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Data & Impact Series: Q&A With Brooke Summers on Cotton Australia’s Data Dashboard Project

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Data & Impact Series: Q&A With Brooke Summers on Cotton Australia’s Data Dashboard Project

Joe Morphet on June 5, 2023

Recently, Cotton Australia, a partner of Better Cotton, launched a new data dashboard, allowing Australian cotton farmers to transparently report data in order to measure progress and drive farm-level change. The dashboard will also give retailers, brands and other members of the supply chain access to accurate, up-to-date information, allowing them to make decisions about Australian cotton as a fibre of choice.

For the third instalment of our Data & Impact series, we sat down with Brooke Summers, Supply Chain Consultant at Cotton Australia and the coordinator of the data dashboard project, to talk about how the programme came about, the key challenges, and what other cotton producers can learn about impact data from Cotton Australia’s initiative.

Photo credit: Brooke Summers

Could you tell us a bit about your background and your role at Cotton Australia?

I’ve been working with Cotton Australia for over 20 years, mainly in communications and marketing. For the last ten years, I’ve been leading the ‘Cotton to Market Strategy’, which is all about engaging with our customers throughout the supply chain. That includes brands, retailers, global not-for-profit organisations, textile associations and anyone who’s influencing the way our customers think about raw materials.

Could you tell us about your data dashboards project, how it came about, and what the aims were initially?

The idea for the project came about through conversations we were having with our brand and retail partners and customers around the need for data, and specifically transparent impact data. So, it came from customer need, but we also felt as an industry that we had been collecting a lot of information over a long period of time, yet there wasn’t really a single source of truth for that information.

Different organisations within the industry were reporting or collecting numbers in different ways, and we were all getting lots of enquiries from people wanting more information. Rather than duplicating work, we thought it would be a great idea to build a platform where we could agree on which metrics we wanted to report, which source of truth we were going to use, and who would be responsible for keeping that information up to date.

How did you make those decisions about what data to collect?

I put together a little working group with the key data holders in the industry, and we looked at all the metrics we were collecting on a regular basis as part of our sustainability targets and other reporting requirements. We did a big scan and condensed that into a data map with a number of pillars, following our ‘Planet. People. Paddock.’ sustainability framework and adding a few extra pillars, such as ‘Product’, ‘Projects’ and ‘Practices’.

The hardest part of the project was getting everybody to agree on what we wanted to report, and specifically how we were going to report it. For example, there are probably ten different ways you can calculate water use efficiency, so we needed to decide which was the best way for that particular audience. We wanted to be very transparent and open about what we were reporting, how we calculated it and how we’d come to those decisions.

Photo credit: Cotton Australia. Description: An example of Cotton Australia’s data dashboard, highlighting statistics on water use.

How difficult was it to get the project off the ground?

We’re lucky in some ways that we’ve got a relatively small industry here in Australia – there are around 1,500 farmers. Unlike a lot of other cotton-producing countries, it’s easy for us to get organised, and all the industry organisations are very collaborative. There was no trouble at all getting people to participate – everyone was happy to put their data on the table and have it shared in this way.

The farmers that we’ve spoken to so far have just been blown away by the project. We’ve got lots of farmers on our board and I think they can really see the value in having all this information in one place for the first time.

However, it did take time to get everything together in the right formats, because there were over 70 metrics that we were reporting on the dashboard, so we worked with the developers to make sure what we were reporting was coming to life in a way that made sense to the user.

What lessons have you learned from this project?

Traditionally, we’ve collected data because it has made good business sense, it has helped us make better decisions on the farm to drive efficiencies and innovation. Now there’s a new driver for data collection which is about market access and reporting impact. At the moment, our farmers are paying for this through a compulsory levy to our Cotton Research and Development Corporation, which is matched by the Australian Government.

So I think that it’s important for brands to think about the demands they’re making around impact data. I think sometimes they don’t understand how difficult, expensive and time-consuming it is to collect granular information from farmers. It’s crucial that brands engage directly with organisations like ours to understand what these demands really mean, and that they provide value to the farmers creating the sustainability impact.

To find out more about Cotton Australia’s data dashboard, head to this link.

