The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) has unveiled a new cotton seed milling machine at Luanda Cotton Ginnery in Samia Sub-county, Busia, in a strategic move aimed at promoting value addition and revitalizing cotton farming in the region.
The machine, which cost KSh500,000, is designed to process cotton seeds into oil and seed cake, creating new revenue streams for farmers and enhancing profitability within the cotton value chain.
Speaking during the launch at Muluanda Cotton Ginnery on Monday, AFA Director General Dr. Bruno Linyiru said the installation of the machine is expected to raise the price of seed cotton due to the diversified products that will now be derived from it.
“The increase in value addition activities will enhance the farm gate price of seed cotton by an estimated 8 to 11 per cent. This is because there will be three products derived from the processing of seed cotton: lint, oil, and seed cake. The products will be sold to textile mills, animal feed manufacturers, and paint industries, respectively,” Dr. Linyiru stated.
He noted that the equipment has been locally manufactured and is also capable of milling other oil crops.
“We are working with local institutions, which have worked on this machine, meaning the spare parts will be available locally. This machine can also be used to mill sunflower and other oil crops,” he added.
Dr. Linyiru emphasized that the authority is committed to reducing the country’s dependence on imports of lint and seed cake, highlighting plans to significantly increase local cotton production.
“The target is to increase area under cotton production and productivity from 40,000 acres and 153 kg/acre (in 2024) to 160,000 acres and 900 kg/acre, respectively, by 2027,” he said.
He further pointed out that the government continues to support the cotton sector with quality inputs, particularly seeds and pesticides. In 2025, the government supplied 1,000 metric tonnes (MT) of Open Pollinated Varieties (OPV) and Bt cotton seeds for both long and short rain seasons. Of this, Busia County received 125 MT of OPV seeds and 750 kg of Bt seeds.
Dr. Linyiru also assured residents that the government is committed to modernizing cotton processing infrastructure.
“The government is going to ensure it replaces the old equipment with the new ones for ginning to ensure the industry is fully revived,” he said, adding that this support would also include access to the right pesticides and high-yield seed varieties.
The machine, which has a milling capacity of 80 kg per hour, will be piloted at the Muluanda ginnery.
Funyula Member of Parliament Wilberforce Mudenyo, who was also present, urged residents to embrace cotton farming to ensure adequate raw material supply for the revived ginnery.
“Cotton production in Busia County is generally low compared to the machines that we have. Many farmers in the county are old people, but we need to bring young people to cotton farming so that this farming can be fully revived and survive. There are jobs, profit, and business in cotton farming, that’s why I am urging our youth to come out and start farming,” Mudenyo said.
He also encouraged diversification within the textile value chain by exploring additional raw materials beyond cotton.
“Let’s also look at the textile value chain. Let’s look at other raw materials for the textile industries, including silk and sisal, so that we can diversify other than depending on cotton farming alone,” he added.
Busia County Chief Officer for Agriculture Elijah Mwaro said that interest in cotton farming is growing across the region. “We did farmer profiling in the county, and we found 142,000 households are doing farming, making 85% of Busia County land to be arable.”
