- Who we are
- What we do
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In just over 10 years we have become the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. Our mission: to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
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- Where we grow
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Better Cotton is grown in 22 countries around the world and accounts for 22% of global cotton production. In the 2022-23 cotton season, 2.13 million licensed Better Cotton Farmers grew 5.47 million tonnes of Better Cotton.
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- Our impact
- Membership
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Today Better Cotton has more than 2,700 members, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the industry. Members of a global community that understands the mutual benefits of sustainable cotton farming. The moment you join, you become part of this too.
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- Associate Membership
- Civil Society Membership
- Producer Organisation Membership
- Retailer and Brand Membership
- Supplier and Manufacturer Membership
- Find Members
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- Better Cotton Platform
- myBetterCotton
- Resources – Better Cotton Conference 2022
- Complaints
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- Thank you for contacting us
- Better Cotton’s Data Privacy Policy
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- Web Reference
- Measuring Cotton Consumption
- How to Implement the Chain of Custody Standard
- Resources – Better Cotton Conference 2023
- Certification Bodies
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- Sourcing
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The founding premise of Better Cotton is that a healthy sustainable future for cotton and the people that farm it is in the interests of everyone connected with it.
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BCI entered its ”mainstreaming” phase on 1 January 2016 with the launch of a new funding mechanism for farmer capacity building, the BCI Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF). With funding from the GIF, BCI aims to reach 5 million farmers and account for 30% of global cotton production by 2020. This year, BCI will make adjustments to our strategy in order to facilitate progress toward our 2020 goals, and transform the future of cotton.
Among these adjustments is a review of both our current member value proposition and the Volume-based Fee (VBF) applied since 2013 to Better Cotton sourced by our retailer and brand members. The review process will ensure that BCI and its fee structures support our ambitious scale up throughout the mainstreaming phase. The VBF in particular will be used to capitalise the GIF, while institutional donors and government agencies will be invited to match fees contributed by the private sector in order to achieve a multiplier effect.
Upon receiving feedback from members regarding the complexity of BCI fee structures, we are working with an external consultant to dramatically simplify them. At the same time, we will continue to be an attractive sustainability initiative for all sector players from producer organisations to retailers and brands. We look forward to communicating BCI’s new fee structures in a simple, clear and consistent manner – making them an easy sell within your business. The revised proposals will be presented to the BCI Council for approval in June.
Ultimately, a membership fee and VBF model, which is easy to understand and based on a clear value proposition, will incentivise procurement, enabling the GIF to invest in farmer training and successfully address the most pressing sustainability issues in cotton farming, including pesticide use, water efficiency and severe working conditions such as child labour, gender issues and unfair pay. Positive changes in the field overall will help BCI achieve its mission of making cotton production better for the people who grow it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the future of the sector as a whole.