Cotton farmers in Petauke district in Eastern Province have burnt cotton weighing 11,300 Kilogrammes valued at K17.6 million, belonging to Cargill cotton Zambia. The farmers are reported to have been infuriated by Cargill Zambia officials who went to buy cotton from the farmers with an offer of K 1,600 per kilogramme prompting the irate farmers to burn the cotton which was stacked at Ukwimi Police post in Petauke.
The burnt cotton was bought from farmers in sopa village but that the driver decided to offload it at Ukwimi police post after an attempt by the farmers to intercept the Truck. The farmers also stoned the police post leaving the building damaged where Cargill area manager Richard Tembo tried to seek refugee.
Zambia police Assistant Public relations officer Esther Mwaata -Katongo has confirmed the development to QFM news a statement. One person has since been arrested in connection to the arson and is currently detained in police custody.
Farmers and cotton buyers have reached a deadlock on the price of cotton. This was after the price offer was pegged at 1,600 perv kilogramme from the K 3,500 which was being offered last year. Farmers have been threatening to burn their cotton,lately due to the price stand off.
Last week during his campaign, President Michael Sata advised farmers in Chama district against carrying through their threat to burn their cotton crop in protest against low prices. The President said Government will soon find a solution for the pricing problem of the cash crop and he appealed to the farmers not to listen to MMD officials who are encouraging them to burn the cotton because of the low price.
“Hold on to your cotton. Don’t burn it. Government has a plan to revive the cotton industry,” President Sata said.
Delay is not defeat. Just hold on my fellow farmers. Just like any business ,there are also Risks in Agric business. Crop diversification is another Solution, Next time on your 1hecter land think of planting some Soy bean, Groundnuts these are real cash crops.
its a shame the amount of labour these poor farmers but there is no government to protect them and that’s the difference between most African countries and the west. the govt for the rich and the govt for the poor and institutions. I don’t blame them.
I dont understand these farmers. Looks like they dont understand which i believe they dont, they do not understand the laws of supply and demand. All they can do is hold on to the crop to create a shortage then sell when the price goes high. Which might be difficult because they want to plant for the next season. But its all about patience in order to succeed. These problems are everywhere even in the West all they do is wait. If they burn what will they eat then they will start blaming government to say that they were forced to burn their crops then prices went high. They are the one’s that will suffer the loss. All government will want is just its tax.
PF has been saying farmers should hold on..but for how long?does this government know that these cotton farmers use these to pay for school kids. does the government also know that the season for cotton is almost fininshing and that ginners need time to gin the crop. chenda,scot now sata are on record as having told the farmers to hold on and that the new price will be announced..the question is when is this price going to be announced. does the government know that the cotton is becoming dry everyday that passes……this government may not be telling the truth or rather they do not know waht to do.
Sad state of affairs, that’s not the way my friends…
Right on the best is to burn after all last year the price was higher than what PaFwaka (PF) chaps are offering even when the inputs have gone up with the kwacha also being on a yoyo as our president used to say when in opposition. These Pathetic Fools (PF) have destroyed everything including farmers. This has nothing to do with MMD just accept there are no plans within the grey matter of PF to solve such matters.They are just too advanced for small brains to handle. What is there to hold on to when we hear on everyday basis that there is CNP in Zambia now? I end here!
The problem has been the silence from the state in solving the impasse. You can’t bury your head in the sand and expect the problem to go away. The farmers shall make a loss if they sell what was produced at last year’s cost at this year’s sale price. The government can buy these stock from the farmers at last year’s price and hoard it to improve price or till the price improves through other means. The government has no choice but to subsidize farmers when market forces cause havoc.
Msanzala constituency is where PF just won a bye-election with their Col. Joseph Lungu MP promising to personally buy off their cotton at 5pin because they voted differently from the rest of the province. Now this loss to the cotton company by the don’t kubeba youths who made sure they burnt the cotton after it was bought and cash collected must be fully paid by the PF party.
MMD was offering K3600 per kg, PF is offering K1600 for more money in the farmers pockets. PF govt is a disgrace, cheating even farmers.
