Business

Cotton Promises Better Times At The Coast

- Totalling 62, Zubla members have been working in shifts everyday, bringing in organic manure, one tonne per acre for the 80 acres hosting the crop.

- At their expansive farm, Zubla is experimenting with two seeds, which they call the Kenyan traditional variety, and the hybrid, each planted separately.

- During a recent tour of the farm, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett lauded the project noting it would change lives of locals, despite initial hiccups.

- Kwale County is conducive for cotton cultivation.

The group of farmers in Mwachande village, Kwale County, were unperturbed by the scorching heat as they harvested their cotton. This was in mid-November, but it seemed just like yesterday as the members of Zubla Welfare Group planted the labour intensive crop in April. Totalling 62, Zubla members have been working in shifts everyday, bringing in organic manure, one tonne per acre for the 80 acres hosting the crop. Zubla started as a small merry-go-round group four years ago, through which they would help each other financially in times of need.

With time, they felt they needed to start an income-generating activity. Farming was their activity of choice due to the readily available fertile land. Zubla chairman, Hussein Myega, said that they had an option of planting potatoes, but they later liked the idea of planting cotton with the help of Base Titanium, a mining company.

Having Kenyan Shilling 75,000 in savings, the group leased 300 acres and got Sh 275,000 loan from Base Titanium, which they used to acquire seeds and plant on the 80 acres. At the expansive farm, Zubla is experimenting with two seeds, which they call the Kenyan traditional variety, and the hybrid, each planted separately. But looking at both varieties now that they are ready for harvest, what they call the traditional Kenyan variety looks cleaner and whiter as compared to the hybrid.

Hesbon Olweny, an agronomist with B4D, an agricultural company, says Kenya has two commercial varieties, the KSA 81M adapted to western region and HART 89M for the Eastern region, including in Kwale.

Change Lives Of Locals

"These two were registered in 1981 and 1989 and but are not available as certified seeds," he said, "They are recycled and sourced from local ginneries. Kwale County sources from the Makueni Ginneries." He added that more work needed to be done on the conventional seeds, in terms of purity, pest tolerance and yield potential. "We already have harvested about 1,770 kg of cotton from 15 acres, of which we sold for Sh 56 a kilo to B4D," says Nyega.

B4D has export market in Bangladesh, where it sells the produce, after ginning at the Makueni Ginneries. While planting, Zubla had projected to make close to Sh 1 million in profit.

"But due to pests and a dry spell, we will not hit the target. First it was the pests," says the supervisor Mohamed Hassan, "And then the drought hit that destroyed 20 acres of cotton. However, we have learned best practices to enable us do better by increasing acreage."

During a recent tour of the farm, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett lauded the project noting it would change lives of locals, despite initial hiccups. He acknowledged getting the right seed variety is a challenge as the government seeks to revive the cotton industry. "We have to revive this industry, as there is a ready market locally through Export Processing Zones, and the other textiles industries. Kwale is conducive for cotton, after we see how you perform, and with the right seed variety, the government will plan on building a ginnery here," he said.