Zimbabwean cry out against cotton subsidies at WTO meet

16 Dec '05

2 min read

Zimbabwean cotton growers protested against the rich nations refusal to end cotton subsidies because it was destroying the small-scale African producer.

Elizabeth Paradza, a poor Zimbabwean farmer, appealing to the United States and other developed nations said that cotton fetched only fifty cents a kilogram on the world market.

She appealed, "We are suffering, we cannot afford to buy food with these prices of cotton, if they want human beings in Africa to survive, cease these subsidies, or else they will kill us."

Zimbabwe earns about $150 million a year exporting cotton primarily to China, much of which is produced by marginal farmers like Mrs. Paradza.

This is so as the economy is on the decline coupled with high unemployment, inflation and food shortages, so the Government is not in a position to provide subsidies.

"In terms of their income, after selling maybe five bales of cotton the most they can hope to get $200, and that's an annual income," explained Ms. Ndlovu, a program coordinator of the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, an organization that advises cotton farmers on trade issues.

She continued, "And it will be by and large offset by the cost, because in cotton production you need to buy pesticides, so at the end of the day their net profit would be less than $20 for a season."

The WTO asserts liberalization will benefit all countries. US Trade Representative Robert Portman puts forth that doing away with subsidies is not the solution.

Africa needs to raise its production as yields from there are not up to the mark. He informed at the WTO conference on Thursday that the United States has consented duty-free access to West African cotton growers.

An aid worth $7 million is also being extended by the United States to West African cotton growers to increase production but Zimbabwe will not be able to benefit as it falls in Southern Africa region.