Designers inject life into cotton

Farmers from Kanyagwal village in Nyando constituency Kisumu county receive cotton seeds from Pamba Mali co-coordinator Lucy Rao (Holding yellow container). More than 2,000 farmers who have shown intrest in cotton farming received the seeds. [PHOTO: COLLINS ODUOR/STANDARD]

In the 1980s, the textile industry was doing well. But thanks to influx of ‘mitumba’ clothes and an array of issues, it started declining in the mid 1980s.

That is why farmers abandoned cotton growing. But a group of designers are determined to revive the industry by giving cotton farmers a reason to plant the crop.

Two fashion designers — Lucy Rao and Monica Kanari — started an initiative last year in a bid to revive the industry in Nyanza Province.

The project dubbed Pamba Mali Organic Cotton project targets women in Kanyagwal Village in Kisumu County.

“Monica and I realised that most of our models hit the cat walk in international fabrics. But why not our own? We used to wonder. So we teamed up and approached the Kisumu County government and asked them if they could help us sell the idea to farmers. They were very accommodating. We give free organic cotton seeds to farmers,” says Rao.

“We distributed 4.6 tonnes of certified organic cotton seeds to about 600 willing farmers in March last year, for the pilot project. Each of the farmers availed an acre for cotton planting. Out of the 600, only 400 farmers followed the best practice steps. So far, we have had one harvest season and the farmers have netted 50 tonnes of cotton,” Rao says.

The bumper harvest attracted more farmers and now 2,000 farmers have registered for the second cotton seeds disbursement.

“Currently, we have seven tonnes of seeds that we are going to give to farmers although we will need more. Anyone willing to assist in this noble venture is welcome,” she says.

Lucy says the aim of the project is to have enough cotton that will be processed locally, so that they can have models use locally made fabric on international runways. She says in other countries, designers use fabrics produced locally on the runway.

“We enjoy it when our models hit the red carpet internationally; we would be more proud if they did so in our locally produced fabrics. We have no authentic Kenyan material. That is the reason behind this venture,” she says.

Though the project has picked up, she discloses that they faced some challenges when they started. This is because many farmers had given up on it. But slowly they embraced it.

County Director of Agriculture Mary Obade, says they support public private partnerships and  that is why they have embraced Pamba Mali initiative.

Stronger voice

“Cotton is now number two crop after sugarcane. We want the stalled ginneries revived so that farmers can produce knowing there is a market. We are working together with the Ministry of Industrialisation to achieve that goal. Our hope is that stalled state owned ginneries will be revived. The problem with Kisumu is that our ginnery was privately owned,” she says.
She says the Ministry of Industrialisation is on the ground working with Rivatex and other private providers to ensure there is an active ginnery in Kisumu.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Marketing in charge Phanuel Lubanga, urges farmers to plant more cotton so that the county can build a ginnery. He says they are collaborating with Kenya Seed to develop refined seeds that will be used in the development and increase of yields.

“I am happy the people of Kanyagwal are part of the global team of farmers growing cotton for the textile industry. I urge the farmers to join societies so that they can have a stronger voice when voicing their concerns.”

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