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The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is a global not-for-profit organisation and the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future.

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2019 Annual Report: We are delighted to launch the BCI 2019 Annual Report! In the 2018-19 cotton season, BCI and our on-the-ground partners provided training on more sustainable farming practices to 2.3 million cotton farmers, and Better Cotton accounted for 22% of global cotton production. Learn more about our successes, challenges and the progress we are making towards our 2020 targets.

Western China Update: BCI is suspending its assurance activities in the Xinjiang region of China for the upcoming cotton season (2020-21) based on the recognition that the operating environment prevents credible assurance and licensing from being executed. BCI assurance activities for the last season finished in September. There will be no licensed Better Cotton from Xinjiang next season (2020-21). Learn more here.

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News and Blog

Better Cotton: Did You Know?

Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

Did you know that Brazil produced the largest volumes of Better Cotton in the 2018-19 cotton season and that India had the greatest number of licensed BCI Farmers?

In our new Better Cotton Country Snapshots, we focus in on each country where Better Cotton is grown and...

Sustainable Cotton Reaches 22% of Global Production as 2.3 Million Farmers Receive Training on Improved Agricultural Practices

Monday, June 29th, 2020

Today, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) launched its 2019 Annual Report. In the report, BCI shares that Better Cotton – cotton produced by licensed BCI Farmers in line with the initiative’s Better Cotton Principles and Criteria – now accounts for 22% of global... Read More

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Changing Lives and Attitudes in Mozambique: One Family’s Journey to Understanding the Importance of Children’s Education. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“We learnt that children have the same rights to healthcare, food, safe water and good education, regardless of their gender or where they come from. Both boys and girls should have the freedom to attend school and play with their friends,” says 12-year-old Belta, a girl who lives in Ratane, a remote, rural village at the heart of a cotton farming community in Mecuburi District, northeastern Mozambique. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Find out how we, through our partner SANAM, have reached 10,000 children with a creative, extra-curricular educational programme for cotton farming communities in several districts within Nampula Province. Through classroom teaching, interactive role play, sports and dance, the programme seeks to change attitudes and inspire families to begin passing on the value of education through the generations.
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READ THE STORY – LINK IN OUR BIO
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#BCI #BetterCotton #FieldStory #StoryFromTheField #ChildrensEducation #GenderEquality #Education #BCIFarmer

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After many years’ planning, together with @unido_newsroom, we are delighted to announce the launch of a BCI Programme in Egypt. Together, we seek to make Egyptian cotton more sustainable and improve farmers’ livelihoods.⁣
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Farmers like Safeya.⁣
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“I have been working as a cotton picker for the past 30 years. With the recent collaborations and developments, I hope the cotton industry in Egypt thrives, as well as my income.”⁣
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Photo Credit: @rehabeldalil #BCI #BetterCotton #BCIFarmer #UNIDO #EgyptianCotton #FarmerLivelihoods

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Today is International #BiodiversityDay, a good day to learn about what the Better Cotton Initiative and one of our on-the-ground partners in Pakistan are doing to enhance biodiversity, while promoting gender equality, in cotton farming communities in Punjab.
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Meet Ruksana Kausar.
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Following her parent’s footsteps, Ruksana and her husband Muhammad Azher Hussain Cheema are cotton farmers living in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan District, where cotton communities farm the land to survive. Ruksana is also one of 7,000 women involved in a tree nursery project created to support local women to improve their livelihoods (developed by BCI and WWF-Pakistan) and enhance biodiversity on cotton farms in their community.
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By taking part in the project, Ruksana has not only supplemented her income, she and her family have planted many trees on their cotton farm, providing farmworkers with shelter from the hot sun once they have matured. They will also protect cotton crops from strong winds, encourage nature and wildlife to thrive in a healthy, balanced environment, and promote beneficial insects, such as ladybirds, which prey on pests that attack cotton plants.
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Ruksana’s new-found economic independence strengthens her voice in how the family’s income is spent, while supporting her community with a reliable, affordable source of good quality trees for their farms.
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Find out more about the WWF-Pakistan tree nursery project and the impact it’s having on women like Ruksana – Link in our bio 🌿🌱🍃
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📸 @khaula28 Ruksana Kausar, Rahim Yar Khan District, Pakistan. 2019. #BCI #BetterCotton #BCIFarmer #FieldStory #StoryFromTheField #Biodiversity #GenderEquality

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Stories

Changing Lives and Attitudes in Mozambique: One Family’s Journey to Understanding the Importance of Children’s Education

It’s a bright, peaceful day in Mozambique as Henrique and his wife Ana watch their 12-year-old daughter, Belta, setting off for school in the cotton farming community of Ratane, a remote, rural village in Mecuburi District, northeastern Mozambique. As she leaves, Henrique reflects on the changes in their community since BCI and SANAM began supporting... Read More

BCI Farmers in India Form Their Own Farmer-Owned Collective and Improve Their Livelihoods

Balubhai Parmar is helping to lead an enterprising group of BCI Farmers who founded their own organisation — the Somnath Farmer Producer Organisation — putting themselves at the forefront of continuously improving their members’ performance.... Read More

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Better Cotton Initiative

News and Blog

Better Cotton: Did You Know?

Sustainable Cotton Reaches 22% of Global Production as 2.3 Million Farmers Receive Training on Improved Agricultural Practices

Stories

Changing Lives and Attitudes in Mozambique: One Family’s Journey to Understanding the Importance of Children’s Education

BCI Farmers in India Form Their Own Farmer-Owned Collective and Improve Their Livelihoods

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