Farmers encouraged to invest in cotton farming

Busia, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 

by Victoria Magar/Salome Alwanda.

Farmers in Busia have been encouraged to invest in cotton growing

Speaking to the press during the Kenya Livestock commercialization forum on Tuesday, Busia County CEC Member for Agriculture, George Mukok said that the County needs raw materials for the industrial park that will be established soon.

"We have a cotton ginnery with a capacity of 10 tons per day but we do not have enough raw materials,’ he said, adding that the factory is currently importing raw materials from Uganda.

Mukok stated that the County Government is doing an MOU with RIVATEX and plans are underway to form cooperatives to aggregate the raw material for ease of marketing.

‘Currently, we are registering farmers who will be brought on board for cotton farming,’ he said, adding that 150 youth have already been recruited and trained to participate in the registration exercise.

‘That data will inform the decisions we make like procuring seeds and other inputs,’ he said.

He disclosed that the registration exercise will last for 10 days with the registered farmers expected to start planting in July this year.

Busia Assistant County Commissioner Philip Omuga said that the National Government will work closely with the County government to encourage a conducive environment for investors.

‘We are here to provide security because no investor would wish to stay in an insecure environment,’ he said.

Omuga assured investors that Busia County is very secure and there are no negative reports that can threaten their activities.

Busia County Kenya Livestock Commercialization Project (KeLCoP) Coordinator, Radoli Shiundu said that the project is targeting the commercialization of poultry, dairy goats and beef goats.

‘Actually, we are targeting those who are already in the value chain so that they can commercialize and market more,’ he said, adding that the project is also targeting the vulnerable who are interested in the value chain but lack capital.

Shiundu said that the project is being implemented in four wards in the County namely Amukura East (Teso South), Nambuku/Namboboto (Samia), Bunyala North (Bunyala), and Elugulu (Butula).

‘We have identified beneficiaries and by July this year we shall be rolling out the activity on the ground,’ he said.

The project intends to work with 19640 households (490,000 individuals) with women and youth being accorded first priority

‘So far we have been able to identify about 10,000 households and we are in the process of identifying the remaining 640 before we start the six-year project,’ he said.

Courtesy ; K. N. A