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Cameroon hikes cotton procurement price
30 Dec '11
2 min read
In an effort to deter cotton growers from smuggling their harvested crop to neighbouring Nigeria, Cameroon' state firm SODECOTTON has raised its procurement price of raw cotton from last season's 200 CFA francs per kg to 255 CFA francs (US$ 0.5) per kg, a rise of 27.5 percent.
SODECOTTON said the move is aimed at discouraging illegal export of raw cotton to bordering Nigeria in expectation of higher returns there.
It said Cameroon farmers illegally exported around 16 percent of their last season's total production to Nigeria, where they reaped almost double the prices for their produce as compared to domestic market.
The state firm pre-finances the farmers' by providing them fertilizers, seedlings and other inputs. In exchange, the farmers enter into a contract for selling their produce to the firm.
However, the farmers breached this agreement and preferred to illegally ship out their produce to Nigeria in expectation of better returns, which caused SODECOTTON to incur a loss of around 24 billion CFA francs (US$ 47.37 million) this year.
Further, looking forward to enhance its production, SODECOTTON intends to expand its pre-financing fund from 24 billion CFA francs to 33.8 billion CFA francs during the current season.
According to official statistics, Cameroon's raw cotton production grew by 47 percent to 161,800 tons during 2010-11 , and with the introduction of new high-yield varieties, the production is expected to increase to 185,000-200,000 tons this season.
Presently around 200,000 peasants engage in cotton cultivation in Adamawa, North and Far North regions of the west African country.
SODECOTTON said the move is aimed at discouraging illegal export of raw cotton to bordering Nigeria in expectation of higher returns there.
It said Cameroon farmers illegally exported around 16 percent of their last season's total production to Nigeria, where they reaped almost double the prices for their produce as compared to domestic market.
The state firm pre-finances the farmers' by providing them fertilizers, seedlings and other inputs. In exchange, the farmers enter into a contract for selling their produce to the firm.
However, the farmers breached this agreement and preferred to illegally ship out their produce to Nigeria in expectation of better returns, which caused SODECOTTON to incur a loss of around 24 billion CFA francs (US$ 47.37 million) this year.
Further, looking forward to enhance its production, SODECOTTON intends to expand its pre-financing fund from 24 billion CFA francs to 33.8 billion CFA francs during the current season.
According to official statistics, Cameroon's raw cotton production grew by 47 percent to 161,800 tons during 2010-11 , and with the introduction of new high-yield varieties, the production is expected to increase to 185,000-200,000 tons this season.
Presently around 200,000 peasants engage in cotton cultivation in Adamawa, North and Far North regions of the west African country.
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