Kenya's Cotton Development Authority will control cotton prices in the country, to prevent exploitation of farmers by ginneries, a provincial agriculture official has said.
Mr. Johnston Imbira, deputy agriculture director of Nyanza Province said, "Cotton ginneries have in the past been underpaying farmers and now there are measures to regulate the prices." He said the government had put cotton prices at Sh21 (17 cents) per kg, up from Sh12, and this is expected to lure back farmers to the sector, which was nearly dying. "Farmers were discouraged by the low prices," he said.
Imbira said Nyanza Province has the potential of producing over 25,000 tonnes of cotton per year, yet only 46 tonnes were realised last year. He also said that the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute is supplying farmers in the province with a new seed breed known as KSA81m, which is expected to be very productive.
He challenged investors to exploit cotton as a raw material and use it to produce cooking oil, animals feed, manufacture soap in addition to its common use in textile industry. "Investors usually concentrate only on using cotton for textiles, yet it can be used to manufacture other products such as soap and cooking oil," Imbira said. He also asked industries dealing with cotton to keep farmers in business, by paying them promptly and giving them support where possible.
Daily Nation
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