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Better Cotton Tours Farms & Facilities on Australia Visit

Joe Morphet on June 2, 2023

Photo credit: Cotton Australia. Location: Boggabri, Australia, 2023. Description: Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay with Better Cotton’s Alvaro Moreira in the cotton field as part of Camp Cotton 2023.

Better Cotton’s Senior Manager for Large Farm Programmes and Partnerships, Álvaro Moreira, recently visited strategic partners in Australia to reinforce industry relations and delve into field-level activities.

Álvaro met with Better Cotton affiliates from Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research & Development Corporation (CRDC), amongst others, from 27 April to 5 May – in which time he had the opportunity to attend and participate at the Australian Cotton Forum, before visiting farms, research premises, a seed distribution plant and cotton growers.

The trip enabled Better Cotton to reconnect with key partners across the country and discuss how our ongoing activities can help shape more sustainable cotton production. Notably, emphasis was placed on Better Cotton’s 2030 Impact Targets, in addition to the revised Principles & Criteria and how they align with the recently launched Chain of Custody Standard.

Photo credit: Álvaro Moreira, Better Cotton. Location: Boggabri, Australia, 2023. Description: Cotton grower Andrew Watson demonstrates the latest practices he’s adopted on his farm in Boggabri.

At the Australian Cotton Forum, held in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum on 2 May, more than 100 industry stakeholders convened to discuss a whole gamut of issues pertinent to domestic cotton farming, from water use and soil health to human rights and circularity.

There, the CRDC provided an overview of its Australian Cotton Roadmap – and the targets that underpin it – whilst researchers provided a timely update on their Cotton Farming Circularity Project, through which farmers are trialling the dispersal of cotton trash on fields to gauge its degradation rate and impact on soil health.

From 3 to 5 May, Álvaro and a delegation of around 50 people headed north from Sydney to Narrabri to visit facilities and growers at the heart of the town’s cotton production.

In addition to touring research facilities and neighbouring gins – courtesy of Cotton Australia – attendees visited two farms with land varying from 500 to 5,000 hectares. Álvaro returned with a renewed conviction of the strength of Better Cotton’s partnership with its peers in Australia.

I witnessed the great strides that Australian growers have made in terms of sustainability, in particular when it comes to integrated pest management and water use. Thanks to a coordinated effort from those involved in research and industry, farmers are enabled to continuously improve their farming practices.

Álvaro Moreira, Senior Manager for Large Farm Programmes and Partnerships at Better Cotton

Better Cotton and Cotton Australia have worked closely since 2014 to advance the sector’s sustainability credentials. The country’s voluntary myBMP standard – which recognises best practice at field-level – has been benchmarked as equivalent to the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS).

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Better Cotton Impact Targets: Q&A With Narjis Ashfaq, Head of Programs at Sangtani Women Rural Development Organization

Joe Morphet on May 25, 2023

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Khaula Jamil Location: Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. 2019. Description: Farm-worker Ruksana Kausar prepares to plant a sapling with the seeds provided to her by Better Cotton and WWF.

Soil underpins everything – its rich biodiversity and vital function in crop production and carbon storage make it fundamental to life on earth. However, a third of the world’s soils have deteriorated at the hands of erosion and contamination. 

To help drive improvements, Better Cotton launched its 2030 Impact Target on Soil Health to ensure that 100% of Better Cotton Farmers improve the health of their soil in this defining decade for humanity.

It’s a bold but necessary ambition, and one that we won’t achieve without the support and insights of agricultural experts across all cotton growing regions. In this Q&A, we hear from Narjis Ashfaq, Head of Programs at the Sangtani Women Rural Development Organization (SWRDO), in Pakistan, about this important work.

Photo credit: Narjis Ashfaq

What role can healthy soil play in mitigating climate change? 

To make soil healthy, different practices are adopted in different areas. The most common practices include the use of farmyard manure and the incorporation of previous crop residues in the soil. In some areas, farmers use fermenters and compost to make their soil healthy. The soil contains organic matter that plays an important role in mitigating climate change by storing carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

On the other hand, if the soil is poorly managed by using practices which are not sustainable, soil carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is released which contributes to climate change.

How important are regenerative cotton production practices to improving soil health? 

Regenerative practices such as reduced tillage are performed in some areas to protect soil fertility and health. Tillage is used only in the time of need as destruction of the soil structure can decrease water infiltration in soil which reduces the benefit of rainfall to the crops.

