Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
Specialist Writer – Agribusiness
STAKEHOLDERS in the cotton value chain will this week meet in Kwekwe for a two-day indaba to interrogate and find solutions to the structural and operational bottlenecks in industry.
The indaba dubbed “Revitalising Zimbabwe’s white gold, Towards a sustainable and competitive cotton” will be held tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday.
Farmers, bankers, spinners, contractors, Government agencies, and experts are expected to develop a model that boosts cotton production in the forthcoming seasons.
Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) acting chief executive, Mr Jonathan Mukuruba, said they acknowledged the urgent need to engage stakeholders in a structured and solution-oriented dialogue to map out a new production model for the cotton sector.
The cotton industry has been over the years facing challenges mainly low productivity, declining farmer interest, market distortions and unsustainable financing models.
Despite its potential as a key export and rural livelihood crop, seed cotton output has declined, threatening the viability of the value chain.
According to AMA statistics, cotton production declined from over 350 703 tonnes in 2012 to 13 757 tonnes in 2024, although 2023 saw an upturn with production surging to approximately 90 084 tonnes per hectare, a figure below national potential.
National cotton yield dropped from a peak of 1 752 kilogramme per hectare in 1980 to an average of 1 318 kilogrammes per hectare between 1980 and 1989 and to 817 kg per hectare between 1990 and 1999.
In the period 2000 and 2009 the average yield dropped again to 713kg per hectare and 607kg per hectare between 2010 and 2019. From 2020 to 2024, the average yield dropped further to 310kg per hectare.
Cotton is a major source of livelihood for approximately two million people, including farmers (approximately 400 000), farm workers and industrial workers.
The crop is also a significant foreign currency earner for the country.
The cotton sector has evolved from only accounting for one percent of the commercial agriculture output in 1965 to about 10 percent to date, with 70 percent of the crop produced exported to generate foreign currency for the country.
Cotton provides raw material for oil expressing, knitting, spanning, weaving and stockfeed industries.
The establishment of oil expression plants in production areas will curb rural-urban migration, lower cooking oil and stockfeed costs.
Government initiated the Presidential Cotton Scheme (PCS) in 2016 to boost cotton production that had dropped from a record high of 351 million kilogrammes in 2012 to 29 million in 2016.
The intervention saw a 155 percent increase in production to 73 million kilogrammes in 2017.
Since 2016, the Government has been the major funder for cotton production.
Analysis of the funding indicates that the proportion of Government to private sector financing was 65 to 35 percent at inception but had widened over the years to the current 84 to 16 percent for the 2022/23 season.
The main challenge in cotton production includes side-marketing.
In 2022/2023, only 37 percent of farmers who received inputs delivered cotton.
The indaba is also meant to assist farmers to improve the quality of their cotton so the crop fetches high prices on the market.
