itc linking african ginners with spinners dar...
TRANSCRIPT
AFRICAN COTTON PROMOTION
Partnership Development –Linking East and Southern African Ginners to the Market and Building Relationships with Spinners
Financed by the EU under EDF 10
3 Major Messages
• In order to improve quality and achieve better prices close linkages with spinners are essential; this in turn will also increase quantity.
• Selected (preferred) spinners are willing to invest in long-term relationships built on transparency and mutual trust
• Win – win situation: improved quality, long-term “guaranteed” client/supplier and better prices
EU - EDF 10 Cotton project objectivesContributing to sustainable improvements of quality, value
addition and overall competitiveness of African cotton
3 Result Areas: a) COMESA regional strategy and focal point (ITC);b) Institutional Strengtheningc) Production (FAO) and promotion (ITC) of African quality
cotton2 Areas of intervention:African Cotton PromotionValue addition through low capital-intensive cotton
transformation technologies, including handloom development
Value Addition
• Low capital-intensive fibre transformation technologies, including handloom development
• South-south cooperation with India and Ethiopia• Pilot activities in Zambia and Burkina Faso
Cotton Promotion
• Marketing and cotton promotion in selected major markets
• Partnership development between ginners and spinners: establishment of feedback loops with cotton buyers (spinning mills) for quality feedback & improvement
• Reduction of cotton contamination and overall improvement of cotton quality, leading to improved prices.
5 step approach to building partnerships with spinners
1. Identifying market & buyer requirements and marketing opportunities
2. Engaging with the client: promotional visit to preferred spinners
3. Improving on cotton quality: reducing contamination in partnerships with clients
4. Marketing your improved cotton quality in the market5. Forge and strengthen partnerships & expand the approach
to new ginners, markets, and spinners.
Step 1: Identifying buyer requirements and marketing opportunities, Preparation workshop, Lusaka – Zambia• A spinner and cotton trader from Bangladesh provided insights
on the growth dynamics of Bangladesh cotton imports.
• Bangladesh imported 593,773 MT of cotton lint in 2012, of which 84,7 MT (14%) from Africa, ranking 3rd largest supplier after Uzbekistan (31%) and India (22%).
• Discussions on spinner’s quality standards and requirements with regard to acceptable fiber quality parameters and levels of contamination.
2. Step: Promotional mission Thailand
• 11th largest cotton consumer in the world. In 2012, Thailand imported 308,000 MT of lint of which Africa’s share accounted for 34,000 MT or 11%.
• Visit to spinning factories and knitting & dyeing factory.
• Awareness and knowledge of strict quality requirements & parameters and maximum acceptable contamination levels (less than 5 pieces/100 kg).
• Identification of preferred spinners
… and Bangladesh• Visit of 3 large spinning factories in Bangladesh
• Meetings with key members of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and the Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA)
• Meetings with cotton agents, spinners and traders with interest in closer collaboration
• Identification of preferred spinners
• Meetings resulted in trial orders
3. Step Contamination reduction training by preferred Thai and Bangladeshi spinners
• Training on contamination reduction techniques and procedures at gin and buying post level
• Original objective was to train 2 major cotton processing plants in the Mwanza - Shinyanga region of Tanzania.
• An additional 20 ginneries were trained at the request of TCB
• A total of 1786 cotton gin workers, supervisors as well as farmers were trained, of which 273 women
• Training film realized
Contamination Reduction Training – Tanzania• The training program covered all aspects of production chain
that can contribute to cotton quality improvement
– Transport
– Packaging materials
– Manual sorting of cotton
– Avoiding sources of contamination such as old clothing, bags, plastics, etc.
– Mechanical cleaning: sieving, lint pre-cleaning and cleaning machines
Contamination Reduction Training – Tanzania
Manual removal of contaminations
Modern mechanical cleaning of lint
Sieving to remove sand Torn clothing as source of contamination
Contamination Reduction Training – Tanzania
Old equipmentUse of old, torn, jute bags Polypropylene bags assource of contamination
Workers examining examplesof contaminations and their effect on clothing quality
Examples of contamination
Contamination Reduction Training – Tanzania
• Final review meeting with Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB), including ginners and cotton inspectors
• Planning of post-training quality control measures that are sustainable and effective
• Improvements achieved in Afrisian and other ginners to encourage other ginners to follow suite
• TCB to follow-up and check on quality improvements
4. Step: Client feedback on the delivered bales & enhanced marketing
• First-hand quality feedback: for pilot sales realised ginners will be present during spinning of “their cotton”
• Revisiting Thailand and Bangladesh; training of ginning technicians in spinning factories
• Negotiation of additional contracts• Relationship building for next season• Marketing to other spinners in Thailand and Bangladesh
5. Step: Expanding to new markets & ginners
• Identifying additional preferred spinners (in Africa & Asia)
• Moving towards new markets: Indonesia & Vietnam & Africa
• Engaging more interested ginners to join the programme
• Learning from 5 star rated Indian ginneries• Additional recommendations
How to Join
• Strong commitment to improve quality through partnership development
• Willingness to cover own air-ticket and hotel accommodation
• Willingness to accommodate incoming spinners• Signing a letter of agreement & conducting progress
surveys
Our Experiences so far in West/Central Africa• Selected countries: Benin, Chad, Mali, Senegal,
Burkina Faso• Promotion through traders• Much advanced in contamination reduction• Have some promotional tools already in place (film,
map, etc.)
