Skip to main content

COTTON ISSUES - BY MATONGO MAUMBI

By Matongo Maumbi -Tonga Bull

It is really true how farmers are suffering at the hands of these multinational companies and the government giving a deaf ear to their plight.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.

Comments

Dabwiso said…
I see no reason why multinational companies should determine the price of a commodity they did not produce.These multinational companies are here to contribute or promote high poverty levels in Zambia, they are frustrating efforts being made by PF government to reduce poverty levels.

Let me remind you that, apart from getting profits from lint, they are also getting huge profits from cotton seed which they are selling at $270/ton, this is raw material for producing cooking oil. They are at the same time producing cooking oil using low grade cotton seed

Let the government take a no nonsence stance on this issue, we want our locals to benefit from their sweat.
10:46 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tales from the Hood: For Better or Worse

In its normal dramatic style the hood came to life, characterized by the young ones all running towards one direction and the adults walking hurriedly towards the same directions. This meant only one thing to get up and run towards the same direction. In my hood it doesn’t matter what it is people just follow everyone without asking questions, one decides whether to stay and watch the party or retreat and head home after they have set eyes on the drama. I ran hurried along asking anyone I made eye contact with “Nichani ayi” (what is it?), the only response I got was Kaya (I don’t know). I knew for a fact that it was not a fight, it had to be jucier than that because when it’s a fight everyone is invited to come and see it by the young ones who chant “whoo won, who won”. Aunt Yvonne as she was fondly known was the life of the party, she was married to Uncle G, an accountant at one of the filling stations. Aunt Yvonne would go out all day and drink half the night, her husband l...
7 comments
Read more

Tales from the Hood: Witchcraft is Real

So today I was drawn to a memory of some of the shenanigans from the hood. It was a hot October Day in the 90s. The country was faced with a drought and there was no water in the hood we walked far to find water mostly to the industrial area, old and young we were forced to carry whatever container we could to come back home with water as anything made a difference. On that material day, there was a drizzle of water from the hood communal tap and word spread like wild fire that there was some water at the tap we all congregated at the tap and stood in line praying that the water does not run out and everyone gets a chance to draw atleast some drinking water. The hood is divided into sections and each section has about 20 households, at times when there were water blues representatives of a household represented their respective section regardless of whether they were in line or not. After weeks of not seeing water, tempers would easily flare at the tap. While we all sat an...
6 comments
Read more

Of TRADITIONS AND RITES OF PASSAGE

By Susan Mwape  So I had the opportunity of going to what we call in my part of the world a “Chezela”. This is simply a word derived from the term ku cheza which means to chat so chezela means an endless chat that occurs over night into the wee hours of the morning. In Zambia where I come from the moment you hear people saying am going to a chezela, it is synonymous with a series of events that occur overnight by and among women initiating a young lady in a rite of passage. Often this lady would be in the process of getting married and after undergoing a series of counseling sessions, ranging from wellbeing, healthcare, motherhood and home management by a team of women led by one called Bana Chimbusa. The Chezela is the epitome of all that she learns but brings in a diverse group of women of different ethnic groups who each share what they know with the bride to be. It is usually a joyful celebration that marks the end of her initiation into married life. It is cha...
4 comments
Read more