Abstract:
Cotton has for long been one of Uganda’s major cash crops and foreign exchange earners
for Uganda in addition to contributing to the livelihoods of most Ugandans both directly and
indirectly. This contribution has been through employment, contribution to GDP, fight against
household poverty and promoting social stability. Cotton as a product starts with seed cotton
from the farmers and can be transformed into many products such as lint, yarn, fabric and
garments. It can also be used for edible oil, seed cake soap and linters.
The cotton subsector faced a number of challenges which affected production, profitability and
productivity of the sector during the 1980s which subsequently resulted in its liberalization in
1994 and formation of the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO) to oversee all the activities
of the sector and to ensure that the sector performs to its full potential.