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Cotton handling needs great care
2005-10-07 06:56:11
By Editor
Tanzania lost 12bn/- in foreign currency for exporting adulterated cotton last year.
This uncalled-for action placed out country in 12th position among 30 nations that exported dirty cotton last year.
The Director General of the Tanzania Cotton Board, Dr Joe Kabisa, told a recent meeting of stakeholders in the cotton sector, held in Morogoro, that some cotton farmers in Tanzania mixed good cotton with dirty substances to increase the cotton’s weight when selling it.
He also said that sometimes the farmers sprinkled their cotton with water as another way to increase its weight.
Others packed it in plastic bags thus adulterating the lint. Often they failed to grade it properly.
The result was bad cotton that failed to meet international standards.
Sadly, the loss here is not only in foreign currency but also in face.
Being an important producer of cotton, Tanzania cannot afford to lose reputation in international markets.
We should not let any buyer, whether in the European Union, the United States of America any other country that buys our cotton, be in a position to suspect its quality.
This is the economic suicide.However, as Dr Kabisa indicated at the Morogoro workshop, the problems are known.
Dirty cotton should never be accepted at any source.
Lint, which is wet, mixed with plastic thread or any dirty items should be rejected without fear or favour.
Those who accept adulterated cotton at auctions make farmers believe that what they are doing is not wrong.
It is a good practice to carry cotton in cotton pieces of cloth rather than in plastic bags.
Once cotton that is adulterated with plastic threads is rejected and owners are told why the cotton is rejected, they will cease carrying out such a practice that embarrasses us at international markets.
Wet cotton should be rejected at auctions and farmers should be trained how to grade their cotton so that it meets international standards.
We support the call made by the Morogoro Regional Commissioner, Stephen Mashishanga, that farmers should produce quality cotton.
The Tanzania Cotton Board should also make sure that no dirty cotton leaves the borders of Tanzania to international markets.
If TCB did this, the demand for our cotton would rise, and we would not lose face in international markets. The time to act is now.
We should not be complacent about the quality of whatever we produce in our farms or make in our factory.
Our motto should always be quality in whatever we export.
Training of trainers in food process is now in vogue in Tanzania.
This is as it should be because the majority of Tanzanians, especially those living in rural areas, will benefit if small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs process food and cash crops.
However, what seems to be missing in these training-of-trainer seminars and workshops is the mention of how food processing is done, especially in rural areas, where there is no electricity.
We recommend here that institutions concerned with training trainers in food processing should also consider the application of renewable solar power.
All concerned should set in motion a demand for inexpensive solar-power food processors.
We recommend this because we know it can be done. Why not make Tanzania a country of users of renewable solar power that is a free gift from the everlasting sun?
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