I don’t believe the MMD or PF has ever offered (let alone paid) a single ngwee for cotton. Cotton trade is not the business of political parties and you need to look at world market (supply and demand) to know what is going on with price.
bututu ubu balecita
farmers need a united voice to increase their bargaining power…against their cotton buyers..cotton outgrower is strong in zambia and these farmers should learn to form unions and speck with one strong voice…how can other farmers be accepting 1.6zmk/kg and other not?
This is wisdom boss. Well said – #permission to repost#
Did a quick check, and Cotton is presently trading at $1.6 per kilogram. Rough calculations will put that at about K8,200 per kg. Cargill wants to buy it for K1,600, and make K7,000 per kilo! That sounds crazy to me!
The farmers need to form a union with the chaps in Southern Africa and set an enforceable floor price.
You voted against your own relative RB who gave you everything you needed and instead voted into power Sata. Now you will see suffering for your stupidity…and we haven’t even finished the first one year yet. I wonder who is having the last laugh now, obviously it is RB! There is chaos everywhere in the country now. There is a strong wind gathering. But I blame the level of immaturity and dullness that characterises the Zambian population. How can you vote for somebody who tells you complete lies that he is going to put more money into your pocket without explaining how he is going to do that? Secondly, Sata had this silly slogan ‘don’t kubeba’ and everybody was grinning stupidly with childish excitement: Is anybody still laughing now? Muza kaula monga imbwa, just wait.
Im in the thick of things in Petauke. The Farmers especially those in Manchinchi Village are slowly selling to Chinese Ginners. Desperation will/has set-in cos of poverty.
You cant Blame Grz for letting the Farmers Union and Ginners to negotiate a floor reasonable price.
Im totally against GRZ to get into buying of cotton. There are Ginners in Rsa/INDIA/TANZANIA who are willing to get this crop at K3pin at FOB.
FARMERS JUST HOLD ON FOR NOW. IF PRICE OFFER IS LESS THEN WE WILL EXPORT TO RSA AND INDIA.
I can now imagine why Mr Bwalya Kalusha will go to all lengths, including rigging, to cling on to FAZ. I mean, for a superstar that he once was and the monies he racked in over the years, failing to pay US$
26,250 (130 million Kwacha) is just plain anal stupidity.
They might be angry but its still a crime what they did, they dont have the right to do that. Its simple bussiness , nothing more and nothing less, if you dont want to sell your cotton then you dont have to. These guys should be forming cooperatives with strict supply control so they always get a good price, use you brains instead of resorting to violence. You might as well stone buses for hight prices and stone all kinds of shops for high prices and stone your employer for low salaries, its not the way to go about it.
Cargill ! What .. This is criminal what they are trying to do…
Ripping of our Zambian farmers .. I think I will have this article sent to out local news paper in Canada so that the Cargill here can get embarrassed and do something about it .
Im in Chipata right now visiting a brother who grew cotton. It is disheartening to say the least. And that K1,600/kg is before deductions of various chemicals etc they were supplied by these companies. U kn imagine the labour to fill that big bale of cotton only to make about K1.5m before deductions… As observer has calculated above, this is serious rip off. GRZ come to the rescue, please.
twapenga ta, ani tulacita buyani tobana mishi eesu swe chita biyo kutenta mabala 1600 a joker pf
The sudden economic downdraft has caused one of the biggest and broadest declines in commodities prices since the financial crisis, surprising producers and creating a glut of raw materials around the world.
From crude oil to copper to cotton, prices were down an average of 9% since late February, based on the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index.
Crude-oil prices, well above $100 a barrel just two months ago, now fetch $84.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Cotton prices have tumbled 22% so far this year. The benchmark steel price in the U.S. for hot-rolled coil is down 13% in two …
Now ask urself if its a rop off or not?????
oh no Typo!!!
