Kenya's Ambitious Plan: Rebuilding Cotton Industry From Field To Fabric

In coastal Kenya, particularly in the small town of Mpeketoni in Lamu County, farmers are rekindling their relationship with cotton cultivation, signaling a promising revival for the nation's textile industry. This resurgence is being bolstered by the establishment of a new ginnery in Mpeketoni and the renewed connection with Thika Cloth Mills (TCM), one of Kenya's few remaining integrated textile manufacturers. The overarching goal is to create employment, fortify local manufacturing, lessen dependence on imported goods, and enable Kenya to derive greater value from its indigenous raw materials.

The cotton and textile sector has been identified as a strategic value chain under the government's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda and the Fourth Medium Term Plan (2023-2027). Furthermore, the Draft National Cotton, Textile and Apparel Policy of 2024 aims to significantly boost cotton production, enhance local value addition, increase employment opportunities, develop skills, and improve market access. Interviews conducted across the value chain suggest that these revival efforts are yielding tangible progress, slowly rebuilding a system that had deteriorated over several decades.

Kenya was once a formidable presence in the global cotton and textile arena. However, as articulated in the draft Cotton, Textile and Apparel (CTA) policy, the sector experienced a steep decline following trade liberalization and the influx of second-hand clothing. These factors collectively undermined local manufacturing capabilities and suppressed demand for domestically produced textiles. Dr. Concepta Sitati, a lecturer at Mount Kenya University who witnessed the heyday of cotton as a vital cash crop in western Kenya, recalls a more cohesive system where cotton was efficiently collected through cooperatives and channeled to processing industries. The subsequent closure of factories deprived farmers of reliable markets, leading to a cessation of cotton farming and initiating a downward spiral: fewer farmers meant less raw material for ginneries and mills, culminating in widespread factory closures, job losses, and a depletion of technical expertise.

The government's current strategy is designed to reverse this cycle by meticulously rebuilding the entire value chain, from cultivation to final fashion product. The CTA policy pinpoints several critical areas requiring synchronized intervention: production, ginning, manufacturing, employment, market access, sustainability, and innovation. Dominic Ngugi, Operations Manager of Thika Cloth Mills' Mpeketoni Ginnery, attests to the visible transformation occurring in the cotton fields. The ginnery collaborates with four cotton cooperatives in Lamu—Lake Kenyatta, Hindi, Witu, and Lamu Cotton—with Lake Kenyatta alone comprising over 7,000 farmers. Last season, the region yielded approximately 3.5 million kilograms of seed cotton, with an ambitious target set at 5 million kilograms.

This arrangement establishes a direct link between farmers and Thika Cloth Mills. Ngugi explains that TCM provides essential funding to the cooperatives, which then procure cotton from individual farmers. The ginnery subsequently processes the crop, separating the seed from the valuable lint, which is then transported to TCM for further manufacturing. This model is specifically engineered to re-establish a stable and dependable connection between agricultural producers and industrial processors. Nonetheless, challenges persist, as highlighted by Ngugi, including issues such as seed availability, pest management, prohibitive transport costs, and delays in cash flow. While the Ministry of Industry and the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) offer support with seeds and other inputs, the onus remains on farmers to consistently produce sufficient quantities of high-quality cotton, and on manufacturers to possess the capacity to absorb this increased output.

Joyce Njogu, Head of Consulting and Business Development at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), confirms that the revival efforts are indeed yielding positive outcomes. She notes a significant increase in cotton production, rising from approximately 1,300 tonnes in 2021 to an estimated 8,800 tonnes in 2025. However, this volume still falls considerably short of manufacturers' demands. Njogu estimates that Kenya's current cotton production stands at roughly 25,000 bales against an approximate demand of 200,000 bales, necessitating continued cotton imports from neighboring countries like Tanzania and Uganda. Official figures further underscore the underutilized manufacturing capacity within Kenya, with the 2024 draft CTA policy indicating that only 15 of the country's 52 textile mills were operational, functioning at about 45% capacity. Sitati further emphasizes the imperative to rebuild the specialized technical workforce that dissipated when numerous mills closed down.

AFA data provides a clearer picture of the raw material deficit faced by textile manufacturers. In 2024, Kenya produced 11,268 bales of cotton lint from 16,477 hectares, an improvement from 7,006 bales in 2023. This figure, however, was still substantially below AFA's estimated national demand of 48,000 bales, and even further from Njogu's higher estimate of 200,000 bales. AFA reported that seven ginneries were actively operating during that year.

At the core of this integrated revival strategy is Thika Cloth Mills (TCM). Tejal Dodhia, TCM's Managing Director, describes the company as a fully integrated textile manufacturer, overseeing the entire process from cotton spinning and weaving to fabric processing. The factory provides employment for approximately 650 individuals. James Njagi, who joined TCM in 2001 and now leads the spinning department, underscores the profound personal significance of the industry, stating,