The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) in a collaboration expected to build credible data in the cotton sector that would drive investment and increased output.
The pact would enable adequate, reliable data to help inform decision making and investment in that sector which has over the years suffered low output, the Statistician General of the Federation, Simon Harry said.
The collaboration would also help the government monitor development in the sector and impact of different interventions, such as the CBN through its Anchor Borrower Program, as well as the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
An important export crop for Sub-Saharan Africa, cotton currently accounts for 15percent of global exports – with West Africa accounting for almost 75percent of the region’s production and shipments.
In 2019, the CBN launched an initiative to revive the textile sector, setting up a committee that would ensure the resuscitation of at least 50 textile firms by the end of 2023.
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Part of that initiative was also to facilitate the production of 200,000 hectares of cotton fields by 2020 and maintain an annual increase of 100,000 hectares over the next three years.
Despite several interventions and huge potential, cotton production in Nigeria remains remarkably low compared to other African countries like Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, which have seen increased output due to area expansion and government support.
The Statistician General said there was therefore the need to collect data that would help unravel Nigeria’s slow progress and chart a way forward.
“Unfortunately, data to measure the impact of all these interventions are in most cases not available, and where available are not adequate or not up to date. Accessing them in most cases is also very difficult because of the way they are kept,” he stated at the brief signing event.
He added that “robust and reliable statistical information are needed not only to accurately quantify and communicate the impact of various public policies and programmatic interventions, but also to enable the government to measure the impact, and even provide more interventions where necessary.”
Harry said the collaboration would specifically help in generating necessary statistics on harvested area, production, consumption, trade and stocks and yields that are generally estimated by dividing production by harvested area, among others.
Anibe Achimugu, President of National Cotton Association of Nigeria confirmed that about 23 ginnery companies are active in the country, and commended renewed government interest in the cotton, textile and garment sector. He also raised optimism of a better output if the interventions are sustained.
“I strongly believe that if we sustain this intervention by the CBN, Nigeria can overtake Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Cameroon and produce upwards of one million metric tons of seed cotton within five years.
He, however, said the level of insecurity particularly in the North has affected output and been a source of concern.
“The industry is not growing as we anticipate on the back of insecurity in the North which has affected cotton production very much.
“It is difficult to quantify how much we have lost, but we have situations whereby farmers who had already planted could not go back to harvest their produce.
“But with this sort of collaboration with the NBS, we will be able ascertain the amount of losses that has come out of this insecurity and the need to ensure security returns to cotton farms.
He, however, said that the farmers have been able to expand cotton production beyond the North to the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, and about 33 states in the country.
“But as you know, it is work in progress, we need to encourage farmers to come back and the way you do that is to ensure that you are giving the right input, seed particularly, so that when they produce and see good yield and then you give them a good market.”
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