An Assessment of the Growth Opportunities and Constraints in Zambia’s Cotton Industry
An Assessment of the Growth Opportunities and Constraints in Zambia’s Cotton Industry
复制标题
赞比亚棉花产业的增长机会和限制因素评估
DOI：
10.19026/ajbm.6.5316
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
R. Bwalya
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Kalinda;R. Bwalya
这项研究的主要目的是评估赞比亚棉花工业的主要机会和制约因素。研究发现，棉花部门有相当大的潜力促进赞比亚的增长和就业，因为它目前直接和间接雇用了大约21%的人口，约占农业国内生产总值的19%。小农在该部门的突出地位表明了棉花部门促进收入公平的潜力。然而，该部门高度集中的结构，两个主要参与者目前约占该部门总市场份额的80%；缺乏制定价格的监管机制；当地市场对全球价格波动持开放态度，与玉米等竞争对手的作物相比，缺乏支持方案，这些都是促进该部门公平的主要障碍。棉花部门的总体增长也受到生产率低的制约，这主要是由于不良的耕作做法造成的。此外，由于补贴和在棉花生产中使用生物技术而导致的主要世界市场产量增加，削弱了赞比亚棉花在国际市场上的竞争力。为了让赞比亚实现棉花部门的潜力，干预措施需要以提高农场一级的生产力为目标。政府还应促进关于生物技术采用等关键问题的知情政策辩论和发展，并促进棉花买家和农民就价格制定机制达成共识。
The main objective of this study was to assess the major opportunities and constraints in Zambia's cotton industry. The study found that the cotton sector has considerable potential to contribute to growth and employment in Zambia as it currently accounts for direct and indirect employment of approximately 21% of the population and about 19% of agricultural Gross Domestic Product. The prominence of smallholder farmers in the sector is indicative of the income equity promotion potential of the cotton sector. However, the highly concentrated structure of the sector, with two key players currently accounting for about 80% of the total market share in ginning; the absence of regulatory mechanisms for setting of prices; the openness of the local market to global price fluctuations and the lack of support programmes as compared to competing crops like maize are major impediments to equity promotion in the sector. Overall growth of the cotton sector is also constrained by low productivity arising mostly from poor farming practices. Furthermore, increased production in major world markets due to subsidies and use of bio-technology in cotton production undermine the competitiveness of Zambia's cotton in international markets. For Zambia to realize the potential of the cotton sector, interventions need to be targeted at raising farm level productivity. The government should also facilitate informed policy debate and development on critical issues such as biotechnology adoption as well as facilitating consensus between cotton buyers and farmers on price setting mechanisms.