Oil expressers urged to contract cotton farmers

THE country’s eight oil expressing companies can add traction to the Government’s import substitution drive if they secure 40 percent of their annual raw material requirements through contract farming arrangements.

Zimbabwe Investment and Development Authority (ZIDA) chairman Mr Busisa Moyo made the observation during this year’s World Cotton Day commemorations in Harare recently.

“In the past the country used to have three oil companies but without cotton contract farming, now there are eight and we are all fighting for our raw material from the same small local cake. It is time oil expressers engaged cotton farmers on a commercial basis through contract farming arrangements to arrest imports of crude oil and boost the country’s economic development.

“Cotton can be a catalyst for economic development, thanks to its multiple benefits along the whole value chain from lint, oil, clothes, leather, stockfeed and so on. Farmers must be incentivised to grow quality cotton,” said Mr Moyo.

At peak, the country produced 353 million kilogrammes of seed cotton in 2000 from which over 50 million litres of cooking oil were produced.

“The 50 million litres of cooking oil produced during the peak cotton period were enough to meet four months of the country’s cooking oil needs. The cotton meal from cotton seed produces good stock feed for cattle. If a beast of cattle is fed 12 kilogrammes of cotton meal and 40 litres of water, then it increases weight by between 2 and 2, 5kg per day,” added Mr Moyo.

Though some of the oil companies are engaged in soya bean and sunflower contract growing on a small-scale, output from such ventures is providing limited cover for their raw material needs necessitating the importation of crude oil.