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Minister Made said price negotiations between growers and merchants had failed to yield positive results, prompting the Government to intervene.
He said the resources and cash to pay the farmers would be mobilised by his ministry together with the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment.
He said Government would soon announce the new prices.
“Merchants had also requested Government to give farmers subsidies but it is impossible. We cannot give subsidies when ginners and merchants are benefiting from the cotton and making huge profits internationally.
“Farmers should start harvesting cotton and keep it until Government starts buying. The prices will be unveiled soon,” Minister Made said.
He said the teaming up of the two ministries would also save jobs of thousands of people in the cotton industry.
“Obviously, many people were going to stop operations because of poor prices and a lot of people were going to lose jobs but through this they continue to be empowered.
“Farmers also have to plan for the next season and they can’t wait for people with no solutions,” he said.
Minister Made said the quality of farmers’ cotton would have deteriorated because of prolonged storage and later fetch very low prices if farmers were to wait for the conclusion of the impasse between growers and merchants.
Cotton merchants were offering between $0,36 and $0,50 for a kilogramme while farmers are demanding between $0,85 and $1,20 per kilogramme.
The prices the merchants are offering, which were agreed to by all stakeholders in the industry, compare well with those farmers in the region are getting. Farmers contend they would not be able to remain in business if they took what the ginners were offering.
Ginners on the other hand have argued that lint prices fell on the international market owing to the low uptake of last season’s stocks.
Some disappointed farmers were contemplating abandoning the crop due to poor prices.
Online Reporter