"Most of the Indian clothes are actually done by families of cotton farmers," said President Kikwete, after visiting Al Adawi Company Limited's ginnery and cotton farms during his recent tour of Maswa District in Shinyanga Region.

He implored local cotton growers to emulate their Indian counterparts, saying that exporting raw cotton was not profitable due to fluctuating commodity prices in the world market. Unlike unstable prices of unprocessed goods, finished products command higher and more stable prices.

"A kilo of cotton can produce two shirts that will fetch a much higher price on the market than the 460/- earned from selling raw cotton," the president said. 'Kilimo Kwanza,' the brainchild of President Kikwete, seeks to incorporate the private sector as a key government partner in realizing a green revolution.

President Kikwete pointed out that the private sector was an important agent towards the success of 'Kilimo Kwanza' programme.

Commending the Al Adawi Chairman and founder, Mr Abdi Al Adawi, for taking the lead in implementing the 'Kilimo Kwanza' initiative, the president said that private companies are legal entities, which command a better chance to get bank loans for investment in agriculture projects.

During his tour of Maswa District, Mr Kikwete, accompanied by First Lady Salma, handed over five Massey Furgerson tractors and 10 power tillers to smallholder cotton farmers in the district, courtesy of a loan facility by Al Adawi Company Limited. The loans are repaid in between three to seven years.

Mr Al Adawi said his company which bought a ginnery from the collapsed America agro firm, Cargill last year, plans to build the capacity of cotton farmers in Shinyanga Region, by providing them with modern farming skills, tractors, power tillers and farm inputs.

Al Adawi said his company plans to supply farmers with 100 tractors by the end of next year, with funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security's Agro-Input Fund.

The firm also plans to install a thread making plant and provide hand looms on loan to farmers for cloth making.

"We have initiated a 'Kilimo Kwanza' programme because of the huge capacity of the factory," Al Adawi said. With capacity to process 600 bales of cotton a day, the factory plans to hire 500 workers during peak seasons annually.

The company also has a five-hectare modern cotton growing demonstration farm, that serves as training ground for smallholder farmers