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Honourable Emmanuel Chenda," said ZNFU president Jervis Zimba who has strongly advocated for a better price for the crop which will benefit both the farmers and the out-grower companies.

"…The ZNFU and CAZ in good faith were ready to come down on their demands
considerably in order to safeguard the future of the cotton industry. However, the ginners only moved their position from K1, 600 to K1,700 per kg. Last year's price was K3,200 per kg. Farmers felt this was an insult."

He said the farmers were now been used "as slaves for raw materials in
Zambia, which is extremely unfortunate".

"With the negotiations having collapsed before the Republican Vice-President
and the Minister of Agriculture, farmers feel there is nowhere to run to resolve the price impasse," said Zimba. "Our advice to farmers is that at this stage there will be no further negotiations and farmers are expected to fend for themselves."

Farmers last year promised better prices during this marketing season compared to K3,200 offered in the previous season, a move that further increased the number of farmers around 300,000.

Several meetings have been held among stakeholders to resolve the differences which have, however, not yielded any positive outcome.

But ginning companies have been purchasing the crop at K1,600 per kilogramme despite the stalemate.

Labels: GUY SCOTT, JERVIS ZIMBA, ZNFU

posted by MrK @ 5:30 PM