Gov Radda Meets with Cotton Producing Stakeholders to Discuss Revival of Cotton Textile Garment (CTG), in Katsina State
Ibrahim Kalla
Governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda today met with representatives of the UK funded CASA-TAF program, Katsina Ginneries Association, Cotton Producers and Merchants Association of Nigeria (COPMAN), and the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) to discuss the revival of the CTG sector in Katsina State.
Representatives of the UK funded CASA-TAF program updated the Governor on the one-day workshop that took place a day before where a draft MoU for the Cotton Public – Private Partnership was produced. The upcoming ceremonious signing of the MoU will kickstart the pilot project across selected cotton growing Local Government Areas in the State which will subsequently be scaled up once its commercial viability is established. Stakeholders in the Katsina Cotton revival model will include the Ginners Association, COPMAN, NACOTAN, NABG, and 5 major Ginneries in Katsina State namely; Dangote, WACOT, CGC, Funtua Textiles and Sunflag.
In the meeting, the representatives of the Cotton producers lamented on how in the past few years, investment in the cotton production has dropped dramatically and initiatives to restart the partnership between farmers and ginneries have failed, due to lack of coordination, unstructured operational framework and weak enforcement.
Governor Radda reiterated His Administration’s commitment towards prioritizing the agriculture sector and ensuring the timely takeoff of the cotton pilot project with the sole aim of reviving cotton production in Katsina State. He further committed to making sure the State Government provides extension services, seeds for the farmers, and an enabling environment to create jobs across the cotton value chain.
An MoU signing will subsequently take place to flag off the pilot project with a roadmap developed to ensure the revival of the cotton sector in the state.
