EDSON Kalungwe, a Gokwe farmer and husband to five wives, looked miserable as he waited for his turn to pour out his heart but one thing was clear, he no longer had hope of getting paid for his cotton crop. BY MOSES MATENGA He confessed his passion for cotton farming, which had transformed his life for decades, enabling him to sustain his big family, but quickly admitted that all was no longer well. Kalungwe would not be able to realise his dreams as the hyperinflationary environment in the country was eroding the close to $2 million he was expecting from the sale of this year’s cotton crop. The award-winning cotton farmer was supposed to be paid after producing more than 270 cotton bales for the market, but he and several other farmers have been waiting since April and it looks like nothing is coming. Hyperinflation, foreign currency shortages, cash shortages, poor government policies and corruption made worse by the recent limit of transactions to $5 000 a day all compounded his problems. Kalungwe gazed at legislators from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture comprising Gokwe-Nembudziya Member of Parliament Justice Mayor Wadyajena (chairman), Eric Murai and Tafanana Zhou as if his eyes were searching for answers. Just like many other farmers from Chitekete, Kuwirirana, Chinyenyetu, Nemangwe and other parts of Gokwe, harvests for this season had made them dream big, entertaining ideas to purchase trucks, tractors, more cattle and sending their children to university, but the dreams are now under threat. “I have 224 bales still in these premises. The money you were supposed to pay me is over $2 million, but instead of celebrating being a millionaire, I am troubled,” Kalungwe said. “I have people I hired to assist in the field. They are always at my place demanding their payment and I don’t have answers to their questions anymore. I now look like a dishonest person. I cannot even sleep. Why not do what you do with tobacco to immediately pay farmers once they are done? You stay for months without paying us and the money will lose value.” Kalungwe appealed to the committee to ensure they are paid in United States dollars as almost all shops are charging in foreign currency. “I am also a transporter, but all my vehicles are broken down,” the farmer said. “If I am to be paid $5 000 per day as per the EcoCash limits, it will take months to get all my money. Meanwhile, inflation will be ravaging. It is now impossible to pay farmers,” he said. Jephat Ngwenya, another farmer who produced 78 bales and was expecting more than $600 000 said his initial calculations would have seen him buying a tractor, a truck and sending his two children to university but because of inflation and the poor payment methods, all was set to come to naught. “Cottco announced in March that they will pay $43,94/kg. We were happy and when we did the calculations, I realised I would buy a grinding mill, a truck and send my children to university,” he said. “I, however, realised all was not well when I bought a soft drink for $50. I reali