Wilson Odhiambo/IPS
NAIROBI, Apr 19 (IPS) – Kirinyaga College could have simply breathed new life into Kenya’s ailing cotton trade as varsity dons develop a transportable cotton ginnery.
For an trade that has been struggling to outlive, this information got here as a reduction to cotton farmers, whose lives the invention is anticipated to alter, and to a authorities pushing for job creation and self-reliance via manufacturing.
The challenge, funded by the federal government via the Nationwide Analysis Fund (NRF), is a transportable cotton ginning machine aimed toward addressing the issues confronted by farmers, by offering them with a way to course of their cotton instantly on their farms and therefore decide their very own market costs.
The invention is the brainchild of 4 professors from Kirinyaga College: Dennis Muchangi, Grace Kiiru, David Kabata, and Agnes Mutiso.
The cotton processing trade has been struggling to get better for many years since its collapse within the Nineties, regardless of Kenya boasting of being a pioneer cotton miller and having the most important cotton gin in East Africa, Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI).
The well-known KICOMI, positioned in Nyanza province, has been a centre of controversy since its sudden shutdown within the Nineties. The mill, began in 1964, supplied jobs for hundreds of individuals because it was strategically positioned within the nation’s largest cotton manufacturing area (served the western and Nyanza areas).
The results of this closure was a collapse within the nation’s largest cotton manufacturing area because the farmers ultimately opted for different technique of survival. At present, the mill stays a shell of its former glory, regardless of repeated makes an attempt by the federal government to revive it.
‘’From our analysis, we came upon that the remaining cotton ginneries within the nation have been struggling to remain open as a result of excessive price of sustaining the ginneries, and those that have been in operation have been inaccessible by most cotton farmers throughout the nation,’’ stated Dennis Muchangi, challenge group chief.
‘’The closure of ginneries pressured the remaining cotton farmers to depend on middlemen to discover a marketplace for their merchandise, which meant exploitation and eventual lack of morale in cotton farming for many of them. At present, they’re pressured to promote a kilo of grade 2 cotton at Ksh. 26, whereas grade 1 goes for Ksh. 52,’’ Muchangi advised IPS.
Kirinyaga College’s invention has introduced hope to cotton farmers, most of whom had ventured into different sources of earnings.
In keeping with the lecturers, their invention will assist the federal government enhance the textile manufacturing trade whereas additionally creating blue-collar jobs similar to artisans and mechanics, because the machine is simple to make with domestically out there materials and the designs for its manufacture will probably be made open to the general public.
‘’The transportable ginnery is sort of a easy machine with designs which might be straightforward to grasp for any native mechanic,’’ stated Muchangi. Which means that they are often in-built any location.
The mini ginnery is a far cry from the big trade ginneries, as it’s made out of easy scrap steel and different supplies that may be discovered domestically and assembled in any work store.
‘’One other downside we famous among the many out there ginneries was upkeep delays, which led to loads of stalling and shut downs. The large ginnery machines are costly to keep up and too advanced for native mechanics, which meant having to attend for months to get knowledgeable engineers from Nairobi to come back and repair them. This was unhealthy for the farmers and the cotton trade,’’ Muchangi defined.
‘’With our machines, farmers will not have to attend for specialists they usually can as an alternative name any domestically out there mechanic.’’
Muchangi added that whereas the federal government is anticipating to spend billions to revamp the stalled ginneries, their miniature machine requires lower than Ksh. 100,000 (about USD 724) to construct and even much less to keep up.
Grace Kiiru, a challenge member, defined that the machine can also be straightforward to make use of and, as soon as taught, could be operated by anybody, each women and men. This, she stated, will assist empower ladies and the youth.
‘’Whereas the bigger ginneries require specialists to function, our machine is sort of straightforward to study and use and could be operated by anybody as soon as they get the essential data. Which means that they are often operated all through, thus boosting cotton manufacturing,’’ Kiiru advised IPS.
The ginnery has additionally been designed to have the ability to accommodate farmers who dwell in areas with restricted or no entry to electrical energy.
‘’Given that almost all farmers are present in rural areas, characterised by restricted or lack of electrical energy, we’ve got made our machine in such a manner that it may be operated manually or could be fitted with a petrol-powered generator for many who can afford it. We’re additionally engaged on enabling it to run utilizing photo voltaic power,’’ Kiiru stated.
The ginnery is sufficiently small to be transported on a bike, making it accessible even in rural areas the place motorized vehicle transport could also be an issue.
In keeping with Kiiru, the machine has the flexibility to course of as much as 500 kg of cotton in a single day, which is able to make it fairly worthwhile to farmers who can promote their merchandise on to the textile factories.
‘’Our intention is to assist farmers decide their very own costs by chopping out the intermediary. By processing their very own cotton, farmers will have the ability to promote their product for as a lot as Ksh. 200 (USD 1.51 per kilo up from the Ksh 25 (about USD 0.19) per kilo that they’re at present being pressured to simply accept,’’ she defined.
Kenya at present depends on cotton imports to complement its textile trade, a indisputable fact that Saada Mangi laments has made the price of some material excessive.
‘’Most clothes designers like myself import material from India as a result of excessive price and typically lack of fabric of the identical high quality domestically. We’re pressured to promote our completed garments at excessive costs, which means we’ve got to focus on sure shoppers who can afford them,’’ Mangi stated.
‘’It’s unhappy to see folks choose imported garments and supplies as a result of they’re extra reasonably priced in comparison with what we make domestically. That is a part of what kills our tradition as a rustic,’’ Mangi stated.
‘’Rivatex Textiles, Kenya’s largest textile manufacturing facility, has needed to depend on cotton imports from international locations like Egypt to maintain its calls for. Our machines will give farmers within the western and Nyanza areas a motive to renew cotton farming, which suggests no extra importation and therefore lowered costs on textile merchandise,’’ Muchangi concluded.
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