Durable, fine and luxuriously soft, cotton sourced from Egypt has long been seen as the best on the market. But recent years have been far from smooth for the North African country's farmers.

Cotton was once Egypt’s main source of wealth in the 19th century, as the Nile Delta provided fertile grounds for the crop used to make the towels, sheets and robes coveted by Europe's bourgeoisie. But decades of fierce international competition have diminished returns. Profits are meager.

Short fiber cotton -- while lower quality than the long fiber variety -- looks good and has increasingly been used by textile giants, dealing a heavy blow to Egyptian players. The United States and Brazil are now the world’s top cotton exporters, followed by India and Australia, leaving Egypt trailing behind. The popular uprising in 2011 dealt a fresh blow to the cotton sector, as political and economic chaos hit production and export chains.

Last year brought producers some respite, thanks to rising prices and higher export volumes. But a trade spat between the US and China has seen benchmark global cotton prices fall afresh. The major challenge however is boosting productivity. A rise in productivity rather than prices would ensure better incomes for workers.