From Seed to Cooking Oil, Zimbabwe Builds New Rural Economy

Several kilometres from Gokwe’s sprawling cotton fields, located mostly in the south, the familiar story of Zimbabwe’s ‘white gold’ takes an unexpected turn.

The fluffy white fibre that has defined the country’s cotton industry for generations has already been stripped away. What remains are thousands of tiny brown seeds feeding steadily into conveyors, crushers and refining equipment.

Inside this local processing plant owned by Cangrow Cotton Company (CCC), located in a town called Nembudziya some 72km from Gokwe’s business centre, machinery hums as cottonseed disappears into steel presses before emerging as golden cooking oil.

Nearby, the remaining material is transformed into livestock feed and other by-products, leaving almost nothing to waste.

Once treated largely as a by-product of lint production, cottonseed is becoming the foundation of a broader rural industry producing cooking oil, animal feed, soap and other goods. This local processing creates jobs and keeps more of the crop’s value within Zimbabwe’s growing communities.

CCC, a registered seed-cotton contractor and buyer, is among the companies expanding into cottonseed crushing and edible-oil production.

“Cottonseed is no longer a waste product. It has become an important raw material for cooking oil production, proving that every part of the cotton crop has value,” said CCC regional manager Khumbulani Moyo.

“Through beneficiation, we are ensuring that what was once overlooked now contributes to the country’s food industry and the broader economy.”

For decades, Zimbabwe’s industry earned most of its income from lint, while ginned seed was sold largely as a raw commodity. That model is changing as processors look beyond lint to capture more value after ginning.

For Moyo, cooking oil is only the beginning.

“After extracting the oil, the remaining material is processed into stock feed and other by-products,” he said. “Our objective is to maximise the value of every tonne of cottonseed by ensuring that very little goes to waste.”

Every tonne processed locally supports activity beyond the factory: cooking oil reaches households, cotton cake feeds livestock, and other by-products supply agriculture and manufacturing.

The process begins with farmers. At buying points around Gokwe, ox-drawn carts and tractors arrive from surrounding villages carrying freshly picked seed cotton.

Once, selling the crop marked the end of its local journey. The emerging processing industry now offers an opportunity to retain more of its value in the region.

“This value addition means farmers can earn more foreign currency,” says Tina Murabinda, a local small-scale cotton farmer who owns a small farm in Gokwe South, near the town’s business centre.

“If cotton seed is processed into cooking oil and other products, it gives us another source of income and encourages more people to continue growing cotton.”

For now, most farmers’ involvement ends once they deliver their harvest and receive payment.

However, several growers argue that while processors continue discovering new commercial uses for cottonseed, those who produce the crop remain largely excluded from the wealth created further along the value chain.

Marry Chisvo, 30s, another small-scale cotton farmer from Gokwe South, has watched that imbalance persist for years.

Like many growers scattered in Gokwe’s south side, she delivers her harvest knowing the cotton seed she produces will eventually become cooking oil, stock feed, soap and other products.

Yet, while she gets paid for her delivery, offering another source of income, she says the economic benefits are limited and that there is room to grow.

“We are only paid for the crop we deliver. After that, the seed is processed into cooking oil, stock feed, soap and other products, but farmers do not receive anything from those by-products,” Marry said.

“The biggest share of the value comes after the cotton leaves our hands, yet we are only paid a relatively small amount for the crop itself. Right now, this value addition is benefiting the processors more than the farmers. Until processing is brought closer to us, we are not enjoying the full benefits of our crop.”