Kenya’s Cotton Leftovers Are Finding New Value

Kenyan businesses and community groups are turning discarded cotton stalks, gin waste and textile offcuts into briquettes, household textiles and mattress filling. The emerging industry could create new income for farmers and women-led enterprises.

For years, Peterson Mwadau regarded the stalks and other plant residue left after his cotton harvest as little more than a disposal problem.

Mwadau grows cotton on 18 acres in Kilifi County on Kenya’s coast. Once the crop has been picked, a…