Poor returns from cotton drive Embu farmers to more lucrative crops

Workers feed raw cotton into a ginnery in Siakago market Embu County in the past. Cotton farming has collapsed due to poor returns

Farmers have abandoned cotton farming, citing diseases and poor returns.

Cotton has for years been the major cash crop of the semi-arid Mbeere region, but it is now on the verge of collapse.

Farmers are turning to millet, green grams and even miraa (khat), depending on the crops that will thrive in their localities.

Farmers from Makima in Mbeere South, which for decades was a major producer of cotton, said they often made losses.

Nthawa County Assembly Member Ngari Makenge, who in 2006 led cotton farmers in Siakago in reviving a ginnery, said they were unable to get adequate raw materials to process due to low production.

"Those still farming cotton cannot raise the volumes required by the Kitui and Mwea ginneries. Others are demotivated because some ginneries bought cotton from them two years ago and are yet to pay them," he said.

According to Mr Makenge, last season's cotton fetched Sh25 per kilo; the highest price reached was Sh32.

Good husbandry

He said the production costs of one acre was about Sh15,000, while agricultural officials said 1,500kg of cotton can be produced with good husbandry but noted that most farmers got less than 300kg.

Agricultural Executive Patrisio Njiru admitted returns from cotton were poor due to an erratic market and pest infestation.

"We are appealing to the Cotton Board of Kenya to get us one-season cotton so we can lure our farmers back to farming it," said Dr Njiru.

He, however, revealed all was not lost as the county had partnered with the Meru ginnery that will provide seeds and inputs, and guarantee farmers a market.

"We are developing a cotton policy that will regularise the sub-sector," said Njiru.

While that is the scenario in Embu and neighbouring counties, hope in cotton farming might lie in biotech (Bt) cotton.

"Bt cotton offers hope for the revival of Kenya's cotton sector. Most cotton farmers in Kenya quit cultivating the crop due to the ever-increasing production costs brought about by pest infestation," noted Charles Waturu, principal investigator of the Bt cotton project.

Dr Waturu, however, warned the use of pesticides on cotton as a strategy for managing pests had been confirmed to be expensive, besides exposing farmers to health risks due to over-exposure to chemicals.

He said genetically modified technology incorporates resistance to pests.

He said the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation had completed research on Bt cotton and was ready to offer farmers the Bolgard II cotton variety they confirmed to be resistant to pests.