Kenya plans to eliminate the import of cotton raw materials in the next five years in an effort to revive the cotton industry to boost the overall performance of the textile sector, an official said on Wednesday.
Rajeev Arora, Cotton, Textile and Apparel Value Chain Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, said this on the sidelines of the launch of the Kenya Investment Policy in Nairobi.
Arora said that the farmers used to produce more than 30,000 tons of cotton in the 1980s but production has declined to approximately 7,500 tons currently.
“We hope to increase cotton production to 10,000 tons by the end of 2020, through increasing area under cultivation,” Arora said.
The key driver of reducing cotton output is the increasing cost of production that has made the cash crop to become unprofitable.
Arora said the government had planned to leverage the cooperative model to revive the cotton industry and create additional jobs for the youth.
“We have a pilot project in the coastal county of Kwale where farmers have formed a cooperative, which we hope to replicate to 22 counties across the country,” said Arora.
He said that farmers would be provided with certified seeds to ensure they achieve optimum yields.
Arora said that Kenya was keen to use locally produced cotton to supply textile factories that export most of their products to foreign markets and the government aims to eliminate import of cotton raw materials in the next five years.
“Kenya loses about 150 billion shillings (1.5 billion dollars) annually in lost value addition opportunities due to over-reliance on imports of intermediate cotton products that are converted into finished textile products,” said Arora.
