On the Road to İzmir: Reflections Ahead of the Better Cotton Conference

By Antonie Fountain, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Voice Network and Host of the Better Cotton Conference 2025

With two days to go before the world of cotton will descend on the beautiful city of Izmir, I can feel my anticipation and excitement growing. And that’s not just because we’ll be just down the road from one of the original Seven Wonders of the World.

This will be my third Better Cotton Conference, and the second where I have the privilege to be the host of the conference. What struck me at last year’s conference was the incredible diversity of voices. A truly global spread – both of participants and of speakers – speaking to a very wide range of different challenges, coming together to tackle some of the sticky issues we will have to face.

A smallholder speaking to a global audience in her own language, translated for all to hear, as she calls for support in climate change adaptation. A representative of a massive furniture company claiming farmers need to be paid more. A leader of civil society arguing that we need to look beyond human rights and firmly enshrine human dignity in our conversation. So many different voices, but all heading in the same direction: a better cotton sector.

Cotton is not my usual stomping ground. In my daily life, I engage with the cocoa and coffee sectors, and as a bit of an outsider, it’s a privilege to be a fly on the wall and observe the dynamics. To see so many different connections taking place. Old friends meeting after a long time, strangers striking up a first cautious conversation at the line for coffee, suppliers and buyers discussing potential opportunities, ideologues inspired by the sessions entering into passionate discussion about climate change or fairer procurement practices; it’s like an ice cream parlour full of different flavours to choose from.

Over the past months, I’ve worked with the Better Cotton Conference team in helping design the conference, trying to make sure we’re keeping the discussion lively and interesting. Too often, we go to conferences, listen to the talks, and then go back to our business as usual. My hope for this year’s conference is that participants will go home with the feeling that change is actually possible, and they have a role to play in that change.

I hope people go home with the good kind of discomfort that makes you go out and take the next step towards a better cotton world. This definitely is how I’m going to Izmir: expecting to come back a different person. If you’re coming, I hope you’re looking forward to that with me!