According to findings by the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) the 2018/19 cotton season made K10.7bn, made out of input from 80, 000 farmers grew cotton this year, a down from 300,000 in 2012/13.

While noting the massive decline in cotton input, the AICC report says that there has been significant reform as far as restructuring of markets is concerned. “Buyers were organised in designated market depots, all buyers competed for seed cotton within fair trading and competition rules. Market laws of demand and supply were prevalent and allowed to dictate pricing. Farmers had the choice of selling their cotton to desired ginners depending on pricing dynamics.” says the report in part.

On the other hand, 2019 AICC Cotton Market Analysis Report, which has attributed the lowered numbers to reduced harvests and area dedicated to cotton. The report shows that despite having potential to accelerate economic growth and development, the commodity faces a myriad challenges which undermine its potential contribution.

“Among the patent issues surrounding the cotton value chain are issues to do with cotton production characterised by poor access to marketing services and information, fluctuating prices and most recently low demand and supply” says part of the report.