by Christopher Makaza
Cotton farmers have welcomed the new payment system, where their money will be deposited into their bank accounts, allowing them to receive all their money at once compared to the previous Ecocash system which had a maximum of ZWL$20 000 per day.
Cotton buying firms including the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) had stopped making payments following the suspension of bulk payments and Ecocash merchants by Government in its bid to stamp out illicit money activities.
The mobile money platform was the only means through which the cotton buying firms were paying farmers.
Speaking to Harare Post, Cotton Producers and Marketers Association Chairman, Stewart Mubonderi revealed that his association together with other stakeholders were currently visiting all cotton growing areas in Zimbabwe, advising farmers on the new payment system while encouraging them to open bank accounts.
“We are moving around cotton growing areas encouraging farmers to embrace the new payment system with special emphasis on opening of bank accounts since the majority of them have no bank accounts. We have since covered areas like Gokwe, Nembudziya, Sanyati and today we will be in Chinhoyi and Zvipani in Hurungwe district.
“We are meeting with cotton farmer representatives, traditional leadership and other stakeholders who will in turn disseminate the information to cotton farmers. We can`t meet all the cotton farmers at once, as per our wish due to COVID-19 lockdown regulations,” said Mr Mubonderi.
Mr Mubonderi highlighted that they had since engaged local banks to open accounts for the cotton farmers. Majority of the banks reacted swiftly and were visiting farmers on the ground especially at buying points with a view to minimising transport costs.
Cotton farmers welcomed the development highlighting that they were losing a lot of money through Ecocash charges.
“We welcome the new development, it was long overdue. We were losing a lot of money through Ecocash charges. Some greedy Ecocash agents were charging more than 50% as Ecocash charges which left farmers with nothing. We are also happy because we can now receive all our money at once. Through the Ecocash platform, we were being paid only ZWL$20 000 per day which then required a farmer to wait for a long time to have all his money especially those who would have supplied many bales,” said Mr Nixon Mazhambe from Makonde.
Mr Mazhambe also commended the move by banks to move around assisting farmers to open bank accounts, which he said will save a lot of money.
More than 55 000 tonnes of cotton have since been delivered to Cottco since the beginning of the cotton marketing season on 3 June.
The 2020 cotton marketing season commenced with a floor producer price of ZWL$43.94 per kilogram that was announced by Government compared to ZWL$3 per kilogram last year.
Cotton remains an important source of livelihoods for most rural communities, as it is a drought resistant crop that can be grown in arid and semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe.
