PRISCA MANYIWA-MASUKU
MIRROR REPORTER

KWEKWE – Cotton farmers and producers have agreed on a 2024 producer price of US$0,32 per kg, Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (CPMAZ) secretary general Samson Chigaba has confirmed.
The price now awaits Ministerial approval.
Cotton buyers include Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco), Zimbabwe Cotton Company (ZCC), Shawasha, Agri Value Chain and others.
Apart from the price, farmers will be paid for their deliveries on the spot and there will be payments backdated to the last three seasons.
“We have 420 000 cotton farmers and this year we met all buyers and agreed on a price. The initially proposed price was $0.20 per kg and we settled on US$0.32 per kg.
“There is also a condition that buyers should backdate payments for the last three seasons before we sell this year’s produce and this must be done by 30 May.
“We also agreed that they make full payments on spot and if they do not pay on delivery we hold our crop until we get the payment,” said Chigaba.
Chigaba said the quality of the crop was negatively affected by the El-Nino induced drought.
“They argued that that they cannot increase the price from 32 cents to anywhere near 40 cents because the quality of our crop was affected by the drought,” said Chigaba.