The government of Zimbabwe has decided to release about $26 million to procure cotton inputs this season in a bid to restore viability in the sector. Under the arrangement, Agritex has been directed to identify farmers and to distribute planting seed, chemicals and fertilizers while Cottco will be responsible to buy the crop at the end of the season.

Agritex will provide a database of farmers that would have received inputs to Cottco for buying purposes. While government will be the dominant player, private merchants can also buy the crop to the extent of money invested into production. This step signals at the government’s emergence as single player the way it was before the liberalisation of the industry about two decades ago. Government was then the dominant player in cotton marketing through the Cotton Marketing Board. Then, Zimbabwe was among the best in cotton quality at a global scale during the CMB era.

The CMB was privatised in 1994, under the Economic Structural Adjustment Program, which gave birth to Cotton Company of Zimbabwe, a private company working towards the development of the cotton sector in the country. The liberalisation of the cotton industry also resulted in the entry of other private players. However, privatisation of the sector did not work in favour of the country’s cotton cultivation sector.

Ustr.gov

Mincom.gov.bd