The Rift Valley Textile Company (Rivatex), which was bought by Moi University and revived for Sh5 billion, is operating below capacity due to lack of cotton.
Managing director Thomas Kipkurgat said the firm in Eldoret town has been fitted with modern equipment to increase capacity.
The company produces an average of 10,000 bales against a capacity of 70,000 annually, Kipkurgat said.
The company has signed an MOU with Elgeyo Marakwet county to help improve cotton production in Kerio Valley. Rivatex will provide certified seeds and pesticides to cotton farmers. The miller will provide market for the produce.
Speaking during the ceremony, Elgeyo Marakwet Deputy Governor Wesley Rotich called the partnership a breakthrough in cotton farming in the county.
“We are planning to engage more than 1,000 farmers along the Kerio Valley which is one of the best cotton producing zones in the region. The farmers had stopped cultivating the crop owing to poor prices,” Rotich said.
The move comes as many farmers are seeking to diversify from maize farming due to problems in the cereals sector.A few years ago many farmers in the region abandoned cotton due to lack of market and persistent pest and diseases.
“This situation will now change because farmers will be supplied with pesticides and seeds which are of higher yield production and disease resistant,” Rotich said.
About 300 farmers in Kerio Valley grow cotton and more than 2 000 acres is to be put under cotton production this year in Soy North, Soy South, Tambach, Emsoo, Arror, Endo and Sambirir Wards.
Industrialisation Betty PS Maina said the deal between the county and Rivatex would create jobs. “I am encouraged that Elgeyo Marakwet has adopted diversification. The overreliance on maize has made our farmers poor,” Maina said.
She said there was great potential in Elgeyo Marakwet. Two weeks ago the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics identified Elgeyo Marakwet as one of the fastest growing counties in the country.
Maina said ministry wants to put more than 50,000 acres in the county under cotton production.
who was also present asked farmers to diversify from maize and seize the opportunity offered by Rivatex.
The county produces an average of 25,000 bales against a demand of 200,000 bales, with the deficit covered through imports from Uganda,Tanzania and East Asia.