Rivatex urges Kenyan farmers to increase cotton production

16 Mar '17

1 min read

Severe cotton shortage in Kenya has negatively impacted the operation of the Rift Valley Textile (Rivatex) company, which has urged the cotton farmers of the country to increase acreage for producing more cotton. The Eldoret based company is producing 10,000 bales of cotton on an average, as against its capacity of 70,000 bales annually.

Close to Sh300 million has been invested to upgrade the machines in order to produce items that adhere to international standards, said Thomas Kipkurgat, managing director of the company.

The national assembly had approved Sh500 million in 2015 for funding the company's purchase of new equipment, facilitating increase in production and in turn generating more income, according to Kenyan media reports.

Rivatex is also carrying out aggressive marketing to sensitize farmers for increasing the acreage of cotton, said Kipkurgat. He added that farmers need to increase their production to supply more raw materials to help the firm sustain its annual operations.

The company has also acquired about 250 acres of land to teach farmers to grow high-yield cotton.

Farmers from North Rift have also appealed to the government to introduce a stabilisation fund for a guaranteed market and better returns to save them from unpredictable prices. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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