Other regenerative practices such as use of farmyard manure can enhance the biological and microbial activity of the soil. Most farmers also grow cotton in rotation with wheat or other crops which has countless benefits – it can reduce soil erosion, improve water infiltration and quality of water and also increase organic matter.

What are the key differences in soil from one region to another and how important will tailored soil management support be to ensuring all cotton growing regions see improvements? 

Soil types are different from one region to another in terms of fertility, pH, electrical conductivity and other factors such as water holding capacity, organic matter and microbial activities. In the case of our work in Rajanpur, Pakistan, the western soils are mostly heavy textured (clay to clay loam) soils with different levels of salt and a high pH (>8), while eastern soil near Indus River are fine textured (sandy to sandy loam) and have good water infiltration and support plant growth.

Therefore, to improve the soil in western areas, for example, farmers often use: Gypsum, farmyard manure, deep tillage practices, more acidic fertilisers and good quality water.

The soil in eastern areas would need to incorporate organic matter via composting and green manuring. Similarly, with a balanced use of fertilisers (prioritising organic and optimising inorganic) we can improve soil health and improve crop production.

For cotton farmers, what will be the tangible benefits of improved soil health?

Improved soil health is important to the profitability and production of cotton farms. It ensures the fertility of the soil and better crop production.

  • Healthy soil has the following benefits:
  • It enhances proper root growth to ensure maximum nutrition for better yield.
  • It contributes to the mitigation of climate change effects.
  • It ensures all micro and macro nutrients are available for the growth of the cotton plant.
  • It ensures good water holding capacity.
  • Good soil physical, chemical and biological properties for better production of cotton.

To find out more about Better Cotton’s Impact Targets, follow this link.

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Better Cotton Conference To Spotlight Livelihoods and Traceability

Joe Morphet on May 24, 2023

Better Cotton will host its annual conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, next month, from 21 to 22 June. Taking place at the Felix Meritis, the event will bring together more than 300 industry stakeholders – both in-person and online – representing all stages of the supply chain. Registration is still open and available here.

The conference will be divided into four key themes – Climate Action, Smallholder Livelihoods, Traceability and Data, and Regenerative Agriculture – identified for their impact on the sustainability of the cotton sector.

Each section will be introduced by keynote speakers specially selected for their expert understanding of the topics in focus. Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN, a women-led global network focused on gender and environment, will kickstart the Climate Action theme; Antonie Fountain, CEO of cocoa sector watchdog the Voice Network, will usher in discussion on Smallholder Livelihoods; Maxine Bédat, Founder and Director of ‘think-and-do tank’ the New Standard Institute (NSI) will discuss Traceability and Data; and Felipe Villela, Co-Founder of sustainable farming foundation reNature, will present on the topic of Regenerative Agriculture.

Better Cotton Farmers will feature throughout the course of the event, as we strive to raise awareness of the implications of each theme on cotton producing communities around the world. Farmers and field facilitators from India, Pakistan, Australia, Brazil and Mozambique will be in-attendance, offering attendees unique insights into their operations.

In the Climate Action theme, a practical workshop will be held to explore the potential of carbon finance in cotton production and agriculture more broadly. The session will explore the benefits and potential challenges of insetting and what the introduction of such mechanisms would mean for farmers.

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Altitude Meetings. Better Cotton Conference 2022. Malmö, Sweden, 2022.

In the Livelihoods theme, Voice Network Chief Executive Antonie Fountain will sit alongside Ashlee Tuttleman, Senior Innovation Manager at IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, in an interactive session designed to directly engage the audience on the topic of a living income and how we can work towards this in cotton and beyond. Notably, the pair will address a series of myths around agriculture and livelihoods, before exploring the challenges and opportunities for progress in this space.

With Better Cotton set to launch its own traceability system later this year, the conference’s focus on the topic presents the opportunity for a timely update. Better Cotton’s Senior Traceability Manager, Jacky Broomhead, will sit down with Erin Klett, Senior Director of Research & Policy at Verité, to discuss how brand, retail and supplier members can prime their operations for increased supply chain visibility. Solution providers including TextileGenesis will then join the panel to discuss Better Cotton’s ongoing pilot project in India.

