NAME : PATIENCE NTUNDU

SCHOOL : NJASE GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL

CLASS : 12N

SUBJECT : GEOGRAPHY

SUBJECT TEACHER : MR. HAMOONGA

EXAM NUMBER : 180307390026

TITLE : TO FIND OUT MEASURES PUT IN PLACE TO

SUPPORT SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN
GINNING INDUSTRIES.

CASE STUDY OF GWEMBE GINNERY

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE PAGE

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

1.2 Location

1.3 Problem Statement

1.4 Main Aim

1.5 Objectives

1.6 Research Questions

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Methodology

3.1 Research Design

3.1.1 Case Study

3.2 Sampling Method

3.3 Data Collection

3.3.1 Primary Data Method

3.3.2 Observation of Field Survey

3.4 Secondary Method

3.5 Data Analysis

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Cotton production in Zambia dates back to pre-colonial independent

nation before 1964. Cotton is important for the lint which is used in the
textile industry, the oil in the seed is extracted and used for human
consumption while seedcake which remains after oil has been extracted
is valuable protein rich for livestock.

Cotton is an important cash crop in Zambia. It is grown by over 250,000

small scale farmers and contributes highly to the country’s foreign
earnings. Cotton crop creates employment through its rich value chain
which starts from production, marketing, ginning, oil extraction and
garment manufacturing.

Cotton farmers in Zambia receive inputs such as planting seed,

pesticides, herbicides, foliar feeds and sprayers. These inputs are given
on loan and contracts are signed between the farmer and the ginner so
that when the crop is harvested and sold to the ginner the loan is
recovered from the farmers’ total sell. This method helps farmers to grow
cotton without requiring financial capital. Ginners also provide technical
services while farmers provide land and labour for cotton growing.

Cotton is produced by both small scale and large scale farmers. In

Zambia there some areas where cotton is processed e.g. Livingstone,
Choma, Chipata and Gwembe Ginnery. Cotton is processed in many
ways and some are drying. Blowing and brushing. Research shows that
Gwembe Ginnery has brought alot of impact to the environment by the
government supporting small scale farmers. In this study we are
interested on how the government has been supporting small scale
farmers on the case study of Gwembe Ginnery.

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1.1 BACKGROUND

Gwembe is a small town in Southern Province of Zambia with a

population of about 2000 people. It is the largest town in Gwembe
District which is on lake Kariba between Siavonga and Sinazongwe
Districts. It used to be the District's headquarters until it moved to
Munyumbwe which is about 30km south east of the town.

One of the main agricultural activities in this district used to be cotton

growing which was influenced by the presence of a cotton ginnery plant,
which provided a lot of employment to the residents. As of 2017, the local
people have focused on growing maize as a source of food and income.
Most of the residents are subsistence farmers. Gwembe district is divided
into three areas, Gwembe township, Munyumbwe and Chipepo. There
are two chiefs, Munyumbwe in charge of Gwembe and Munyumbwe and
Chipepo, in charge of Chipepo. Politically, it is a district as well as a
constituency, thus all three parts are represented by only one member of
Parliament and several councilors. Despite having major basic needs
(clean water, health services and schools), Gwembe is still
underdeveloped. There are no proper roads, no banks, and no refueling
stations.

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1.2 LOCATION

Country : Zambia

Province : Southern

District : Gwembe

Location of Gwembe in Zambia

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1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Despite having major basic needs (clean water, health services and
schools), Gwembe is still underdeveloped.

There are no proper roads for transportation of goods, no banks and no

refueling stations.

1.4 AIM

The main aim of this project was to investigate the measures put in place
to support small scale farmers by Gwembe Ginnery.

1.5 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

 To find out economic contribution of cotton industries

 To find the products produced at the ginnery
 To find out the market sources of the ginnery products
 To find out on the varieties of cotton that are grown at Gwembe
Ginnery.
 To find out the challenges faced by cotton farmers and how they
can be addressed.
 To find out how cotton is ginned at Gwembe Ginnery.

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the challenges faced in transportation of cotton by

farmers?

2. What are the methods used in processing of cotton?

3. What are the challenges faced by cotton farmers and how can they
be addressed?

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COTTON FARMING

Cotton production in Zambia dates back to pre-colonial independent nation

before 1964. Cotton is important for the lint which is used in the textile
industry, the oil in the seed is extracted and used for human consumption
while seedcake which remains after oil has been extracted is valuable protein
rich for livestock.

Cotton is an important cash crop in Zambia. It is grown by over 250,000 small

scale farmers and contributes highly to the country’s foreign earnings. Cotton
crop creates employment through its rich value chain which starts from
production, marketing, ginning, oil extraction and garment manufacturing.

GINNING COMPANIES

Ginning companies are private institutions that are established to promote and
support cotton crop production particularly among small holder farmers. Prior
to 1991, there was one parastatal company namely Lint Company of Zambia
(LINTCO) which was responsible in cotton promotion and support to farmers.
After the privatisation of LINTCO, there was an influx of more privately owned
ginners that started business in Zambia. There are currently over ten (10)
ginners doted around the cotton growing regions namely Eastern, Central and
Southern Provinces.

FUNCTIONS OF GINNERS

Ginning companies are also called ginners. Their main role is to provide inputs
and services to the farmers in order for them to grow cotton profitably.

