Trans Nzoia has partnered with Moi University to train 33 residents to produce natural plant dyes for cottage industries and for export.
Youth and women are being trained to create employment that will spur economic growth.
A one-week training programme was opened at the Kitale National Polytechnic yesterday by Moi University vice-chancellor Prof Isaac Kosgei and county secretary Sifuna Wakofula.
“This is the first skills training on textile technology we are launching, the second one shall be done in Kisumu,” Kosgei said.
“Moi University is the leading textile university in Sub-Saharan Africa and we are taking this initiative to train on natural dyes as an opportunity for the community,” he said.
Natural dyes don’t have the ill effects of synthetic dyes, such as pollution of the environment.
Koskei said the university, which is moving towards being an entrepreneurship centre in manufacturing, will support the trainees in innovating dyes and help them patent their samples.
“We shall also link the trainees to the university-owned Rivatext Company in Eldoret to gain exposure and sell their products,” he said.
The VC said Trans Nzoia was selected as the first county for training because of its potential of development in the cottage industry and its unique sericulture sector.
The county government pledged support in purchasing more machines to support the trainees at the end of the programme.
Wakofula said the training will enable the county to expand the textile industry to the subcounties to increase production for export.
“There is a ready market for hand-woven fabrics after we exposed the Ujirani Mwema na Amani cottage industry to the external market. The cottage industry is unable to service all its orders," he said.
The aim is to set up a cottage industry in each subcounty.