Am not advocate of committing crime but what people of Eastern province[ Petauke district] did I support them: At times the burning of bales of cotton with worth it
You cant blame Cargill and you cant blame the govt. it is a free economy. Cargill has put up the price, so its now the farmers turn to set theirs. The govt can only come in when to support the farmers if the current impasse is not conclude fairly
Does the story say “UKWA” Police post in Petauke? CNP has already started naming things after himself
Violence is not the answer and this wider implications about outside investor perception of Zambia as a business destination-burning investment in-flows into Zambia. Contracts should be negotiated before production. Remember that Cotton and Sugar were the primarily reasons for Slavery. ZNFU should be move serious than just the provision of employment for staff.
Hold on to the commodity unlike burning what u earned thru hard labour
@ 12 Just Observing: The price of $1.60/kg you cite will be the world price of cotton lint (fiber) delivered to North America or Europe. The product farmers sell (in Petauke) is known as “seed cotton” meaning it has not been ginned so is full of seeds, sticks, dirt and other trash. Seed cotton in Zambia yields around 41% lint meaning the price of $1.60/kg is only $0.64/kg in seed cotton equivalent (say K3,200 but not K7,000!) and that is BEFORE paying the costs of transport from the farm to the gin, ginning, baling, international transport, wages, etc. Cottonseed can be crushed for oil and cake so adds some value, but is otherwise not correct to equate the world price for lint with what farmers can (should?) be paid for seed cotton without looking at these other factors. Hope this helps.
In 1991, shortly after Chiluba came to power there was the issue of promissory notes from Penza. Thereafter, it was free market forces. Farmers could not reap adequately from their labour due to briefcase businessmen. Mwanawasa being a farmer normalised things and Banda also a farmer continued. Well, now we have ‘promissory’ words from a non farmer presido and you know what is happening. And again their is talk of market forces. Farmers are back to Chiluba days. Explains why the rural areas voted the way they did, they had some confidence in the MMD. Chaps in town who voted enmasse for change do not understand what it means to produce food or grow cotton. The change came mainly from towns, but the ones bearing the brunt of suffering will be the rural people. Really sad.
Show us the picture of the burnt cotton, imwe wamambala ba LT
And you call this government is for the poor, how are our farmers going to survive if they are manipulated like that?????????????????????????????????????????????????
Where is the more money in the pockets that was promised within 90days???????????
Whatever dull and intelligent contributions by bloggers on this site, the fact is that government always creates the impression that it will get involved in everything to ensure the welfare of people. So when things fall apart like this, it is very insulting to turn around and blame the farmers. Sata made numerous promises to those cotton farmers last year to get their vote, so it is pretty daft for people to turn around now and defend him saying it is market forces — why didn’t he advise them like that last year? That is why people are saying Sata is a chimbwi-no-plan who is actually now turning into a con-artist promising voters things he has no clue how to deliver. He is making the same empty promises to people who are voting soon in Chama and Muchinga. Blame Sata, not farmers.
this is msanzala constituency and they are paying for voting pf in the by election even after being cheated by the pf good for you chaps and good for cargill. its dont kubeba
The farmers should burn maize too since PF has not kept its promise to pay all growers by October. That crop at least is being “bought” by Government (….or indeed “stolen” since PF has not paid!).
….still, what do you expect from a party that freely admits the President doesn’t know what his Attorney General is doing?
CNP’s India castration operation happened to fall on his wedding anniversary & he had a bitter quarrel with his wife, the Doc.
CNP: ‘When you die, I’m getting you a headstone that reads: ‘Here Lies my wife – cold as Ever’.
The Doc replies, ‘when you die, I’m getting you a headstone that reads: ‘Here lies my husband – stiff at last.’
CNP: “MAULESS”
@ Peace Maker # 6; You are very dull and uneducated. You may have gone to school, but surely you are still uncivilised. Cotton is bought by ginners and not government or political parties. The prices have nothing to do with MMD or PF. The reasons given are clear, it is a question of supply and demand. Instead of insulting, offer solutions, but looking at your writings, you have non.
What the farmers can do is to hold on to their cotton. Ginners will run out od stck and come back with a better offer to farmers. Clearly, next year there will be less cotton grown and those with capacity can hold it that long and reap off the same ginners. The law shall work against them.
Your web page does not render correctly on my i phone – you might wanna try and fix that