A review of current state and future directions of cotton production in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is one of cotton-producing countries and export part of its products to the international market. Cotton continued to be cultivated in Ethiopia for many centuries both in irrigation and rain-fed systems. The country has a huge potential to produce cotton in different agroecology that absorbs the large and young work force. Considering the suitable environmental conditions to grow the crop and the availability of cheap manpower, the Ethiopian government has given priority to develop the textile and garment sectors since the last two decades. The existing textile industries in the country are cotton-based and are in their booming stage. On the other hand, availability and quality of raw material is not satisfying the growing demand. In order to support the increasing number of textile and garment industries, supply of quality and enough raw material in a sustainable manner is crucial. Therefore, this review details information based on primary and secondary data, which are related to the country’s potential for cotton production, the characteristics of cotton, available cotton varieties, marketing systems, and cotton initiatives working in the sector. This work also tries to pinpoint multi-dimensional problems facing cotton production, marketing and quality management systems and indicates possible solutions for the betterment of the sector.