Nigeria: Cotton Improvement Plan Underway
1 October 2007 Central to the program is a plan to provide credit to cotton farmers, textile manufacturers, and ginners at an 8% interest rate, which is well below commercial bank rates. The immediate aim is to double cotton production in the near term. In addition to boosting quantity, the project aims to ensure that Nigeria produces high-quality cotton lint and other textile products.
The CDC aims to:
- Support cotton research to produce new high-yielding varieties with a minimum of 40% ginning outturn.
- Support cotton farmers to improve yield and earnings.
- Promote premium quality cotton by reintroducing cotton grading and lint quality control and assurance measures.
The government continues to implement import bans on several textile products introduced since January 2004. Despite this measure, Nigeria’s textile industry is struggling to cope with imports of ‘illegal’ Asian products and reduced consumer demand. Textile products often enter Nigeria in an undocumented fashion and are sold to consumers at prices which reflect the avoidance of import duty payment. Industry sources report that several textile companies have closed operations, with the number declining from a peak of 175 in the mid-1990s to only about 35 today. Employment in the sector is down from 137,000 to just 25,000.
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