Episode 2 - Milliam Murigi speaks to Bird Publisher Paula Fray about a Kenyan mini-ginnery
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Kenyan journalist Milliam Murigi explains how a locally developed portable ginnery is helping Kenyan cotton farmers process their harvests closer to home, reduce losses and earn more by selling lint and seed separately. Its developers believe decentralised processing could help revive the country’s cotton industry while keeping more value and jobs in rural communities.
An African Journal of Biotechnology research estimates that the country could cultivate as much as 385,000 hectares of cotton and produce up to 220,000 metric tonnes of seed cotton annually, benefiting up to 200,000 farming households.
Seeking to realise this potential, the Kenyan government has identified cotton as a priority value chain under its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (2022–2027). Its plans include expanding the area under cultivation, improving productivity and farmers’ incomes, modernising ginneries, widening access to quality seed and agricultural support, and attracting investment in local processing and manufacturing. The broader aim is to make Kenya’s cotton-to-clothing industry more competitive in regional and global markets.
For farmers such as Nyaga, the shift to Bt cotton offers an early indication of what higher productivity could mean for household incomes. Bt cotton is genetically modified to resist one of the most destructive pests known as bollworms, helping to reduce crop losses and potentially the need for insecticide spraying.
On his one-acre farm, Nyaga says he previously harvested about 300 kilograms of conventional cotton, which sold for KSh50 (US$0.39) a kilogram. Since adopting Bt cotton, his harvest has risen to about 800 kilograms, while the price has increased to KSh72 (US$0.56) a kilogram. This would raise his gross earnings from about KSh15,000 (US$116) to KSh57,600 (US$445) per harvest, before production costs.
For more head on to https://birdstoryagency.com/kenya-2/
An African Journal of Biotechnology research estimates that the country could cultivate as much as 385,000 hectares of cotton and produce up to 220,000 metric tonnes of seed cotton annually, benefiting up to 200,000 farming households.
Seeking to realise this potential, the Kenyan government has identified cotton as a priority value chain under its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (2022–2027). Its plans include expanding the area under cultivation, improving productivity and farmers’ incomes, modernising ginneries, widening access to quality seed and agricultural support, and attracting investment in local processing and manufacturing. The broader aim is to make Kenya’s cotton-to-clothing industry more competitive in regional and global markets.
For farmers such as Nyaga, the shift to Bt cotton offers an early indication of what higher productivity could mean for household incomes. Bt cotton is genetically modified to resist one of the most destructive pests known as bollworms, helping to reduce crop losses and potentially the need for insecticide spraying.
On his one-acre farm, Nyaga says he previously harvested about 300 kilograms of conventional cotton, which sold for KSh50 (US$0.39) a kilogram. Since adopting Bt cotton, his harvest has risen to about 800 kilograms, while the price has increased to KSh72 (US$0.56) a kilogram. This would raise his gross earnings from about KSh15,000 (US$116) to KSh57,600 (US$445) per harvest, before production costs.
For more head on to https://birdstoryagency.com/kenya-2/