Cotton farmers in Zambia receive inputs such as planting seed, pesticides,

herbicides, foliar feeds and sprayers. These inputs are given on loan and
contracts are signed between the farmer and the ginner so that when the crop
is harvested and sold to the ginner the loan is recovered from the farmers’ total
sell. This method helps farmers to grow cotton without requiring financial

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capital. Ginners also provide technical services while farmers provide land and
labour for cotton growing.

GWEMBE GINNERY

Gwembe Ginnery is situated in Gwembe district off Lusaka/Livingstone road in

Southern Province of Zambia. Gwembe ginnery is one of the oldest ginneries in
Zambia which has been in existence since the LINTCO era. The ginnery is
managed by the Agriculture manager and an engineer together with a number
of support staff of various skills and professions to ensure effective operation of
the ginnery. The main purpose of Gwembe ginnery is to promote cotton
production and productivity among small holder farmers in the catchment
area.

The ginnery recruits every year an average of 20,000 farmers that are
interested in growing cotton in the surrounding areas and districts within the
province and provides them with enough inputs and technical services for
them to successfully grow the crop. Among the recruited farmers are women
and youths who wish to venture into cash crop. The farmers are groomed and
natured on cotton production through trainings that are conducted by the
ginnery.

Gwembe ginnery provides farmer trainings in cotton production by organising

farmers in local areas and also through farmer field days. They train new
farmers and re-train old ones on new technologies and concepts of farming.
Gwembe ginnery provides farmer trainings at strategic times of the season and
at various crop production stages such as before the onset of the rainy season
to sensitise farmers and prepare them for the season and the best choices of
land for cotton growing. After such trainings farmers are supplied with inputs
in readiness for planting. Farmers are also trained on best crop management
practices which include pest control i.e pest identification (scouting), chemical
usage, molar traps and crop rotation. Other good practices are weed
management and proper harvesting skills for a clean harvest. All these

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trainings are conducted at appropriate times to enable correct execution of the
activity.

Pic 1. Farmer training.

Pic 2. Farmers planting cotton

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 Pic 3. Inspecting the crop

Pic 4. Crop ready for harvesting

Pic 5. Harvested Cotton packed in bales at farmers’ house

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Pic 6. Crop at Gwembe ginnery ready for ginning

Pic 7. Garments made by local women on display

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Marketing

Cotton marketing period starts from April to July each year. Gwembe ginnery
provides its contracted farmers with ready market for cotton by buying the crop
from farmer’s home-steads. Farmers receive empty bags in which the seed
cotton is harvested and baled and sold off to the ginnery at a price determined
by the ginner. The crop is collected from the farmers by transporters engaged
by the ginnery and deposited at the ginning plant in Gwembe in readiness for
ginning.

Table 1.

Farmers Recruited and Hectarage Planted over 5 year Period.

Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

No of Farmers 24,000 15,000 19,000 16,000 13,000
Hectares 28,000 16,000 21,000 18,000 15,000
Planted

Ginning

Ginning is the process by which lint is separated from seed by use of

machines. Before ginning takes place, seed cotton is cleaned thoroughly by
removing trash, stones, metals, artificial fibres such as polypropylene, plastic,
jute and other debris. This is done in order to avoid damage to the ginning
machines caused by foreign matter and also to attain high grade lint free of
contaminants. After ginning, lint is packaged in bales weighing average 200kg
and stored in the warehouse in readiness for sale. The lint is then sold to the
textile industry for garment manufacturing while the seed is sold to crushers to
extract oil for human use. Depending on the volumes of cotton bought from
farmers, ginning all the cotton at the ginnery may take 5 to 7 months. During
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this period, job opportunities are created to provide incomes to the
surrounding communities for artisans, drivers, security guards and general
labour force.

Challenges

Cotton farmers begin their farming activities at the onset of the rain around
November and start to harvest and marketing their crop around May. In
between this time farmers face challenges as follows:

1. Late onset of the rains. This is due to global climate change and
location of the ginnery its hilly with alot of stones so the land dries fast.

Fig. 1 Dry fields

2. Bad roads - the road are very bad hence making it difficult to receive the
farming inputs on time.

Fig. 2 Lake Kariba and hilly places

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 3. Low cotton yields. Farmers should learn to apply fertilisers or organic
manures in the fields and practice crop rotation in order to boost the
yields.
4. Cotton pest resistance. Farmers can practice crop rotation in order to
avoid too many pests in the fields. They can also use bio-pesticides made
from local plants such as Neem tree and Solunum as opposed to using
synthetic pesticides all the time.
5. Fluctuation of cotton price. Every year the price of cotton changes and
so farmers are affected in their planning, therefore farmers are
encouraged to grow many crops so that other crops can compensate on
the losses of the other crop.
6. Extension service provision. Not all farmers are visited by the
extension service officers from the company to check on the crop
condition during production, therefore farmers need to invite agriculture
extension officers near them whenever they need assistance.
7. Late delivery of inputs. Sometimes farmers receive chemicals and other
inputs from ginners late. This affects their implementation of operations
in the fields. However, farmers can buy the chemicals from agro-shops
near them.

CONCLUSION

Gwembe ginnery is an institution which has operated in the area for many
years and many surrounding communities have benefitted from the services
rendered to them some of which are sinking of bole holes in vulnerable
communities, giving awards to deserving farmers such as motorbikes,
sprayers, fertilisers, maize and cotton seed, work suits, oxen, ploughs and
many more. These gestures have made cotton farmers to be loyal and
supportive to Gwembe ginnery. Farmers have acknowledged the partnership
between them and the ginnery as that of brotherhood. The trust and honest
has grown over time and farmers do not wish to de-touch themselves from the
helping brother.

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