Our business under threat, Kastina cotton dealers raise alarm

Cotton dealers in Katsina State have identified farmers’ fading interest in production of the crop and collapse of local textile industries as major setbacks in their business. Some years back, cotton business was a lucrative one, where many young men were employed either as dealers or agents that went round rural areas to buy cotton […]

Cotton dealers in Katsina State have identified farmers’ fading interest in production of the crop and collapse of local textile industries as major setbacks in their business.
Some years back, cotton business was a lucrative one, where many young men were employed either as dealers or agents that went round rural areas to buy cotton directly from farmers.
One of the dealers in Malumfashi, Alhaji Sagir Sani Malumfashi, said cotton dealers now find it highly risky to distribute their money to agents as was done before because the commodity is now in short supply.
“In the past, companies like Olam, WACOT, Dala, Spintx and other independent marketers were supporting local dealers with money to buy the cotton but with the decline in its farming, they withdrew their financial support, allowing us to fully invest into the business.
“This maximises our risk in two ways, either our agents misappropriate our money distributed to them or the companies we are supplying the cotton turn down our goods due to low demand,” said Alhaji Sagir Sani.
He advised that government should put stringent measures in setting a viable standard on how foreign companies should deal with cotton dealers, most especially in the area of pricing.
Alhaji Sagir further said that absence of functional local textile industries is also ruining the business of cotton dealers in the state.
“When you have no alternative companies to buy your cotton in large quantity, there is tendency for the business to collapse and that is why many of us closed shop, even though small companies from Kano that are into baby wears, sanitary pads and threads still buy cotton from us,” he said
Another dealer and Manager of A.B.M Cotton and Seeds Company, Ahmad Nasir Sada, said unlike other dealers, A.B.M Cotton relies heavily on its supply network of over 5,000 farmers that cut across Matazu, Musawa, Malumfashi, Kafur and Kankara local government areas.
“In recent years, private companies have gradually hijacked the business of local cotton dealers and for us to stay afloat, we adopted the strategies of those companies where we supply farmers with improved cotton seeds, fertilizer and pesticides on credit, pending when they harvest and sell it to us. 
“Here, we remove our money and give them their balance. This is helping our business and at the same time boosting cotton farming in the state as we have over 5,000 farmers now under our scheme,” he said.
He added that for cotton farming and business to be resuscitated in the state, government should not only revive textile industries but also reactivate agricultural marketing boards to restore standards in cotton production and business.
It was observed that few cotton farmers in Danja, Bakori, Funtua, Dandume and Faskari local government areas are dealing directly with WACOT Nig Ltd in Funtua due to the shortage of local cotton dealers in the areas.