Zimbabwe Govt may buy cotton directly from farmers

The Zimbabwean government might intervene and buy cotton directly from the farmers, if the current impasse between cotton farmers and merchants is unresolved.

This was announced by Joseph Made – Agriculture Minister, who has been advised by the cabinet to intervene in the issue.

The Cabinet has advised me to mobilise resources to buy cotton from the farmers and sell it later in global markets, when prices move up, he said.

“We will have to reactivate the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB), which will purchase cotton on behalf of the government”, he added.

The bone of contention is the wide difference in prices offered by the merchants and the prices demanded by the cotton farmers.

Cotton merchants are offering between 36 and 50 US cents per kg, while farmers are demanding between 85 and 120 cents per kg

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‘Change’ – new buzzword for NZ fine wool Industry

Changes are vital for the New Zealand wool industry to be able to meet the rising global demand for fine wool. It was echoed at a conference organized by the New Zealand Merino (NZM) Company in Christchurch.

The conference was attended by about 600 wool farmers and NZM partners from around the world.

Addressing the conference, John Brakenridge, Chief Executive of NZM, said the primary wool sector in New Zealand played a significant role in the country’s economic prosperity and it must change and find new ways in order to remain effective and meet the growing demand for more fine wool from global brands.

One example of growing demand is that total sales of woolen apparels in the US active outdoors markets have increased from US$ 80 million in 2003 to US$ 280 million in 2011. A large share of this wool has its origin in New Zealand.

Merino garments once had no market in active outdoors category and today it accounts for 15 percent share. With the rise in segments such as running, cycling and snow sports, the diversity of product offerings would boom creating still larger demand for wool, Gretchen Kane, NZM International Marketing Manager, said.


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