Business

Zimbabwe to reintroduce Cotton Marketing Board

Zimbabwe government intends to reintroduce the Cotton Marketing Board to actively participate in marketing of crop to boost production of the crop and viability of the industry. Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Minister Dr Joseph Made confirmed that the government was in the process of preparing legal instruments that deal with the re-establishment of the board, which was privatized in 1994. The Cabinet is synchronizing the Agricultural Marketing Authority Act with the aim of resuscitating the Cotton Marketing Board.

"The Act has always been there, and the issue of CMB has been deemed urgent by the Cabinet because it remains one of the most critical parts of economic growth," said Dr Made. "As you know AMA does not stand for cotton only and we decided to work on coming up with CMB, that will be looking at cotton (marketing), independently. Much needs to be done towards resuscitation of cotton production in the country because it remains the biggest income generators for many rural families.