Abstract:
From time immemorial cotton has maintained its position as one of the most important
textile fibers. The world cotton production has continued to hit new records year after year
due to the increase in cotton demand. The demand for cotton has also maintained a steady
rise. This has resulted in increasing cotton prices (ICAC, 2004). Globally, cotton growing and
processing has remained one of the profitable industries, which employs large sections of
the populations and also earns foreign exchange. The Government of Kenya adopted
Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1996 on the Industrial transformation of Kenya to become a Newly
Industrialized Country by the year 2020, where the Textile Industry was identified as one of
the key industries which could spur industrial growth (Kenyan Government, 1996a; Kenyan
Government 1996b). This was due to the fact that the Kenyan textile industry grew rapidly
in the 1970's and 1980's. By 1983, the textile industry was the second largest manufacturing
industry after food processing.
