An Agriculture Research Institute has advised cotton farmers in the country to consider signing contracts with Cotton buyers before selling the crops.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Kaypro Research Institute Executive Director Dr Frank Kayula said this is the only way that the farmers will be able to raise the march needed profit from the crops.
Dr Kayula noted that government cannot intervene with the price of cotton on the market, because Zambia has a liberalized economy, which allows traders to set their own price of goods and services.
“Government may not always intervene because our economy is a liberalized economy and traders can set any price of the commodities that they want and if there is no buyer the trader ends up losing out,” Dr Kayula said.
He added that it is unfortunate that in Zambia ginnery operators are the ones that set cotton prices on the market which should not be the case, adding that it deprives the farmers from their high labour costs invested in growing cotton.
“What has been happening is the opposite were ginnery operators set the price of the crops, which is not correct,” he said.
Last week cotton farmers from Mumbwa District in Central Province were calling on government to consider intervening in the price of cotton on the market for them to be able to earn the much needed profit from the crops.
The farmers said lack of a stable cotton pricing environment was making it difficult for them to have profit in growing the cash crop as her peers always run at a loss.
They further appealed to the government to consider hiking the price for cotton on the market in a quest for them to be motivated.