Cotton farmers in the Lango sub-region are disgusted with the recent cotton prices announced by the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO).CDO in a recent communication announced that a kilogram of cotton will be bought at sh1,600, which seem to have hurt most of the farmers in the sub-region.
Sirino Okwir, a farmer in Aburkot Ward in Amolatar Town Council, explained that another CDO agent had informed him that a kiloggramme of cotton would be bought at sh3,000, but the farmers were later shocked to learn that their produce would be bought at just about half the price earlier announced.
Mike Ocen of Etam sub- county said the CDO price was not sustainable given the rate of inflation, which was 28.3% at the end of September.
He urged CDO to revise the price to suit the current harsh economic environment.
A CDO agent who declined to be named, however, claimed that CDO had never made any official communication about the cotton price.
“It was an assumption from some farmers that cotton price will shoot up to sh3,000,” the agent stated. He added that the sh1,600 price officially announced by CDO was not fixed, but rather a guiding figure that could help farmers to negotiate with buyers.
Cotton prices hit record highs in January, raising prospects of better household income for farmers and improved export revenue this year.
The prices jumped to sh2,500, up from sh1,600 a kilogramme.
Farmers said at the time that middlemen were willing to pay high prices because their aim was to get big volumes to sell to the international markets where super profits were made.
Recent climate change disasters have wrecked havoc in the leading cotton producing nations of the US, China and Pakistan and other African countries. It was not possible to get a comment from CDO by press time yesterday.
