Cotton remains a strategic crop in Africa, especially for countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). It generates export revenues, as well as employment and incomes for families in rural areas. Although cotton is primarily used for lint, it can produce several by-products to add value to the sector and benefit all value-chain stakeholders, including farmers, processors and traders. Cotton by-products include cottonseed oil used for human consumption and soap manufacturing; cake used for animal feed; and waste used for industrial settings such as polishing cloths and wipers. In addition, cotton stalks can be used in the production of particle board, paper, pulp and corrugated boxes. Despite these potentially high economic benefits, cotton by-products industries are underdeveloped in ESA owing to several impediments. These include, for example, the lack of adequate downstream infrastructure; weak enabling policy and institutional environment to support the development of cotton by-products industries; poor market information for cotton by-products; and, the lack of data to assess economic viability of, and opportunities for investments in cotton by-products industries. In this regard, the project is designed by UNCTAD following a request from COMESA Secretariat to address some of these challenges, in particular the data and policy gaps that need to be filled to promote the value added of cotton by-products in the region. The ultimate objective of the project is to improve the value added of cotton by-products in ESA. Its specific objectives are to : i) improve capacity of cotton value chain stakeholders, including government officials, the private sector and farmers’ associations in the beneficiary countries to assess the potential value, market situation and prospects for cotton by-products; and, ii) improve capacity of policymakers in the beneficiary countries to (a) formulate evidence-based policies that help to develop cotton by-products industries; and, (b) devise investment profiles to attract potential investors in these industries. Several activities will be carried out under the project, which include conducting country-level surveys, preparing research papers, organizing regional and national capacity-building seminars and meetings, drafting national action plans and supporting countries in designing evidence-based policies for cotton by-products development. The key stakeholders to be engaged in the project activities include: government officials from relevant ministries such as agriculture, trade, industry, and finance; the private sector including cotton traders and processors; and, cotton farmers. The project will be implemented by UNCTAD with collaboration of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariat. Its implementation phase will benefit from interactive consultations between the two entities and other United Nations (UN) agencies, cotton by-products experts and consultants at the country level. The project implementation is expected to start in June 2016 and end by June 2019.