Poor quality inputs, extension services and prices hamper revival of cotton farming

Paul Korim at his farm in serwok village in Salawa Baringo County on August 22, 2015. He is among the three only remaining cotton farmers in Kerio valley after more than a thousand farmers quit the farming due to poor prices. [Photo by Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

Few crops have been able fight off the earth-baking sun in parts of former Eastern region.

One of them, however, has been defiant. Cotton. You can spot it sticking up boldly from the sandy soils of Makueni County. And in Meru County, the soft, fluffy staple fibre beautifully bursts out of a boll.