Africa has become the largest source of cotton for Bangladesh. Last year, Bangladesh imported 37.06 per cent of its requirement of the white fiber from East and West African countries. At the same time, 11.35 per cent of the cotton came from the Commonwealth of Independent States, 11.14 per cent from the US, 4.65 per cent from Australia and 9.65 per cent from the rest of the world.

In Africa, there are three cotton zones: East Africa, West Africa, and Central Africa. These are well known for high-quality and long staple length. Bangladesh’s cotton imports will continue to be commensurate with the expansion in spinning. Last year, Bangladesh imported 8.28 million bales of cotton. In dollar terms, the imports are worth three billion dollars. The country produced 1.65 lakh bales of cotton last fiscal year, which is less than three per cent of the country’s annual demand for 10 million bales. The hope is to produce 2.5 lakh bales of cotton by 2021, which will meet nearly seven per cent of the local consumption. Cotton has helped farmers in Bangladesh cultivate land which used to previously stay fallow due to lack of irrigation facilities. Cotton imports are proving to be a major drain on foreign exchange reserves in Bangladesh.