‘Farmers contaminate Nigeria’s cotton’

Could this be the same Arewa Cotton that we used to know in those days? What are you into now? We recently rebranded. We are cotton ginners; we buy cotton from farmers and process for export. Our main focus at the moment is export simply because the Nigerian textile industries are operating at low capacity […]

Could this be the same Arewa Cotton that we used to know in those days? What are you into now?
We recently rebranded. We are cotton ginners; we buy cotton from farmers and process for export. Our main focus at the moment is export simply because the Nigerian textile industries are operating at low capacity at the moment. But as soon as that is revived, through the assistance of the government and the Bank of Industry, the textile industry, the cotton industry and ginners can benefit from the funds which will also help our company. Our company has three ginneries; one located in Guyuk, Adamawa State and we have two in Wawa, Niger State.
We also have a brand new 280 metric tons capacity ginnery that we have just imported. We hope that even before the start of the coming season, we would have it installed so that we can start using it for the season’s activities. As ginners, we are also directly farming cotton ourselves. Our idea was to locate central farms among our out grower farmers and with the spirit of passing the skills and the necessary agricultural best practices that we imbibed in our own organization to them, so that they can also reap the benefits of better yields from their cotton farming activities.
Most of the problems exporters of agricultural produce from Nigeria face have to do with quality. Foreign buyers always complain of low quality of our products emanating from the use of low yield seeds. How do you plan to acquire and supply your farmers with improved cotton seeds?
At the moment, the mandate for improved cotton seed is with the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) in Samaru, Zaria. As we speak, they have given us cotton seeds which we have been able to distribute to the farmers in our out grower programmes. The varieties that are been developed for the region that we cover are Sandwort 10 and Sandwort 11. Sandwort 10 is for North Central while Sandwort 11 is for South West. So, the seeds that the research institute gave us are what we passed on to our farmers for them to plant then we buy back from them.
What is the production capacity of your farms and what quantity of cotton can your company be able to buy from the farmers?         
Yes, as a single company, it is a lot of juggling that we have to do. We are working hand in hand with some commercial banks that have recently shown interest in what we do. I must say that, that is the product of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on assisting indigenous companies and encouraging the commercial banks to lend to the agricultural sector. I believe that with the planning we are also putting in place, we would be able to meet up with buying any quantity the farmers are able to produce in both regions. Our capacity at the moment far outweighs anything that can be produced. For us as a company, with the recent allocation that we have gotten and with the joint venture that we have with Kogi State government, we are set for big cotton farming. Kogi State government has released to us 2,000 hectares in Omala for cotton farming. It is too late for us to utilize the entire farmland for this season but we intend to start with a small portion for now and then clear the entire place in readiness for mass production next farming season. We have also leased 34 hectares around our ginnery in Wawa, Niger State. When you look at the combination of our farmers in the South West and the North Central; mind you, the North Central we are talking about for now is just Niger and Kogi states and the South West includes Edo State but does not include Lagos. We have a total of about 4,000 farmers with the capacity of farming 40,000 hectares. So, that is where we are at the moment. So, it is a lot of work and we are beginning to see that this is the potential and this is what we are preparing ourselves to meet.
Cotton farmers say they are facing problems of collateral to enable them access bank loans and the few loans they are able to get are not released in time. How do you intend to assist them?
We will make it as easy as possible for our farmers. You know we are not the lenders. But we would sit down and explain to the lenders the unique circumstances of each zone. The lenders should understand that with the national policy on agriculture which we hope and believe will be sustained, farmers as individuals can be able to attract as much as 90 percent credit guaranty while Arewa Cotton will try to cover the rest 10 percent for the farmers. The farmers also have to help a lot. The way the farmers will help us is to be sincere about their person, their location and about the farms they own.It is only through such information that we would be able to say farmer ‘A’ or farmer ‘B’ requires this cash or input. The next question is how do the farmers pay back? For the lenders to be comfortable to say yes, we would give this money because we know it will be paid back, we hope we would be able to give them some amount of comfort as the organizers. But that is just one aspect. The second aspect is for us and the farmers to device a means of getting our cotton to appreciate at the market and sell it at a good price.
