cotton farmers to bargain with ginneries The Zambia Competition Commission has put measures that will allow individual farmers to negotiate cotton prices.
Cotton Board of Zambia (CBZ) Secretary Dafulin Kaonga said this will ensure that individual farmers negotiate the prices of cotton with individual ginneries.
In an intreview with the Lusaka Star, Mr kaonga also said the depreciation of the Zambian currency, the Kwacha, will not affect the cotton prices significantly.
"CBZ noted that the cotton price was k2.40 per Kilogram at the beggining of this year and is currently K 2.70 per kilogram. This implies that there has only been an increase of k 30 in tthe price," he explained.
Meanwhile, a cotton farmer, Edward Banda has welcomed this move by the Commission, noting that it will enable small-scale farmers like himself to sell their produce at profitable prices.
He added that this will make farmers benefit from their hard work as they will be able to fix their own prices.
“Cotton inputs are usually expensive. This move will definitely go a long way in the growing of the cotton industry in Zambia,” he said.