Cotton farmers have expressed reservations with the Cotton Market Information System (Cotmis) digital platform, alleging that it made sales payments to wrong recipients during the recently-ended marketing season.
The Cotton Council of Malawi rolled out the digital system which registered at least 23 000 farmers and linked it to registered farmers’ mobile phone numbers used for payment of proceeds from cotton sales.
But Cotton Farmers Association of Malawi chairperson Labson Zidana said in an interview that the digital system could accredit cash to wrong mobile phone numbers.
He said: “The system has been a great innovation in the cotton industry but it was sending our money to wrong numbers sometimes. Among other factors, some farmers registered wrong mobile numbers in the system due to lack of knowledge.
“Nonetheless, cotton council needs to either educate farmers on the issue or forgo the mobile money payment system.”
Zidana proposed that the cotton regulatory body should resume paying them through bank accounts and explore making payments through farmers’ clubs.
In a separate interview, the council’s spokesperson Prisca Jamali confirmed the challenge and said they started engaging farmers on the issue.
“The cotton marketing season just ended last month but we have already started reviewing it along with the performance of the Cotmis. The review process includes farmers,” she said.
Jamali said they engaged some cotton farmers in Balaka District during the commemoration of the 2025 World Cotton Day themed ‘Cotton, the fabric of our lives’.
Commenting on the alleged shortcomings, agricultural policy expert Tamani Nkhono-Mvula said the system needs to offer multiple payment options to farmers.
“Electronic transactions are the best way cotton farmers can get their money as it becomes secure and readily available for liquidation but it should not be rigid to one option [mobile money wallet] only,” he said.
The Cotmis was launched last year to, among others, monitor cotton aggregation centres, trace cotton farmers’ loan repayments and deter under-declaration of cotton volumes to account for payment of levies.
