ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE COTTON VALUE CHAIN

INTRODUCTION: Cotton crop is the most miraculous natural fibre under the sun and is referred to as “white gold”. Cotton history dates back to 8,000 years of existence. Cotton has multifarious uses given its comfort. It also provides thousands of useful products and supports millions of jobs
as it moves from field to fabric. Cotton fibre is the major crop driver in the Nigerian Textile industry, contributing 69% in spinning, 75% in weaving and 57% in dying, printing and finishing. Cotton therefore offers an avenue for raising incomes and improving livelihood in those areas in which poverty is heavily concentrated. Cotton provides fibre for the textile mills, edible oil for human consumption, industrial uses and by- product for livestock feed.

GOALS:  The goals of the cotton value chain program are as follows: 
 i.            Promote policies, human capacity, facilities and technology for successful revival of CTG Industry in Nigeria.

                     
 ii.            Ensure sustainable production of pure seeds (breeder, foundation and certified) for supply of cotton seed and lint. 
 iii.            Raise production from 125,000mt (2011) to 600,000mt (2015).

 iv.            Raise yield from 0.6t/ha (2011) to 1.5t/ha (2015). 
 v.            Attain self sufficiency of 8,000 tons of certified seeds by 2013.

Under the Gross Enhancement Support (GES) package each farmer is entitled to the following;

·        20kg of cottonseed (farmers are to pat 20% cost while FGN is to pay 80% cost)

·        1 litre of maxi crop (bio stimulant)

·        1 litre of insecticide (sharp shooter)

·        2 bags of NPK and 1 bag of Urea (farmers are to pay 50% of the cost while FGN will pay 50%).

·        12 bags of cotton harvest sacks to be distributed in September during the harvest season.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

§    Provided funding the production of breeder and foundation seed throught The Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria turned over to National Agricultural Seed Councils (NASC) a total of 3.95tons of Breeder and 4.334tons of Foundation Seeds for multiplication by WACOT and Arewa cotton in 2015.

§    Provided a grant of N 4.5 Million to National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) towards Bt cotton development in Nigeria.

§    Distributed 340,000 Units of Cotton Harvest bags 28, 264 farmers to cotton farmers free of charge to address problems of cotton contamination.

§   Distributed 2, 385.38 metric tonnes of chemically dressed certified cotton seed to 110,370 farmers under the Growth Enhancement Support in 2014.

§   Country representation (3No) in the Regional Training Progamme on Entrepreneurship Development Programme by FMARD, FMITI and NTMA organized under the cotton Technical Assistance Programme by India Government in Gujurat India in November 2014.

§   22 Ginneries presently participating in national program to re-position and revitalize the cotton/textile industry in Nigeria are as tabulated below:

S/N		GINNERY	LOCATION
1	WEST AFRICAN COTTON COMPANY (WACOT) GINNERY		Katsina & Gombe states
2	DANGOTE GINNERY		Katsina state
3		BETO GINNERY	Katsina state
4		FUNTUA TEXTILE GINNERY	Katsina state
5		COTTON GINNING COMPANY GINNERY	Katsina state
6		SUNAGRO GINNERY	Zamfara state
7		ABJ GINNERY	Zamfara state
8		INTA GINNERY	Zamfara state
9		MALLAHA GINNERY	Zamfara state
10		DANMAIKYAU GINNERY	Zamfara state
11		MAIYANCHI GINNERY	Zamfara state
12		GAPP GINNERY	Zamfara state
13		NIIMA GINNERY	Zamfara state
14		AAD GINNERY	Zamfara state
15		RIKIJI GINNERY	Zamfara state
16		COTTON AND AGRICULTURAL PROCESSORS	Kaduna state
17		AREWA COTTON GINNERY	Niger and Adamawa states
18		SOUTHWEST NACOTAN GINNERY	Ogun stae
19		DALA GINNERY	Kano state
20		WHITE GOLD GINNERY	Kano State
21		MAKAMA GINNERY	Kano state
22		ABBASCO GINNERY	Kebbi state

WAY FORWARD: To enhance private sector participation and increase Cotton production in Nigeria the Value chain intends to future impact the sector through the following:-

(i)                Finance pure cotton seed multiplication and seed cotton production system nationwide through existing ginneries using the Integrated Cotton Contract Farming (ICCF) approach to enhance productivity and competiveness of local lint as well as evolve a pragmatic/ sustainable seed buyback mechanism under PPP arrangements.

(ii)             Timely distribution of inputs under GES.

(iii)           Capacity building of key institutions (IAR/ABU, National Biotechnology Development Agency-NABDA) and all project operatives on cotton/textile/garment value chain players on modern technologies. High Volume Instruments (HVI) facilities be encouraged to be acquired for quality control/assurance measures probably under PPP arrangement in key producing states;

(iv)            Deliberate sanitization of the quality assurance system vis-à-vis the cotton contamination project through provision of cotton/hessian cloths to be anchored through the ginners;

(v)               Promote cotton lint export vis-à-vis improved seed cotton/lint pricing through raising of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) on cotton lint from 5 to 30%;

(vi)            Investment on roller gin establishment for long staple cotton in the South West zone through Public-Private Partnership;

(vii)          Fully operationalize the N100billion CTG Development Scheme anchored by the Bank of Industry along the value chain activities; and

(viii)       Adoption of new technologies including Bt (biotech cotton) and Organic cotton production. The Biosafety law is now in place to commence Bt cotton on Confined Field Trial in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders