Before setting off for Lamu County, I found myself weighing two options: I could endure the more than 10-hour road journey from Nairobi through Garissa, or take the equally long coastal route via Mombasa and Kilifi.
Both promised an exhausting trip. In the end, I chose the quicker option: a one-hour, 20-minute flight to Manda Island.
Little did I know that the flight would only be the beginning of the adventure.
From Manda, the journey continues by a small motorised boat across the Indian Ocean to the Mokowe Jetty before a drive inland to Mpeketoni.
The crossing is not for the faint-hearted. On the day of my visit, the sea was unusually choppy. Waves tossed the boat from side to side, spray soaked passengers as water found its way into the vessel, and every bounce was a reminder that reaching some of Kenya's most remarkable farming communities is rarely straightforward.
But as the boat finally docked and the dusty road to Mpeketoni unfolded before me, the difficult journey quickly faded into the background.
Beyond the mangrove-lined shores and scattered villages lay a different story altogether: one of resilience, innovation and renewed hope.
Here, among fields of vibrant Bt cotton, farmers are quietly rewriting the fortunes of a crop that many had long written off.
For widows like Aisha Mohammed and Julia Njuguna, the revival of cotton is doing far more than increasing yields.
It is putting children through school, rebuilding homes and restoring confidence in an industry that once sustained generations of families across Lamu.
In Mapenya Sub-location, one such story belongs to Aisha Mohammed. A member of the Bajuni community, Aisha spent years relying mainly on small-scale livestock keeping, an enterprise that brought little income and barely sustained her family.
As the sole provider for her grandchildren, making ends meet was a constant struggle.
Everything changed a year ago when extension officers from the Lamu County Department of Agriculture introduced her to Bt cotton farming.
Bt cotton is a genetically modified (GM) pest-resistant variety of cotton, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworms.
Today, she speaks about the crop with quiet confidence. Her first harvest delivered returns she had never imagined possible.
A few kilometres away lives Julia Njuguna, another farmer whose life has been transformed by the crop.
Standing beside her thriving cotton field, Julia points to a newly built house as one of the tangible benefits of embracing Bt cotton.
The additional income has not only enabled her to construct a better home but has also significantly improved her family's standard of living.
She credits much of that success to the county government's extension officers, whose regular field visits and technical advice have helped farmers understand proper crop management practices.
Before Bt cotton was introduced, Julia says the conventional open-pollinated varieties rarely produced the quality demanded by ginneries.
Farmers often harvested lower-grade cotton that fetched poor prices, making the enterprise barely worthwhile.
Today, things are different. Her crop consistently meets the Grade One standard, allowing her to earn the premium farm-gate price and making cotton one of her family's most reliable sources of income. Perhaps what excites Julia most is that cotton farming has become a family business.
"After finishing school, my sons went to Mombasa in search of jobs, but nothing meaningful came their way. The few opportunities they found were poorly paying and could barely sustain them.
That is when I encouraged them to come back home and join me in cotton farming". Today, cotton is proving to be a respectable and profitable business. As I prepare to retire, I have peace of mind knowing that my sons have a future here in Mpeketoni. With the new Bt cotton technology and the support we are receiving from the county's extension officers, I believe cotton will revive our local economy and create opportunities for many more young people."
Their experiences are becoming increasingly common across Lamu County, where Bt cotton is helping revive an industry that had all but disappeared.
According to Lamu County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, James Gichu, the county now produces about 60 per cent of Kenya's cotton, making it the country's leading cotton-growing region.
For years, however, farmers struggled with conventional varieties such as HART 89, which were highly susceptible to African bollworm infestations.
"With the conventional varieties, farmers harvested between 300 and 500 kilograms per acre," says Gichu.
"With Bt cotton, a well-managed acre can produce more than 1,500 kilograms."
The dramatic productivity improvement has sparked renewed interest in the crop.
"Before 2019, we had fewer than 3,000 farmers growing cotton. Today, demand has risen to more than 15,000 farmers," he says. Production is rising just as rapidly.
