Farmers picking cotton. [Photo/ ebru.co.ke]
Cotton farmers in the Nyanza region have appealed to the government to revive the collapsed cotton industry by providing farm inputs to growers. Homa Bay County Cotton Cooperative Union chairman John Akoko said most farmers have switched to growing other crops due to lack of farm equipment.“The Ministry of Agriculture uses extension officers to teach farmers how to grow cotton. Farmers are ill-equipped to handle chemicals and other farm machinery,” he said.Akoko said that lack of farm inputs and equipment forced most farmers to switch to food crops such as maize and sorghum.He said poverty levels in Nyanza increased when farmers switched from growing cotton to other crops.“Cotton production started dwindling in the 1990s forcing farmers into a life of poverty,” he said.Akoko said that most cotton farmers in Nyanza lack market for the crop adding that middlemen have taken advantage of this situation to extort them.He said a kilogram of cotton is sold at Sh46 but middlemen buy it at Sh30.“Last year, farmers from Nyanza transported up to 8.5 tonnes of cotton to Meru. At times brokers took advantage of our situation to buy our produce at low prices,” said Akoko.He asked elected leaders in Nyanza to intervene and rescue them from the low prices and rebuild ginneries to promote cotton farming. “Most governors promised to revive cotton farming when they campaigned in 2013. We have not seen them fulfilling the pledges five years later,” said Akoko.