Kenya: From Boom to Bust and Back: Kenya’s Long Cotton Journey

There was a time when cotton was more than just another crop in Kenya. In parts of the country, it was white gold. Farmers planted it knowing that the harvest could pay school fees, put food on the table and keep money circulating in rural communities. Cooperatives provided a link between farmers and markets, ginneries kept workers employed and textile mills had a ready source of raw material. In Mpeketoni, Lamu County, David Njuguna, chairman of the Lake Kenyatta Cooperative…