• Cotton is one of the crops that incorporated in the FISP program.
• The Board in collaboration with government has put up initiatives aimed at supporting Cotton farmers.
• The country has a ginning capacity of almost close to 400, 000 metric tonnes.

Cotton Board of Zambia says there is still room to increase cotton production in the country so as to meet the ginning capacity of 400, 000 metric tonnes.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Board Senior Cotton Inspector Nyambe Kwalombota said it is in this vain that the Board in collaboration with government has put up initiatives aimed at supporting Cotton farmers in the country.
Mr. Kwalombota stated that there are measures that the board is putting in place to ensure that the sector grows because the country has a ginning capacity of almost close to 400, 000 metric tonnes but farmers are currently producing 60, 000 tons of cotton.
He disclosed that apart from working with government, some committees have been set up in districts especially in the major cotton production areas, to make sure that sector grows to expected levels.
“As a board, through the District Agriculture Coordinators (DACOs) and Provincial Agricultural Coordinators (PACOS), we have put up initiatives aimed at supporting Cotton farmers in the country. We even have committees that are set up in districts more especially in the major cotton production areas, to make sure that cotton is brought where it is supposed to be.”
“And there are certain measures that we are putting in place to make sure that the sector grows to where it is supposed to be because we have a ginning capacity of almost close to 400, 000 metric tonnes but now we are talking of maybe a crop of 60, 000 tonnes. So we have a lot of room to increase cotton production in order to meet the capacity that we have in the country,” Mr. Kwalombota said.
He however observed that government is making notable strides towards contributing to the growth of the cotton sector as cotton is one of the crops that have been incorporated in the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP).
“In the FISP program, cotton was one of the crops that were incorporated to just try and make sure that we rotate the crops so that soil fertility is maintained,” he noted.
This year’s cotton production is projected to increase to 60, 000 metric tonnes compared with 54, 000 metric tons recorded in the 2019/2020 agriculture season.