Cotton Attracts the Attention of Young African Leaders
Dr Seshadri Ramkumar informed, two young leaders from Africa visited the Cotton and Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University (TTU).
Sustainability is the way forward in the textiles and manufacturing sectors.
Outreach and educating the consumers and brands are strategies that will help with enhancing the consumption of natural fibres. Also, as natural fibres have not penetrated technical textiles as much as synthetics, given the need for sustainable products, efforts must be made towards research, dissemination of results, and outreach. It may not be possible to find use in all sectors of advanced textiles, but areas such as environmental protection, insulation and health offer immediate possibilities.
Opportunities for cotton in advanced textiles must be disseminated to young leaders and consumers to boost its consumption.
On July 12, 2024, two young leaders from Africa visited the Cotton and Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University (TTU). In their first visit to the United States as Mandela Washington fellows funded by the United States’ government, they are spending 6 weeks at TTU.
Dr Idda Mihindi is a medical doctor from Tanzania who has founded Fursa Foundation, which manufactures and distributes washable cotton-based sanitary pads for rural women and secondary school girls, who cannot afford hygiene products. Greogory Rakobe is from Botswana and has interest in using native plants to develop skin and health care products. As these two young leaders work in the sustainability area, they expressed interest in visiting the Advanced Materials Laboratory to learn about industrial applications of cotton.
Dr Mihindi and Rakobe conducted experiments using waste cotton based nonwoven pads and understood the oil sorption capabilities of cotton. “The sustainable role of cotton used is eye-opening to me,” stated Dr Mihindi.
Visitors interacted with graduate students in the laboratory who work in cotton and sustainability projects enabling advanced applications for cotton.
Timely disseminating information on new applications of cotton and natural materials will advance the sustainability goals of textiles and manufacturing sectors. As African continent has large population and is advancing in its economy, engaging with next generation leaders will boost the consumption of natural fibres.
The industry should look for opportunities for natural fibres and recycled natural products in the advanced textiles industry.
Experiments conducted by the visiting leaders from Africa is available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOqRz9qA1zE
About the author:
Dr Seshadri Ramkumar is a Professor, Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory in Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
