The cotton sector is set for a revival as the Government embarks on a distribution of free cotton seedlings.
Already, the Export Promotion Council (EPC) and Kisumu County Government have agreed to boost cotton farming in the region.
The two sides signed a pact on the eve of Christmas to sensitise farmers to embrace cotton farming, assuring them of a ready market for the raw material.
According to the Executive member for Trade and Industrialisation Alice Moraa, the county has partnered with EPC to distribute free cotton seedlings to farmers. "We are going to reconsider, as an urgent and matter of priority, the revival of the moribund cotton ginneries that once used to be a top cash spinner in Nyanza," said Moraa.
She was speaking during this year's Kisumu Trade Bazaar at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports ground. The event was organised by the county government.
Director-General of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA) Alfred Busolo said certified cotton seeds would be supplied to more than 15,000 interested farmers.
"We want farmers to diversify into cotton and avoid over-reliance on rice and sugarcane," he said
Moraa told farmers that although many of them were demoralised from growing the crop after the cotton mills and ginneries collapsed, there is a ready market for the produce. "There is now high demand for cotton farming both locally and globally, meaning that farmers are guaranteed of good pay upon harvest and delivery," she said.
Moraaa appealed to farmers to take advantage of free distribution of seedlings by the State through EPC to embark on bulk production of cotton to boost their income.
