Cotton Garment Industry’s Low Contribution to GDP Confounds Stakeholders

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The sharp decline in the contribution of Cotton Textile and Garment (CTG) sector to Nigerian economy has been highlighted by stakeholders 16th African Cotton Association (ACA) international conference in Abuja.

The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Industry, Hon Abubakar Husaini Moriki, said thursday that recent indicators showed that the contribution of the cotton industry sector to the GDP had fallen from about 25 per cent in 1980 to about five per cent in recent times.

Moriki attributed the retrogression to factors key of which were lack of mechanisation of the process, inconsistent government policies and absence of improved cotton seed.

He called on the federal government to invest in cotton production and provide not only the environment but improve the process of production through mechanisation as a panacea to boosting production in Nigeria and Africa.
Moriki said in order to develop the CTG, the National Assembly introduced a bill last year, adding that it had gone through the first and second readings and was awaiting its third reading.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, put Nigeria’s current cotton production output at 112,000 metric tonnes, far below the 180,000 MT produced in 2014.

Ogbeh said Nigeria was among the seven African countries granted the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme by India.

The package benefited operators in the cotton sector to build capacity while India also donated farming equipment like solar powered knapsack sprayer, solar powered handpicker and Bullock drawn vertical rotor planter to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

India and Asian countries produce 60 per cent of global cotton output, while Africa produces only about 16 per cent in spite of its huge production potential.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, who declared the congress open, said there was now an urgency to revive the moribund textile industry through increased investments.
Abubakar said Africa’s quest for industrialisation can actualised if the cotton producing countries stop to export raw cotton with little or no value addition.

“Our main challenge is therefore how to grow and process our cotton to sustain this quest. The continued export of cotton lint by African producers is unsustainable in view of global instability in the prices of cotton. We must leverage our potential and develop our capacities through strengthening the sector and providing producers the support to enhance competitiveness and technology,” Abubakar said.

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