By Susan Mwape
Advocates around the world are day in and day out vigorously campaigning for Fair Trade.Even though a lot of promises have been made by numerous international, regional and local bodies on the improvement of trade not much has changed for the life of the small-scale farmer.Court Cases have been won by some African countries and Chile in cases where the United States was subsidising its farmers hence and this caused cotton prices to drop on the international family............. all this has had very little impact on the small-scale cotton farmer who is not even aware of what is going on around the world. The Eastern Province of Zambia is one place where cotton is predominantly grown and rapidly expanding, Kagoro is one such area that is situted about 90 Kilometers away from the Government offices, it is an area were almost all the people living in that area survive on cotton farming, this has been influenced by the multination cotton factories in the area, these companies buy cotton from the small scale farmers at about seven hundred kwacha per Kilogram approximately 20 cents. For the cotton farmer to be able to sell his cotton easily She/he has to hand pick their cotton (the fact that the cotton is hand picked makes it good quality unlike the machine picked on because it contains less twigs and sticks that sort of make the cotton quality different) and carrys it to the factory with the hope that it will be bought as grade A but this is not usually the case the cotton is graded at anything but A. One would wonder why the cotton farmer goes on with this kind of treatment, the factories have a seed loan program that the famers depend on yet at the end of the day when the farmer has harvested and paid back the loan he goes home with nothing more than what was invested there is usually no reward for all his labour he is again barely able to feed his family from his take away. In an interview with one of the Farmers Mr. Bizwell Lungu a 38 year old cotton Farmer in Kagoro Village said "I have been a cotton farmer for the last 12 years and this hasnt improved my family or way of life in any way I still struggle to feed and keep my family". In another conversation with Tilyenji Phiri a widow who grows cotton to provide for her 4 children, feels the cotton buyers are unfair to the people in her area and that the government should do something about their predicament, when asked if they has tried to inform Government officials on the goings on in their trade system, she said they had but nothing had really been done. Besides the issue of insuffiecient payment to the cotton farmer is the issue of the use of Pesticides, because the cotton crop attracts a lot pesticides, the farmer is given as part of the Seed loan pesticides to spray their crops with, the company does not provide protective clothing for this farmer and so as the farmer goes on spraying his/her field they inhale all the toxics found in the pesticides. This has led to diseases of coughing and skin problems and the cotton farmers can not afford to buy these garmets. In Zambia people have always believed that a farmer can never sleep hungry but sadly for the cotton farmer, he grows cotton is unable to cloth his family which one would find dressed in rugs. The farmers work as hard as they can day and night but find nothing to look at as a reward for their labour.
Advocates around the world are day in and day out vigorously campaigning for Fair Trade.Even though a lot of promises have been made by numerous international, regional and local bodies on the improvement of trade not much has changed for the life of the small-scale farmer.Court Cases have been won by some African countries and Chile in cases where the United States was subsidising its farmers hence and this caused cotton prices to drop on the international family............. all this has had very little impact on the small-scale cotton farmer who is not even aware of what is going on around the world. The Eastern Province of Zambia is one place where cotton is predominantly grown and rapidly expanding, Kagoro is one such area that is situted about 90 Kilometers away from the Government offices, it is an area were almost all the people living in that area survive on cotton farming, this has been influenced by the multination cotton factories in the area, these companies buy cotton from the small scale farmers at about seven hundred kwacha per Kilogram approximately 20 cents. For the cotton farmer to be able to sell his cotton easily She/he has to hand pick their cotton (the fact that the cotton is hand picked makes it good quality unlike the machine picked on because it contains less twigs and sticks that sort of make the cotton quality different) and carrys it to the factory with the hope that it will be bought as grade A but this is not usually the case the cotton is graded at anything but A. One would wonder why the cotton farmer goes on with this kind of treatment, the factories have a seed loan program that the famers depend on yet at the end of the day when the farmer has harvested and paid back the loan he goes home with nothing more than what was invested there is usually no reward for all his labour he is again barely able to feed his family from his take away. In an interview with one of the Farmers Mr. Bizwell Lungu a 38 year old cotton Farmer in Kagoro Village said "I have been a cotton farmer for the last 12 years and this hasnt improved my family or way of life in any way I still struggle to feed and keep my family". In another conversation with Tilyenji Phiri a widow who grows cotton to provide for her 4 children, feels the cotton buyers are unfair to the people in her area and that the government should do something about their predicament, when asked if they has tried to inform Government officials on the goings on in their trade system, she said they had but nothing had really been done. Besides the issue of insuffiecient payment to the cotton farmer is the issue of the use of Pesticides, because the cotton crop attracts a lot pesticides, the farmer is given as part of the Seed loan pesticides to spray their crops with, the company does not provide protective clothing for this farmer and so as the farmer goes on spraying his/her field they inhale all the toxics found in the pesticides. This has led to diseases of coughing and skin problems and the cotton farmers can not afford to buy these garmets. In Zambia people have always believed that a farmer can never sleep hungry but sadly for the cotton farmer, he grows cotton is unable to cloth his family which one would find dressed in rugs. The farmers work as hard as they can day and night but find nothing to look at as a reward for their labour.
Comments
One thing that would surely help (cotton) farmers is the establishment of Farmers' Clubs where they can be having a VOICE unlike the many voices that are there from single farmers.
It is high time the farmers set the price for their produce. How can one labour out so much and then someone just comes to set the price for you? It does not make any sense at all. When the Kwacha gained value, inputs were still pegged at the latter value. It's surprising how these companies would want to buy the produce at the current value. This is a profit to them, and BIG loss to the farmers.
Our government is also not supportive. It needs to subsidise these farmers for them to compete favourably with the world market.
Farmers should get together in their locale, and make decisions that companies shall follow. And not the current scenario where they just wait to be told what to do.
One farmer, Ben Chatembwa, in Pemba produces tobacco, and he now no longer get loans because "the companies were reaping where they did not sow." He found it better to reduce the hectarage of his field so that he uses ONLY his money. In this way all the profits (or losses) are his, and he shall only be answerable to himself.
Have these multinational companies come to the aid of our local farmers or have to come to reap where they have not sowed?
Government wake UP. Protect your people.