Richard Mungu
11:49

Cotton Farmers Set Tough Conditions for Buyers

17 Dec 2008, 10:23 1966 Views Kitgum, Uganda Agriculture Other
Cotton farmers in Kitgum district have set tough conditions for companies intending to purchase cotton from the region this season. Okumu Alex, chairperson of the Pajule Cotton Growers Association, says the association has resolved to have buyers sign purchase agreements with the farmers. Okum explains that the agreements are intended to serve as commitments to the mode of transactions to avoid exploitation. He says that cotton farmers have in the past been exploited because they depended on verbal agreements. // Cue in#Last year these#'' Cue out#At a very cheap price#''// The association has also ruled out possibility of dealing with third parties, preferring to transact directly with purchasing companies. The purchasing price has also been fixed at 800 shillings as minimum buying fee per kilogram of cotton. Last week, Charles Oroma Bodmas, a farmer at Luyoro village, was quoted saying that Dunavant, an agency promoting organic cotton production, had promised to buy their organic cotton at 800 shillings per kilogram. But the agency cannot do so before the new prices are set. At Kitgum Lint Uganda, a cotton buying company, Lamex Ojara says the purchasing price of cotton is on the higher side. He is pessimistic about the possibility of that price sticking.

 

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Richard Mungu