The conference’s fourth and final theme, Regenerative Agriculture, will explore the topic – from its very definition to ambitions of mainstreaming such practices. In an interactive panel discussion, smallholders and large farm owners from around the world – including Almas Parveen from Pakistan and Todd Straley from the United States – will discuss ‘regenerative principles’ put forward by the audience to gauge their real-world applicability.

Across the two-day event, there’ll be a plethora of organisations from across the cotton sector and beyond attending to offer their insights.

Participants include:

  • The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH)
  • Cotton Australia
  • Organic Cotton Accelerator
  • US Cotton Trust Protocol
  • Tony’s Chocolonely
  • Retraced
  • Marks & Spencer
  • John Lewis
  • J.Crew Group
  • WWF
  • Textile Exchange
  • Pesticide Action Network (UK)

Alongside an action-packed agenda, there’ll be ample opportunity to network. On the evening of 20 June, a welcome reception will be hosted at global sustainability initiative Fashion for Good’s Museum, where guests will gain access to a curated cotton exhibition.

A networking dinner will also be held on the evening of 21 June at the Strand Zuid. Registration is available via this link, and we look forward to convening the industry.

A huge thank you to our event sponsors: ChainPoint, Gildan, TextileGenesis, Retraced, Cotton Brazil, Louis Dreyfus Company, ECOM, Spectrum, JFS San, Supima, Olam Agri and Cotton Incorporated.

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Principles and Criteria Revision: How Our ISEAL Membership Helps Us Create More Effective Sustainability Requirements

Joe Morphet on May 22, 2023

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Baran Vardar. Harran, Turkey 2022. Cotton field.

By Natalie Ernst, Farm Sustainability Standards Manager at Better Cotton

At Better Cotton, we recently announced that we have completed the latest revision of our Principles and Criteria (P&C). The P&C is our farm-level standard, setting the licencing requirements that our over two million farmers worldwide have to comply with in order to sell their cotton as ‘Better Cotton’. It helps us to direct our efforts towards areas that deliver clear sustainability improvements at field level, and is a key driver in reaching our ambitious 2030 Strategy.

In 2021, we launched a substantive revision process of the Principles and Criteria. The aim was to align the P&C with global sustainability frameworks and respond to the market’s need for more stringent sustainability requirements, whilst also remaining realistic in our expectations at field level and further strengthening our approach to continuous improvement. We also wanted to ensure that we align with our 2030 Strategy, learnt from the past, filled gaps and retained successful elements of our past standard.

This revision was conducted in compliance with the Codes of Good Practice from ISEAL, a leading authority on sustainability standards. But what exactly is ISEAL, what is Better Cotton’s relationship with the organisation, and what impact did this have on the revision of the Principles and Criteria?

What is ISEAL?

ISEAL is an organisation that exists to support ambitious sustainability systems and their partners to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. It has a growing global network, with members working across more than a hundred countries, in sectors from forestry and seafood to biomaterials and extractives.

The organisation’s Codes of Good Practice support sustainability systems to improve how they operate and deliver greater impact, while its Credibility Principles help businesses and governments make informed choices about the systems they work with, pushing the schemes to further improve.

What is Better Cotton’s relationship with ISEAL?

Better Cotton has been a very active and committed member of ISEAL since 2014. We are now a Code Compliant Member, a status which designates members who have successfully undergone independent evaluations against the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice in Standards-Setting, Assurance and Impacts. Other ISEAL Code Compliant Members include Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council.

What does our compliance with ISEAL mean for our P&C revision?

The P&C revision was carried out in compliance with the ISEAL Standard Setting Code of Good Practice v.6.0, which provides a ‘globally recognised framework, defining practices for effective and credible sustainability systems’. The ISEAL Standard Setting Code requires members to observe best practices to ensure the following among others:

  • Sound and clear standard setting procedures
  • Stakeholder inclusion and participatory consultation
  • Relevance and effectiveness of requirements
  • Transparency and record keeping
  • Consistency between standards and local applicability
  • Resolution of complaints

This mandatory evaluation of these requirements encourages members to really consider and implement good practices and recommendations, making the codes highly effective and credible.

