There is light at the end of the tunnel for textile industry players as Kisumu National Polytechnic prepares to roll out student enrollment in its Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centre (TVET) Institute for Textile Technology.
Contractors of the the facility which cost Sh1.08 billion said they are putting final touches on the project which is set to be handed over in the next few weeks.
Dama Services Limited Director David Kanja recently briefed a team of government and World Bank officials on the progress of the project, saying, upon completion, the facility will enroll up to 6,000 students annually from Kenya and beyond.
The center will house a factory, laboratories, tuition blocks, studios and hostels.
Reviving textile industry
The centre is under the Sh1.08 billion program aimed to revive the textile industry in the country through a partnership between the Ministry of Education and the World Bank.
The project is part of the World Bank funding which seeks to support the development and delivery of demand-driven TVET programs for technician training in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania in the transport, energy, manufacturing and ICT sectors.
The officials from the Ministry of Education and World Bank who toured the project expressed confidence with the ongoing construction work.
‘We are urging farmers in this region to embark on the massive growth of cotton because the textile industry provides a ready market’-kisumu national Polytechnic Chief Principal Catherine Kelonye
Under the programme, Kisumu National Polytechnic has been identified as a centre of excellence for textiles.
This is set to be a big boost to cotton farming in the Nyanza region which declined significantly after the collapse of Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) which was the mainstay for thousands of farmers in the area.
Already more than 30,000 farmers have been engaged and advised to plant BT cotton, which is highly productive and profitable.
Quality project
The Polytechnic Chief Principal Catherine Kelonye said the project and scope of work was virtually complete, praising the contractor and Dama Services Limited for the quality of work.
“Textile technology is not the common garment making that we have. Our garment department is just a backbone,” she said.
Kelonye said they are also looking at having the expansive cotton growing in Siaya county where they have the KNP school of agriculture.
“We are urging farmers in this region to embark on the massive growth of cotton because the textile industry provides a ready market,” she said.
Kelonye said the institution is working with other technical and vocational training institutions to revive the sector.
Director of Research and Innovations at the institution Nyangara Asaka said the program targets 16 institutions in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
He noted that the project targets to revamp the sector from the farm level to the fashion exhibition stage, and that they are developing a cluster of TVET institutions to jointly exploit the latest technology to revive the ailing textiles industry.
“We are working with stakeholders on the value chain including farmers, Small and Medium Enterprises, technicians and researchers to make the sector vibrant once again,” Nyangara said.
He reiterated that through working with all parties along the cotton value chain, new enterprises were expected to sprout and span economic development in the area.
He disclosed that 65 per cent of the funds shall go towards the purchase of equipment and building of the required infrastructure.
Nyangara said the project’s main goal is to make textile products from Kenya and the East Africa region meet international standards.
