Kenya: Kenya Rebuilds The Cotton Chain From Field To Fabric

What the report says

Farmers in coastal Kenya are returning to cotton as the country tries to rebuild a textile supply chain from the field to the factory, according to Bird Story Agency’s report carried by AllAfrica. The revival is centered in Mpeketoni, Lamu County, where cotton seed is being distributed, a new ginnery is operating, and output is being sent to Thika Cloth Mills, one of Kenya’s few remaining integrated textile manufacturers.

The article says the effort is meant to restore links that weakened after years of factory closures, trade liberalization and competition from imported second-hand clothing. It also fits within Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda and the draft 2024 Cotton, Textile and Apparel policy, which call for higher local production, more jobs, and greater value addition. Industry and agriculture officials, cooperatives and manufacturers are all involved in the effort.

The report highlights signs of progress but also major constraints. Kenya Association of Manufacturers’ Joyce Njogu says cotton output has risen in recent years, though local supply remains far below factory demand and imports are still needed. At Thika Cloth Mills, managing director Tejal Dodhia says the company has modernized production, added solar power and biomass boilers, and now sources more cotton locally. However, tailors and designers still say imported fabric dominates parts of the market and local producers need to better match price, quality and small-order needs.

The broader significance, the article suggests, is that rebuilding Kenya’s cotton sector requires not just more planting, but also working ginneries, viable mills, skills, markets and transport links.