Ugandan Government Urges Scaled-Up Cotton Industry
September 30, 2009 According to a report in the Daily Monitor of Uganda, the Ugandan government is renewing its support for the development of the country’s textile industry.
At a September 24 event at the refurbished Textile Development Agency (TDA) in Kampala, Rev. Simon Lokodo, minister of state for industry and technology, and Gagawala Wambuzi, minister of state for trade, agreed that the country’s textile industry must grow. It has the potential to create numerous job opportunities for Ugandans as well as satisfy the domestic apparel demand, they said.
From the 1950s to 1970s, cotton was Uganda’s second-leading cash crop after coffee. At times, cotton accounted for up to one-quarter of the country’s foreign exchange. Today, with production in decline, cotton exports make up less than 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Wambuzi notes that there has been an increasing demand for Ugandan products, yet the country has little to sell to the world market.
Lokodo and Wambuzi said that scaling up production in the cotton sub-industry would support the development of the textile sector. “This is an opportunity that should not go to waste,” Lokodo said.
Uganda’s cotton industry does face challenges, including low market prices and high production costs as well as climatic changes in the region. In addition, the state-financed Apparel Tri-Star plant in Bugolobi, which was built to provide a stable market for the country’s five million cotton farmers, closed in 2006 due to mismanagement.
The refurbished TDA in Kampala is a sign of hope for the industry and all Ugandan entrepreneurs who want to manufacture high-quality, hand-woven fabrics and garments, the ministers said. The TDA offers training in handloom weaving, dyeing, printing, surface design and basic design, garment construction, new product development and business management skills.
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