Cotton could earn US$49 million in annual foreign exchange for Zambia, says the Cotton Board of Zambia’s chief executive officer, Mr. Sunduzwayo Banda.
Banda projects that Zambia has the potential to double its foreign exchange earnings from cotton if the sector’s challenges, particularly the inadequacy of extension workers, are addressed.
Zambia’s trade balance data indicates that as of 2022, the country exported $25 million in raw cotton to Lesotho ($7.77M), South Africa ($6.49M), Switzerland ($2.79M), Mauritius ($2.45M), Equatorial Guinea ($2.28M), and a few other smaller destinations.
Banda has enumerated the challenges experienced by Zambia’s cotton sector, which he attributes as the reasons behind the country’s paltry 55,000 metric tons of annual raw cotton production against a global annual output of 25 million tons.
He says the industry faces significant obstacles, including poor input quality, reduced seed purity, low cotton yields, and inadequate extension services.
To cure these challenges, he has recommended several interventions that could grow the sector and enhance its foreign exchange earning capacity.
These include selling only certified seeds, adopting a centralized marketing system to improve seed cotton quality, enhancing extension services, and modifying the chemical regimen to combat pest proliferation. The Board has also flagged the need to increase support towards helping farmers adopt modern practices for improved production.
“There is a need to develop a transparent pricing mechanism to strengthen the relationship between farmers and ginners, implementing a financing system that allows ginners to focus solely on purchasing the crop and ensuring only certified seeds produced by research institutions are available on the market,” explained Banda.
He observed that increasing the number of extension workers would help farmers improve yields and adopt sustainable farming practices, which would, in turn, transform the cotton industry into a major income source for small-scale farmers.
According to Banda, the cotton industry has the potential to create over 150,000 jobs if the value chain is revitalized.
He said currently, cotton employs around 10,000 workers in auxiliary services such as transportation and input supply, and supports 300,000 farmers, each with an average of five family members, translating into approximately 1.5 million beneficiaries.
The global cotton industry has slowly but steadily grown to stand at about 25 million tons or 110 million bales annually, accounting for about 2.5% of the world’s cultivable land. India, the largest producer, accounts for about 25%, while the U.S. is the largest cotton exporter.
Zambia’s 55,000 metric tons of raw cotton production is mainly exported in raw lint form without any value addition. The country imports most of its absorbent cotton wool products, such as earbuds and swabs.