Last year, Lamu produced about 3.2 million kilograms of cotton. This season, the county is targeting nine million kilograms, supported by increased availability of Bt seed and favourable growing conditions.
The county is also benefiting from a guaranteed market. According to Gichu, Lamu supplies cotton to six ginneries across the country, yet demand still exceeds supply.
A new state-of-the-art ginnery being established by Thika Cloth Mill in Lamu is expected to require about 56 tonnes of seed cotton every day, creating even greater opportunities for farmers.
Bt cotton's biggest advantage lies in its resistance to the African bollworm, historically the crop's most destructive pest.
Because farmers spray less frequently than they did with conventional varieties, production costs have fallen while yields have increased.
"The minimum farm-gate price is Ksh72 per kilogram," says Gichu. "When farmers have access to quality seed and know there is a ready market, cotton becomes a very profitable enterprise". Despite the gains, challenges remain.
Bt seed remains expensive, costing between Sh4,000 and Sh4,500 per kilo, while limited availability continues to constrain expansion.
Gichu believes local seed multiplication could significantly lower costs and make the technology more accessible to farmers.
The revival of cotton in Lamu is also being driven by cooperative societies that have kept faith in the crop through both prosperous and difficult times.
David Njuguna, chairman of Kenyatta Farmers Cooperative Society, traces the sector's fortunes back to 1976 when the cooperative was established during the tenure of Kenya's first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
He recalls a time when cotton was one of Lamu's most dependable cash crops, supporting thousands of households and funding education for many children, including himself. "I was raised and educated through proceeds from cotton farming," he says.
According to Njuguna, the industry's fortunes declined after TSS Ginners, historically associated with Lamu Ginners Company Ltd.
It was a major cotton processing facility in Lamu County, owned by the late Mombasa billionaire Tahir Sheikh Said.
After establishing operations in Lamu, it created what he describes as a monopoly that destabilised prices and eroded farmers' confidence. As returns dwindled, many growers abandoned cotton in search of more profitable enterprises.
He says farmers and cooperative leaders later worked closely with policymakers to advocate for reforms that would restore confidence in the sector.
The introduction of more stable pricing and renewed investment has since encouraged many farmers to return to cotton production.
Today, the cooperative's biggest off-taker is Thika Cloth Mills, providing members with a dependable market for their produce.
This season, Njuguna expects the cooperative to gin about 2.5 million tonnes of cotton, although he cautions that delayed access to Bt cotton seed continues to constrain production.
"The rainy season cannot wait for farmers," he says. "When the seed arrives late, farmers miss the planting window, and that affects production drastically."
For Njuguna, ensuring that farmers receive quality seed before the onset of the rains will be critical if Lamu is to sustain its cotton revival and meet growing demand from processors.
As the sun begins to set over the sprawling cotton fields of Mpeketoni, the town slowly comes alive.
Motorcycles ferry farmers home after a day's work.
Small shops fill with customers, hardware stores are busy, and new buildings are steadily replacing old structures.
There is an undeniable feeling that money is once again circulating through the local economy. The spending power of farming households has grown, and the ripple effects are visible well beyond the cotton fields.
For many residents, Bt cotton is more than a high-yielding crop. It has restored dignity to farming, brought young people back to the land and given families the confidence to plan beyond the next harvest.
The journey to Mpeketoni may be long and, at times, unforgiving. But as I make my way back across the Indian Ocean towards Manda Island, it is clear the trip was worthwhile.
I came looking for a story about Bt cotton. I left having witnessed the revival of an industry, the resilience of a community and a glimpse of how agriculture, backed by innovation and functioning markets, can transform not just farms, but entire local economies.
This is no longer simply a story about a new seed variety. It is a story about widows who can educate their grandchildren, mothers who have built new homes, young people choosing farming over unemployment and a county that is demonstrating how agriculture, innovation and local leadership can rebuild an industry.
Beyond the cotton fields lies an even bigger lesson.
By producing more, attracting investment in processing and strengthening the entire value chain, Lamu is showing that Africa's future does not lie in exporting raw commodities alone. It lies in creating value, building industries and ensuring that communities such as those in Mpeketoni share in the prosperity that follows.
