Kenya's Lake region block eyes US cotton market
Smart Harvest
By
Dalton Nyabundi
| May 02, 2018
KISUMU, KENYA: The Lake Region Economic block plans to re-introduce large scale cotton growing in the Lake Victoria basin after the Government lifted the ban on biotechnology cotton.
Kisumu Governor, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o said negotiations had been opened with multinationals to revive the once top-cash spinner under the block bringing together 14 counties in western Kenya.
He said the renewed interest in cotton farming has been informed by the high demand for Kenyan cotton in the US apparel market.
Nyong’o said on top of the expected rise in demand for the raw material in the textile industry with the revamping of the Eldoret-based Rivatex, there was a big export demand in the US.
READ MORE
Counties sitting on Sh1b emergency fund amid raging floods
Poultry players protest US import deal plan
Uptake of AI-powered home solutions low despite many benefits
Kenyan retailers ready to pounce as Ethiopia to open up market
Hiring civil servants on contract will fuel corruption, experts say
Logistics firm eyes bigger market pie after MSC pact, rebrand
Is government on 'fuliza' mode?
KQ suspends flights to Kinshasa over detention of staff
Six-month loan moratorium will ease financial strain on businesses affected by floods
Expert: The shilling has regained value, but don't expect it to last
“Kenya’s cotton export to the US through AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) is just about Sh4 billion against a total demand of about Sh500 billion,” Nyong’o told those attending Labour Day celebrations in Kisumu on Tuesday.
The Act covers more than 6,000 products than can be exported to the US on preferential trade terms.
He said in line with the Jubilee Government’s Big Four agenda – manufacturing, health, food security and housing – the Government had embraced the high yielding BT cotton and asked farmers in known cotton growing areas to shift focus to the crop for “good and steady returns.”
“We are already in talks with experts and we will soon come to you with the plan on how we can leverage on these opportunities to create jobs and lift ourselves out of poverty,” he said.
He said sorghum had already earned market at the newly established Kenya Breweries Limited plant in Kisumu and urged farmers to embrace cotton farming with the same zeal.
The once thriving cotton growing and ginneries have been ailing over the last few decades. Most of the region’s ginneries closed down as farmers abandoned the once top-cash spinner.
The bloc has entered a partnership with the Lake Basin Development Authority which has been conducting feasibility studies into the viability of cotton farming with plans to help reintroduce it.
- Hiring civil servants on contract will fuel corruption, experts say
- Kenyan retailers ready to pounce as Ethiopia to open up market
- KQ suspends flights to Kinshasa over detention of staff
- Is government on 'fuliza' mode?