Cotton farming rebounds as new ginneries rise in Kwale

MUOKI CHARLES-KNA

Cotton farming in the Coast region is set for revival with the construction of two modern ginneries in Kwale and Lamu, offering farmers both a ready market and new economic opportunities.

The Kwale ginnery, spearheaded by the national government, is nearing completion, while Thika-based textile giant Thika Cloth Mills (TCM) has already opened another in Lamu.

The two projects are expected to benefit farmers in Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, and Taita Taveta, who have long been constrained by the lack of a ready market and the high transport costs of delivering cotton to distant ginneries in Kitui, Meru, and Makueni counties. 

“This is just the beginning of a cotton revolution in the Coast. We can now farm cotton with confidence, knowing we have a ready buyer, and that it will put food on our tables,” said Asthman Mwadime, a farmer from Kwale.

Jackson Ndurya, Chair of a Kwale based Cotton Farmers Cooperative Society PAVI, said the ginnery would restore farmers’ faith in cotton farming, urging the government to fast track it’s completion whose operationalization is awaiting the installation of modern machines.