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Kenya:Farmers urged to raise cotton production for
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2005-1-7
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African cotton farmers in Nyanza Province have been advised to boost cotton production to fully utilize the local market.
Aggrey Mudinyu, the Provincial Commissioner, said the country''s cotton industry was still under-performing, despite the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which allows free entry of textile exports from poor countries like Kenya into the US market.
He said existing climatic and farming conditions in the expansive province were conducive for production of the crop and told farmers to place larger portions of idle tracts of land under the crop.
"Nyanza has the potential to produce big yields of cotton and farmers should work towards planting more of the crop to improve their economic status," he said.
The Provincial Commissioner mentioned that the Government has initialized programmes to help farmers by providing good seeds and extension services.
Current statistics show that Kenya has a deficit of 100,000 bales of cotton yearly and cannot meet local, and foreign demand with the 20,00 bales it produces annually.
The Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), which employs 25,288 people, has invested Sh6.9 billion for the last four years in the textile sector with sales totaling to Sh8.1 billion.
In Nyanza Province, acreage of the crop has decreased but provision of seeds by the Government ensured that the harvest remained stable.
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