Better Cotton is the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton. Our mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
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.
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.
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.
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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Photo credit: Communications Department, Govt of Punjab. Location: Punjab, Pakistan, 2023. Description: Third from left – Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General, Agriculture Extension, Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab; fourth from left – Mr Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Secretary, Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab; third from right – Hina Fouzia, Director for Pakistan, Better Cotton.
Better Cotton has entered into a collaborative agreement with the Government of Punjab’s Agriculture Department, in Pakistan, to advance the production of more sustainable cotton in the province.
The five-year ‘Commitment of Cooperation’ stems from the government body’s desire to develop a science-based, internationally-linked agriculture sector capable of satisfying demand for food, feed and fibre.
As a lynchpin of the country’s economy, cotton is one commodity that will be integral to achieving this ambition. As such, the Agriculture Department is to develop a strategy focused on scaling the production of more sustainable cotton.
As of the 2021-22 season, Pakistan is the third-largest producer of Better Cotton globally. Almost half a million cotton farmers hold a Better Cotton license and have collectively produced more than 680,000 tonnes of the material for use by Retail and Brand Members.
The Agriculture Department sought Better Cotton’s expertise and support to help ensure resources and finances are fed down to the field-level, benefitting both farming communities and the environment.
Working closely with the government body, Better Cotton will help ensure participating farmers align with its Principles & Criteria (P&C) and commit to measuring and reporting results.
The Agriculture Department will, meanwhile, establish a timeline for implementation to ensure its allocation of resources and plan for mainstreaming the production of more sustainable cotton is futureproof, particularly in the face of climate change and its subsequent impacts.
The initial agreement is effective immediately and will conclude in June 2028.
Better Cotton has helped cotton farmers in Pakistan produce more sustainable cotton since 2009, improving the livelihoods of approximately 1.5 million smallholder farmers along the way. We applaud the Government of Punjab’s Agriculture Department for committing to a more sustainable agriculture sector and stand committed to helping their mission.
Hina Fouzia, Country Director for Pakistan, Better Cotton
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