The US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has said her government will continue working with counties to revive cotton farming so that the country can continue benefitting from the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).
Whitman said with textile being among products allowed duty free access to the US under AGOA, various American companies have invested in the industry but said they were facing a major challenge in growing the business due to the acute shortage of cotton.
Speaking in Iten when she paid a courtesy call on the Elgeyo Marakwet governor Wisley Rotich, the US ambassador said the companies were being forced to import cotton from as far as China and other African countries a process which she said takes long and was expensive.
Whitman said her government was working with several counties through the provision of BT and hybrid cotton seeds to farmers for planting to enable the companies get a constant domestic supply.
“Many of the companies are saying they cannot do much without domestic supply of cotton,” she said.
Whitman added that they were also working to rejuvenate aging cotton gins to be able to create cotton fabric both woven and knitted to be supplied to the cotton industries.
She said the revival of the cotton industry will have a major impact on farmers from areas which grow cotton, Elgeyo Marakwet being one of them.
The ambassador said there were American companies which have set shop in Kenya and are contracted to make clothes for lots of American companies back at home.
Whitman said the partnership between the county and US through the Kentegra company had also seen the revival of the pyrethrum sector saying close to 30,000 farmers had embraced the crop in the county with each family supporting at least 6 people.
The ambassador said the company not only provides inputs to farmers but works directly with them which has eliminated brokers thus ensuring that farmers earn what they deserve which enables them to meet their financial needs.
Governor Rotich said the county had greatly benefitted from the partnership with the US government in various sectors especially health and agriculture.
He cited the Ampath program which has been working in the county for the last 11 years and which has helped in the fight against HIV.
The governor further said that the Kentegra company had transformed the lives of farmers in the county saying they were targeting to have recruited 40,000 farmers by the end of 2025.
“This means that 40,000 farmers will be earning from pyrethrum, this is a number that I cannot afford to employ in the county government,” he said.
By Alice Wanjiru
