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…as 22,500 farmers abandon cotton production in Kano
Nigeria is missing out in the Global Cotton Market which presently worth over $38 billion, despite having the comparative advantage to grow the commodity in 34 out of the 36 States of the Federation, experts have said.
Apart from losing out from the foreign income earning opportunity that the cultivation of the crop, Nigeria has continued to spend billions of dollars importing textile products into country in the recent times.
Data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that Nigeria’s imports of textile products had risen astronomically by 297.8% within the last five years, scaling up from the N182 .53 billion it spent in 2020, to about N726.18 billion in 2024, in bringing the products into the Country.
A recent study entitled “Cotton Sector Strategies in West and Central Africa”, conducted by a team of experts including, Ousmane Badiane, Louis M. Goreux, Dhaneshwar Ghura, and Paul R. Masson, indicates that Nigeria has comparative advantage for a thriving cotton industry in Northern Nigeria.
Developing the sector is believed, can largely contribute to the re-positioning of economic development, as well as create a pool of employment for the army of unemployed youths in the region.
The core States where cotton is majorly cultivated in Northern Nigeria are said to be Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, and Kaduna. The commodity is also said to be commonly grown in almost all the States in the North-Central of the area of the region
The experts noted that major constraints preventing Nigeria, from maximising the comparative advantage it has in growing cotton, ranges from poor and uncoordinated government policy, climatic change, lack of access to modern farming techniques, insecurity and influx of cheaper cotton imports from outside the Country.
The negative attitude of the previous, and present administrations in the Country to the development of the sector, was also identified to be responsible for the Country missing out of the huge revenue earning opportunity which the global market offers.
In addition to missing out of the revenue opportunity, Nigeria is said to have continued to miss out of the huge job opportunity that developing the sector could offer to the army of unemployed citizens along the cotton value chain.
The submission of the experts is coming against the backdrop of a recent report gathered from the Kano State Ministry of Agriculture, indicating that over 22,500 cotton farmers in the State have recently, abandoned their farms, as a result of the increasing difficulty in growing the crop.
One of the consequences of increasing lack of interest by farmers in Nigeria in cultivating the commodity, is said to be closure of the hundreds of ginneries in many States in Northern Nigeria, and the attendant loss of jobs.
However, in what seems to be an attempt by the President Bola Tinubu’s Administration to reposition cotton production in Nigeria’s economy and tackle insecurity at its roots, the National Economic Council (NEC) has approved the establishment of a Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board.
The move to re-position cotton production, under the new strategies for agribusiness expansion and livestock transformation is projected to generate up to $90 billion in economic value by 2035.
NEC chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, with Governors of the 36 States of the federation, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Minister of Finance, and other co-opted Government officials as members, approved the proposal for the establishment of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board.
As the regulatory body for the cotton, textile and garment sector of Nigeria, the Board will have governors representing the six geo-political zones, with Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Budget and Economic Planning, and Industry, Trade and Investment as members.
The Board, when set up, will be domiciled in the Presidency, private sector-driven, with representation of the relevant public sector stakeholders, and funded from the Textile Import Levy being collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
