The Cotton Association of Zambia – CAZ says there is need for Zambia to revamp the spinning mills and companies that existed previously on the Copperbelt, Central and other parts of Zambia to support the resurgence of adequate local supply of yarn.
This would enable the local cotton farmers to be sustained in their production of cotton and lead to value chain development in production and manufacture of various fabrics, said CAZ Board Chairperson Christopher Mweetwa. Zambia is currently spending huge sums of forex in importing even simple clothing and apparels that can be made locally.
Mweetwa was speaking during the training of cotton farmers in business networking and market penetration under the Regional Integration Capacity Building (RICB) project under phase II. He said that revamping the spinning companies would enable the sector to grow and create more local jobs.
“The challenge of shortage of yarn supply by farmers has been affecting the sector so much, what needs to be done is to revamp the spinning companies that existed previously especially those on the Copperbelt and support these with relevant legislation regarding fabric and clothing imports,” Mweetwa said.
CAZ national coordinator Joseph Nkole said the RICB project was targeting to support about 12,000 farmers in Mumbwa District and so far over 9,000 have benefited.
He said since the coming of the Mumbwa Farmers Ginning and Pressing Company Limited (MFGPCO), the sector has recorded unprecedented increase in production of cotton since farmers are being encouraged to produce cotton due to the favorable prices the company was offering for the cotton.
“Mumbwa has close to 55,000 farmers and this programme is targeting 12,000 cotton farmers. Since the lunch of the program in 2014, we have trained men and women who are now proficient spinners and weavers,” he said.
And ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Kayula Siame said there is need to build and strengthen the cotton value chain to move from cotton to fabric. Siame said Government was committed to finding ways and means to support the growth of the cotton value chain through various partnerships with other stakeholders.
She said farmers should work hard to ensure that they produce quality products and also consider cotton farming as a business to be able to make more money to sustain themselves and their families.
Siame further called on CAZ to help the farmers to register their businesses so that they could be recognised in the country. “There is ready market for your products but what you need to do is to make sure that you produce quality products that will be able to meet international standards, we want to see you grow as a government that’s why we are implementing this project.” Siame said.
