CEEC creates 17,000 seasonal jobs with Mumbwa cotton farmers

THE Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has spent K16 million to establish the Mumbwa Farmers Ginning and Pressing Company Limited (MFGP) which has created 17, 000 seasonal jobs for the local people annually.

CEEC head of communications and public relations Glenda Masebe said through the ginnery, 17, 000 jobs were created every year which had upped the incomes for thousands of small holder cotton farmers as well as raising the quality of the yield and the efficiency of the cotton sector.

Ms Masebe said the ginnery had also helped motivate the small cotton farmers to engage in cotton farming as they had a ready market for their produce.
She said this at the just ended 90th Zambia Agricultural and
Commercial Show held under the theme: ‘‘Managing environment for Growth” in Lusaka.

“We are happy to be part of the MFGP’s success, this company has been able to contribute to job creation by creating 17, 000 seasonal jobs every year. Small cotton farmers have also been motivated to engage into cotton farming because they have a ready market unlike in the past where there was apathy by farmers in the sector,” she said.

She said about 1, 200 farmers were engaged and benefiting from MFGP by adding value to their produce through processing it into several by-products like cake feed for animals and cooking oil among others.
And Cotton Association of Zambia (CAZ) head of gender, business and extension Aselly Mwanza said the coming on stream of the ginnery had helped improve the quality of Zambian cotton, as the seed supplied by the ginnery was high yielding quality seed.
Ms Mwanza said the ginnery had also contributed to the Government’s vision on industrialization and job creation, through the development of the textile and garment sub-sector as one of the priority sectors for Zambia’s economic development.
She said through the ginnery, some women had been trained and have acquired skills on how to do different things out of cotton.
Ms Mwanza said the association was committed to ensuring that more jobs were created for women in Zambia so that they could become financially independent.