BY FRANCIS KADIRI
The cotton industry in Nigeria has the potential to turn around the Nigerian economy by creating a large number of jobs and serving as a means of foreign exchange. However, ignorance on the part of the unemployed population as well as the inability of relevant stakeholders to key into the potential of the industry has led to underutilization of the industry together with its value chain.
Apart from large scale job losses, the economic downturn of the largely under-patronised industry poses serious challenges to growth and stability of the country’s textile industry, especially that it has given rise to the smuggling of foreign textiles into Nigeria at the expense of under-developing the domestic textiles industry.
The Point, in an exclusive interview with Olorunshola Osasona, Executive Director, Belart Cotton Africa, a Non-Governmental Organization working with stakeholders to restore the cotton, textiles and garment sector, said that “the opportunities that abound in Nigerian Cotton industry is robust as it has room for both direct and indirect jobs.”
Discussing how it can create jobs along the industry value chain, Osasona explained that “the opportunities cut across all the strata of the pyramid from top to bottom,” stating that from primary production, the sector has opportunities for farmers.
“Belart Cotton Africa owns an extensive cotton farm in Abeokuta, but as farm owners, we cannot do the work alone, we need labourers,” he said, adding that for every hectare of cotton farmland, there is a need to employ 10 to 15 laborers featuring at different times from planting to harvest.
He said after harvest, the farmer engages transporters to move the produce from the field to storage facilities thereby creating jobs for logistics companies that will haul the produce to the ginneries where the seeds are removed from the cotton lot.
The Executive Director, who explained that an average trailer takes between 12 and 14 tonnes of cotton, said many people are involved in loading the produce, stating that jobs are also created during input supply and haulage.
Explaining how the value chain creates multiple jobs, he said, “At the production level, jobs are created for young people who work as extension officers, but a lot more jobs opportunities abound along the value chain,” stating that the ginning, spinning, oil mill, textiles, and fashion design are stages in the industry value chain where jobs continue to be created, provided that the country has a friendly business environment.
Discussing some of the challenges of the industry, he listed difficulty in accessing capital, shortage of electric power and spare parts for industrial machines as some of the challenges, noting that globalization of marketing of textile goods, smuggling of textile goods and unfavorable economic policies militate against goals of the industry.
He insisted that there was room for improvement of the Nigerian textile industry through improved techniques of cotton production, exploration of international markets, re-introduction of measures to regulate the importation of foreign textile goods, investment in long term ventures backed up by scientific innovation, government trust funds and grants to encourage Nigerians to diversify their investment into the textile and allied industry.
“He expressed optimism that the Nigerian textile industry has the potential to contribute profitably to human capacity development, revenue generation (through exports) while sustaining the national economy
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He expressed optimism that the Nigerian textile industry has the potential to contribute profitably to human capacity development, revenue generation (through exports) while sustaining the national economy.
According to the Executive Director, “PART is our mandate at Belart Cotton, PART is both a philosophy and an acronym for Production, Advocacy, Research, and Training,” stating that the organization has a part to play in the CTG story by working with stakeholders who also have a part to play.
He said in the days ahead, Belart Cotton hopes to serve as a bridge between policy and implementation, geared towards maximization of the productivity of the sector.
“Through the PART initiative, we see a lot of small-scale farmers who constitute over 90 percent of the production base maximize profit, stay healthy, and motivated, as production is the foundation of the sector,” he said.
He called on the unemployed to take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the sector, saying, “A lot of young people are busy complaining about unemployment while blaming the government for not providing jobs. When we have the opportunity to engage such youths, we educate them about the positive body language of the government and favourable disposition to cotton in the face of the dwindling oil regime.
“Some are aware of the opportunities in cotton production and government’s support and they just jump into the flow that they want to do cotton farming. No, it does not work that way. The fact that there are opportunities in a sector does not mean I should just jump in a sector, say the health sector now and set up a hospital.
“To key into that value chain, I must be aware of what it entails to be a doctor and then get trained to harness such opportunity. So, if one must be trained to be a medical doctor why should anyone just jump into cotton farming without being trained? It doesn’t work that way.
“For these reasons, Belart Cotton Africa seeks to provide a platform for advocacy and training. We also hope to work to train young people that will serve as extension agents as well to fill the extension gaps.”
He said the organization is working with cotton farmers to provide enterprise development competencies that will make them depart from the traditional experience of agribusiness to become agribusiness men.
“To achieve this, we hope to organize financial literacy seminars and empowerment for small-scale farmers where issues of record-keeping, delayed gratification, savings, and budgeting will be discussed.”
“While he emphasized that “funding remains one of the greatest challenges of entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” he noted that “within the context of the CTG, the first thing is not funding,” noting that prospective cotton farmers must identify the aspect of the value chain they desire to get involved with
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While he emphasized that “funding remains one of the greatest challenges of entrepreneurs in Nigeria,” he noted that “within the context of the CTG, the first thing is not funding,” noting that prospective cotton farmers must identify the aspect of the value chain they desire to get involved with.
“The next step is to acquire as much information as you can, then get trained, then you can begin to scout for funding,” he added.
The Executive Director, who hinted that there are various funding opportunities available for cotton production, said the most popular is the Anchor Borrowers Programme, stating that the government has also released funding for businesses through other schemes like the AGMESIS.
“All of these are there. But if you don’t know, you can continue to blame the government that funds are not being made available,” he said.
“However, I have always advised young people against borrowing money from the bank to venture into a business that you have not mastered,” he said, adding that a startup in cotton production does not require as much as ten hectares.
“As a matter of fact, you can collaborate, you can hook up with like minded groups of 5 to 10, pull resources together, even if it is one or two hectares, it will help new entrants to understand the business, and you can grow it strategically,” he added.
While saying that Belart Cotton Africa is interested in cotton exportation, he explained that it is not only to export the raw cotton.
“That is why we are adopting this approach to help as many people who are aware of the potential of cotton such that we have sufficient quantities that will pass through all the stages in the value chain from field to garment, from lint to clothing, cotton bud and cotton wool among others. We also seek sufficiency in the other aspects of the value chain such as from seed to oil, to soap, to currency”.
