Row over cotton prices
15/06/2009
Disagreements have erupted in Malawi over cotton prices. Cotton is one of the African country’s major cash crops and exports.
The disagreement has come about because ginners have insisted they will pay no more than half the minimum set price per kilo that Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, guaranteed to growers earlier in the year.
Since that pledge, buyers argue, the price of cotton on the world market has come down, which suggests to them that prices in Malawi need to drop too.
In recent years, the Malawi government has incorporated the cotton sector as a key element in its efforts to reduce poverty. It has said that it wants to build an integrated cotton and textile industry.
Share this story:
