Rubirizi Cotton Farmers Grapple with Price Drops, Drought, and Low Yields

Many farmers, disillusioned by cotton’s lengthy six-month growth cycle, are shifting to more lucrative crops like coffee and food staples.
Cotton farming, once a vital pillar of Rubirizi District’s economy, is teetering on the brink of collapse as farmers face relentless challenges including fluctuating prices, prolonged drought, pests, diseases, and the high cost of fertilizers.
Many farmers, disillusioned by cotton’s lengthy six-month growth cycle, are shifting to more lucrative crops like coffee and food staples.
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“This cotton takes six months, and within these months, we face a lot of challenges that demotivate farmers,” said Richard Agaba, a farmer and extension worker at the Kyambura Farming Cooperative Society.
Farmers had hoped to sell a kilogram of cotton for Shs5,000 this season. However, the market only offered Shs2,000, a steep drop that left them discouraged.
The Kyambura Farmers Society, established in 1967 to boost cotton yields, once thrived with robust government support. Today, it struggles with resource shortages.
The society’s 440-acre farm lacks irrigation facilities and access to affordable fertilizers.
“We don’t have irrigation. We are facing drought and therefore appeal to the government to support us with irrigation to increase our yields,” Agaba lamented.
Wildlife invasions from Queen Elizabeth National Park had previously devastated cotton fields. However, the installation of an electric fence by the government helped mitigate this issue.
“If we did not have this fence, all elephants would be here,” said Yusuf Byabagambi, chairman of the Kyambura Farming Cooperative Society.
Despite the fence, Byabagambi highlighted that it alone cannot address the root causes of declining cotton production.

The decline of the cotton industry is also reflected in the infrastructure tied to it. Facilities like the Rwenzori Store of Amdan now sit idle, a stark reminder of reduced harvests.
Byabagambi attributed the poor yields to the high cost of fertilizers, stating, “If fertilizer was at an affordable price for all, we would be applying it and achieving better yields.”
The situation has forced many farmers, like Bekunda, to abandon cotton for subsistence crops to feed their families. “Some people adopted crop growing, abandoning cotton due to low prices,” Byabagambi added.
Farmers in Rubirizi are now calling for urgent government intervention to save the cotton industry.
They are appealing for subsidies on fertilizers, affordable irrigation systems, and renewed support for cooperative societies to restore cotton as an economic lifeline for the district.
Without these interventions, Rubirizi risks losing a cornerstone of its agricultural heritage, leaving families to struggle even more in an already precarious economic environment.