Cotton farmers of Kenya are set to benefit from the partnership between Rivatex East Africa and Meru Ginnery, agricultural seeds and seedling supplier. Under the deal, Meru Ginnery will purchase its primary seeds of cotton from Bura farmers then process it to derive cotton lint, which will be sold to Rivatex.
Meru Ginnery will pay Kenyan Shillings 52 per kilogramme to the farmers. On the other hand, the local Government in its effort to boost cotton production will give 15 acres of land to these farmers. Besides, the Government will also provide 500 acres from a 6,500 acre of irrigation scheme to farmers to supply the apparel industry, which is currently dependent on China.
Also Read – ‘Extension of AGOA deal to improve Kenya’s apparel exports’
Adan Mohamed, Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary said that his Ministry wants to expand contractual cotton growing from the current 20 per cent to enhance job opportunities in this sector. Following the extension of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Ministry has been laying out plans for a textile city and an industrial park that will improve primary cotton production. Kenya has almost 35,000 hectares of irrigational land for cotton production with an estimate of 28,500 farmers and a yield of approximately 30,000 bales.
