Zimbabwe is one major cotton producer, but so is Burkina Faso which was recently also in the news and a significant exporter of cotton. Cotton prices going up not just for clothing uses but also to print the money we are burning though!
18 April 2011 Last updated at 07:01 ET 
The disturbances started last week in the capital Ouagadougou and have spread
The trouble started last Thursday when soldiers and presidential guards in the capital Ouagadougou protested about unpaid housing allowances.
Hours before the revolt broke out, tens of thousands of people had demonstrated against high food prices.
'Police join mutiny' President Blaise Compaore, a former coup leader in power since 1987, has sacked his government and appointed a new head of the armed forces to try to quell the unrest.
His government warned on Sunday that mutinous soldiers would face "the full force of the law".
BBC Ouagadougou correspondent Mathieu Bonkongou confirmed that the unrest had now reached Kaya.
Soldiers and police reportedly took to the city's streets late on Sunday and began firing guns into the air until the early hours of Monday.
It is said to be the first time that police have taken part in the mutiny.
The violence in the capital had seen at least 45 injured people admitted to hospital.
In March, some soldiers went on the rampage and managed to free a number of colleagues arrested for rape.
Burkina Faso army mutiny spreads to fourth city
The disturbances started last week in the capital Ouagadougou and have spread An army mutiny which erupted last week in the West African state of Burkina Faso has spread to a fourth city.
Protests have now broken out in Kaya in the north of the country, following disturbances in Po and Tenkodogo.The trouble started last Thursday when soldiers and presidential guards in the capital Ouagadougou protested about unpaid housing allowances.
Hours before the revolt broke out, tens of thousands of people had demonstrated against high food prices.
'Police join mutiny' President Blaise Compaore, a former coup leader in power since 1987, has sacked his government and appointed a new head of the armed forces to try to quell the unrest.
His government warned on Sunday that mutinous soldiers would face "the full force of the law".
BBC Ouagadougou correspondent Mathieu Bonkongou confirmed that the unrest had now reached Kaya.
Soldiers and police reportedly took to the city's streets late on Sunday and began firing guns into the air until the early hours of Monday.
It is said to be the first time that police have taken part in the mutiny.
The violence in the capital had seen at least 45 injured people admitted to hospital.
In March, some soldiers went on the rampage and managed to free a number of colleagues arrested for rape.
| Cotton prices increased by 200% |  |
| Written by Ngoni Chanakira |
| Wednesday, 20 April 2011 12:01 |
 ...Farmers genrally welcome price hikeHARARE - ZIMBABWE'S struggling cotton farmers are smiling all the way to their commercial banks after the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Joseph Made (pictured), gave them a 200 percent hike for their "white gold". Cotton prices have been increased from the paltry US$0,30 per kilogramme to US$1, a more than 200 percent hike for the cash-strapped farmers who had regularly complained to the minister. In the region, cotton farmers are paid between US$0,80 and US$0,90 which makes local cotton farmers the best paid. "In Malawi, for example, cotton farmers are currently getting US$0,80 while in South Africa they get US$0,90 per kilogramme," an official from the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB) said in an exclusive interview. Farmers interviewed said they welcomed the price hike which would go a long way in solving their production costs which were escalating annually. "We pay a lot of money for such items as fertiliser and inputs," a communal farmer said in an interview. "So, this US$1 will go a long way in trying to solve our cash problems. The money is very welcome but it has come a bit late." The official from the cotton organisation said now that the price had been increased he hoped production would go up from the current 20 percent especially from communal farmers. While it is very expensive to produce cotton prices are generally low even on the international arena where the majority of the cotton produced is sold in Liverpool in the United Kingdom (UK). Zimbabwe produces among the best quality cotton lint in the world and such designer label shirts including Van Heusein being made in the country but sent to the UK for labelling. The majority of the cotton is sold by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Limited (Cottco) and Quton (Private) Limited, a private player in the industry. Most of Zimbabwe's cotton is hand-picked as opposed to mechanisation done internationally. "This makes the quality of our cotton to be very high and attractive," the official pointed out. |
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