The sharp decease in the contribution of Cotton Textile and Garment (CTG) sector to national economy has been faulted by stakeholders describing the trend as dangerous.
The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Industry, Abubakar Husaini Moriki, who spoke at the 16th African Cotton association (ACA) held in Abuja, said that recent indicator showed that the contribution of the cotton industry sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had fallen from about 25 per cent in 1980 to about five per cent in recent time. .
Moriki attributed the decline to factors such as lack of mechanisation of the process, inconsistent government policies and absence of improved cotton seed among others.He called on the Federal Government to invest in cotton production and provide the enabling environment and improve the process of production through mechanisation as a panacea to boosting production in Nigeria, cum Africa.
Moriki said to develop the CTG, the National Assembly introduced a Bill last year, adding: “the Bill had gone through the first and second readings and awaiting it’s third reading.”
Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh, put Nigeria’s current cotton production output at 112,000 metric tons, far below 180,000 MT produced in 2014.Ogbeh stated that Nigeria is now among the seven African countries granted the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme by India.
