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Govt seeks strategic partner for cotton sector

Govt seeks strategic partner for cotton sector

Write: Tapesh [2011-05-20]
With a view to provide required inputs to Swazi farmers to cultivate cotton to be sold to a cotton ginnery, the government of Swaziland is seeking a strategic financial and technical partner to invest alongside Swazi farmers.
The prospective partner is also expected to provide working capital to purchase cotton from local farmers, along with offering technical assistance to the ginnery and will make efforts to improve production of cotton.
To process cotton for domestic farmers, who provide their produce to local as well as export markets, a ginnery has been acquired by the government. This ginnery is running and requires a financial and technical partner to invest alongside Swazi farmers.
It aims at providing inputs to the domestic textile industry along with offering a market to the local cotton growers. Hence, it is considered as a gateway for cotton farmers in the region.
To reduce cotton imports for textile companies in the country, increase cotton production to fulfill domestic requirements through strong technical partners and improve export market of the country, and moreover, to grow earnings of cotton growers, are the key objectives of this project.
Entry of textile companies in the country has escalated the demand for cotton in domestic market. A strategy for the cotton industry was developed by the Swaziland Cotton Board, which proved helpful to augment cotton production by over 200 percent.