Cotton growers appeal to govt

Tamale, Sept. 03, GNA - Members of Cotton Growers Association of Ghana (CGAG) have appealed to government to review its policy on the importation of lint cotton to protect the local cotton industry from total collapse.

They said with the waiving of tariffs on imported cotton, it was difficult to break even, with the high cost of inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, chemicals and other inputs.

Mr Mohammed Adam Nashiru, National Secretary of CGAG made the appeal at a day's forum and sensitisation workshop for cotton growers drawn from Tamale Metropolis, Saboba/Chereponi and Tolon/Kumbungu Districts in Tamale on Monday.

It was sponsored by Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC) on problems facing the cotton industry and growers to address them. Mr Nashiru said cotton served as a source of raw material for many small private sector industries in the Northern Region, such as smock weaving.

He noted that its decline had affected the aged and physically challenged who depended on it to earn a living by spinning cotton into fibre for smock weavers.

Mr Nashiru appealed to government to include cotton production in the Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) to save the industry from total collapse.

Mr Mohammed Kwaku Doku, Director of Centre for the Empowerment of the Vulnerable (CEV), said the BUSAC Fund was set up to assist businesses to identify and address bottlenecks that impeded their growth. 03 Sept. 07