Related Keywords: attract investors, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, cotton output, exports of unprocessed cotton, hindering policy implementation, lack of funds, Uganda textile industry, Uganda textile policy, value addition
A decade ago, Uganda produced 254,000 bales of cotton annually, each weighing 185kg. About 10 percent of Uganda's annual cotton output is processed locally and 90 percent of its cotton as lint (primary form) is exported as value addition continues to elude the industry due to the delayed National Textile Policy. The country has more than 38 cotton lint exporters with some ginning.