2024/2025 cotton marketing season has been officially opened with digital reforms aimed at revitalising the struggling sector and boosting national forex reserves.
Executive Director for Cotton Council of Malawi, Cosmas Luwanda, said for the first time, Cotton production and marketing will be supported by a digital trading platform, the Cotton Management Information System (COTMIS), which will anchor all cotton transactions nationwide.
“This year marks a significant turnaround in the running of the cotton business in the country as we employ COTMIS, which will allow registered farmers to receive payments through mobile banking platforms, track sales data, and reduce side buying—a practice that has long undermined farmer earnings,” said Luwanda.
He added that the cotton market centres, which will run for 90 days, will be designated and monitored by all concerned stakeholders to ensure fair trade practices and quality control.
Deputy Director for Crop Development responsible for field crops in the Ministry of Agriculture, Osborne Tsoka, said the government will ensure the successful implementation of the COTMIS and improved regulation for the transformation of the sector.
In the 2024/25 production season, stakeholders have pooled K2.85 billion into production investments under the Zero Deposit Input Distribution Initiative (ZEDIDI), aimed at improving input access for over 29,000 registered farmers who collectively cultivated more than 27,000 hectares of cotton this season.
Meanwhile, the country is expected to produce over 20,000 metric tons of seed cotton against a domestic demand of over 300,000 metric tons and a further 200,000 metric tons for export.
ADMARC, ILLOVO Sugar Nchalo, Afrisian Limited and Malawi Cotton Company are some of this year’s certified seed cotton buyers.
