Tanzania has injected Sh7 billion for distribution of insecticides and revival of ginneries to boost cotton production. The 2018-19 cotton production is likely to double to 440,000 tonnes from the last season following distribution of quality seeds, according to agriculture minister Japhet Hasunga. Around 14 million Tanzanians depend on cotton farming.

The government wants to attract more investors in cotton production and processing, Hasunga said.

The capacity of the ginneries is estimated at 1.2 million tonnes of cotton per year.

The long-term target is to attain 600,000 tonnes during the next fiscal and a million tonnes by 2023, he said.

The goal is to raise the efficiency of the sector, including raising quality of cotton to international standards, doubling production, improving domestic cotton processing and to make Tanzania the leading cotton producer in Africa, according to a report in a Tanzanian daily.

The ministry of industry and trade has announced a programme for improving a textile sub-sector by mobilising small-scale business operators to engage in tailoring and cotton spinning.

The University of Dar es Salaam's College of Engineering and Technology now offers a degree course in textile technology. With support from Gatsby Africa, the college produced 44 graduates in textile technology in the 2016-17 academic year and 13 in the preceding year. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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