Illovo Sugar (Malawi) plc says it has expanded its cotton-growing venture to 700 hectares (ha) and projects to earn $600 000 (about K1 billion) from the cash crop. The company’s managing director Ronald Ngwira said in an interview on Friday that the Malawi Stock Exchange-listed sugar manufacturer has increased production to boost foreign exchange earnings from the crop. He said: “We have gone from 300 hectares to 500 hectares last year and this year we are doing 700 hectares.
“Our cotton production is aimed at working with communities surrounding the estates while also exploring opportunities to generate foreign exchange to support our sugar business.” Ngwira said the firm is looking at opportunities in the Shire Valley and exploring ways to boost foreign exchange earnings to keep the sugar business booming. This year, Malawi’s cotton output took a significant hit, dropping by 25 percent to 6 000 metric tonnes (MT) from 8 000MT last year, according to Cotton Council of Malawi data. Revenues were recorded at K7.8 billion, a rise from last year’s K5.9 billion, but way below the projected K30 billion.
Cotton Farmers Association of Malawi president Labson Zidana said in an interview on Friday that the season closed with one of the least outputs in September. “This was contrary to expectations because as farmers, we had the capacity to produce more,” he said. Cotton Councl of Malawi spokesperson Prisca Jamali attributed the drop in output to pests outbreak, drought and pesticides challenges. Since 2010 when cotton output reached 100 000MT, production has averaged 10 000MT for the past decade and last year recorded at 6 000MT, which translated to $3 million (about K5.9 billion) in terms of revenue.