That is when the issue of quality now comes in. Government is producing cotton bags to replace all sorts of bags now being used. We hope to get the bags and distribute to our farmers. We hope the farmers will not at the end of the day tear these bags and use them as shirts. They may also use those bags for other crops. You know we buy cotton according to how it weighs.
Farmers with a view to getting their stock weigh heavy and fetch them more money, will contaminate the cotton with water so that it can gain more weight. Some put stones or sand to the cotton to gain more weight. Now for me as a ginner, I have paid you and you have gone leaving me with contaminated cotton; I take it to my gin and I am now faced with the issue of the contaminants, especially the stones and so on affecting my machines.
It reduces the quality of my cotton; it slows down my production and spoils my machines leaving  me looking for spare parts here and there. At the end of the day I am not able to sell that cotton or have to sell below the cost price; that is the problem with Nigerian cotton being sold internationally. It automatically attracts a discount of up to 40 percent compared to prices of cotton from other parts of the world.
Nigeria’s cotton is being deliberately contaminated by local farmers with a view to make it heavier in order to attract more money. So, if the farmers can avoid these things, it will give the lenders confidence that yes, this cotton will appreciate at the world market, it can easily sell and our money can be refunded. They will give their money when they are sure of getting it back. So, we hope by the time we approach some lenders that we have our mind set on, we shall be able to attract funding for the farmers directly.
Sir, will it be right to assume that your company is also doing the job of the defunct cotton board?
Yes, but as a private sector. You know the cotton board was a government agency while we are in private sector. By making sure that quality cotton is produced in Nigeria and marketed abroad, yes we are doing the job of the defunct cotton board. Our hope is for this country to again be the number one quality cotton producer in Africa because we have the land, we have the farmers and we can do it. Another thing is to work very closely with the farmers so that they can produce quality cotton and get the price they want from us and we also get the price we want from the world market. If the farmers can give us the quality that we want, we shall pay them what they deserve to get from that. As a company, in an effort to get the quality cotton that we require, we brought in people from Benin Republic – quality control people with a lot of experience  – to help guide and educate our farmers.
They have come and established quality parameters which we can now use to say okay, you have given us ‘PaSU’ (white cotton, very slightly creamy, very bright, clean, without preparation) which is the top most of our own grading, and there is the ‘Nibe’ (white cotton, slightly creamy, with a little preparation, few thrash) which is the middle then the bottom type is the ‘Enyo’ (white or light spotted cotton, clean, with a little preparation, white thrash).
We should not actually be paying the same price that we pay for PASU to the one that gave us Nibe or ENYO. So, we plan to sit with the farmers even before the season starts, to know the cost of the inputs and all other things that they would want us to give them. We would also want to know the price that we are going to pay so that everybody will be comfortable knowing what he is supposed to do and get. When they give us quality they will get better prices.
During the cotton board days there were no improved seeds for cotton yet Nigeria’s cotton was among the best in the world. Now with the improved seeds, you are talking of forfeiting 40 percent of the price to get Nigerian cotton sold at the international market. Why is it so?
Okay, let me not blame the farmers alone. But they are the chief perpetrators of contamination of cotton. The farmer wants to get much money for his cotton and he thinks the best way is to mix it with stones and sand instead of increasing his production level.
We the ginners also have our own part to play in terms of quality control. If the farmer intentionally decide to contaminate his cotton, as ginners we can sort that out in order not to earn Nigeria’s cotton a bad name. I know it will cost us time and more money to sort that out but at the long run, our goods will appreciate at the market.
As ginners, we know which cotton is contaminated and which one is not. Rather than gin the two together, we should separate and gin them separately. At the market, you tell the buyer that this one is pure and this one is contaminated so let us negotiate on the contaminated one. That way the buyer will develop confidence in your consignment. It is a matter of engaging few more hands to sort the cotton at the gin before getting into the machines.
This contamination we are talking about sometimes you can even find shoes, sachet water bags or even iron just to add to the weight. I have the belief that as ginners we could do something to ensure that we change global view about the extent of contamination of our cotton. At our level at Arewa Cotton, we have resolved to do just that.