Cotton farmers have vowed not to sell their produce at the government’s set minimum price of K320 per Kilogram until the price has been revised.
President of the Cotton Farmers Association of Malawi (COFA) Dickson Gundani has confirmed the development while stressing that the farmers want the price to be set at between K400 and K450 per kilogram instead.
Gundani added that selling their cotton at K320 per kilogram will not meet their production costs and make them realize profits.
Gundani says meanwhile the association has asked for a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture to revise the price while indicating that there is more cotton that farmers produced during the 2019/2020 growing season that is yet to be sold due to lower prices.
“The government should at least call one farmer to represent fellow farmers when they are discussing farm prices but instead they discussed alone with their stakeholders without consulting us farmers,” said Gundani.
On April 1, Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe announced the 2020/2021 Agricultural Seasonal Farm Gate Prices when he indicated that the minimum price for buying cotton was set at K320 per kilogram.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson in the ministry Gracan Lungu says the K320 price was reached out after thorough consultations with stakeholders including the buyers.