The Standard Setting Code was an incredibly useful tool when it came to shaping the P&C revision, providing a clear and practical framework to ensure that the process was inclusive, transparent, and targeted.

In addition, the access that our ISEAL membership gives to other standard systems allowed us to gather information and learnings from other organisations working on similar projects, enabling us to exchange best practices and find out how others dealt with challenges in defining their requirements.

Similarly, ISEAL provided us with various sources of information, including webinars and publications, that we were able to tap into during the revision, covering both specific technical details and the role of standards more broadly.

Finally, following ISEAL’s code brings increased credibility and trust in our value chain. Stakeholders can have confidence in the fact that the process has been validated by an internationally recognised leader in sustainability standards.

In summary, our membership with ISEAL was a critical part of the revision of our Principles and Criteria, which has led to more effective sustainability requirements, increased credibility and greater ownership among our various stakeholders. To find out more about the revision, please click here.

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Better Cotton Impact Targets: Q&A with Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN

Julia Thordsson on May 19, 2023

Photo Credit: BCI/Vibhor Yadav Location: Kodinar, Gujarat, India. 2019. Description: Cotton community harvesting cotton.
Photo Credit: Nisha Onta, WOCAN

Millions of women around the world dedicate their lives to cotton production, and yet their representation and contributions aren’t fairly reflected within the sector’s hierarchies.

It’s with this in mind that Better Cotton recently launched its 2030 Impact Target for Women’s Empowerment. Over the coming years, we aim to reach one million women in cotton with programmes and resources that promote equal farm decision-making, build climate resilience, or support improved livelihoods. What’s more, we commit to ensuring that 25% of field staff are women with the power to influence sustainable cotton production.

To achieve this, we’ll collaborate closely with leading organisations to create the environment for field-level change. Here, we speak to Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN, to understand the topic’s complexities and obstacles preventing women from advancing their careers in cotton. Nisha is amongst four keynote speakers at this year’s Better Cotton Conference, taking place in Amsterdam from June 21.

Historically, what have been the barriers to access to training for women in sectors such as cotton farming? 

There are a lot of research findings which show that the major barrier for women to access training are time poverty, access to information and restrictions on mobility.

Time poverty simply means there is just not enough free time in the lives of women to add more training to their schedule. It is called the ‘triple burden’ of women. Women are responsible for productive, reproduction and communal roles. Therefore, in order to make sure we want to invite more women to train, organisers will have to provide childcare facilities, the timing of the training has to be reasonable for them and the training should address the triple burden so it is not adding to their already packed schedule of responsibilities.

Access to information is also critical, there are many instances that women are simply not aware of the availability of training or resources. Therefore, the usual mode of communication, such as sending training schedules to local representatives and news in the media might not reach the women we are trying to train. Perhaps using local women cooperatives and other mediums that are accessible to women could increase their participation.

Mobility issues can be due to cultural issues or simply the issue of infrastructure. If the training is scheduled for the evening but local safe transport is not available, for example. In some communities, women may not be allowed to travel to participate in trainings, then the organisers will have to use different strategies to convince the head of the households to give permission for the women to attend.

How influential will the provision of training for women be to increasing their representation in decision-making roles? 

Ensuring that there’s capacity for women to participate in decision-making is critical to increasing their representation. If the system is not designed to include women in leadership positions, no matter how much training is available, they’ll never have equal opportunities. Therefore, a systematic rethink is required to create the space for women to participate and influence the cotton sector they contribute so much to.

How important will support from organisations like Better Cotton be to enabling this shift within the sector? 

Organisations like Better Cotton can be catalysts to advance gender equality in the cotton sector. Better Cotton’s vast network touches millions of farmers around the world and this infrastructure will be important to driving changes at the field-level. Better Cotton’s Women’s Empowerment Impact Target will serve an important purpose to the sector if we’re to see women afforded the chances that have historically been set aside for men.

By 2030, what infrastructural changes would you like to see within agriculture to better support women? 

There needs to be the space for women to voice their opinion and influence the sector’s development through decision-making positions. There has to be more direct resources such as trainings, credit and grants for women led business.  These changes will inspire and impact future generations across agriculture and may also encourage the creation of more women-led businesses in the cotton value chain.

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Better Cotton Offers Input on US Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides

Julia Thordsson on May 15, 2023

Photo Credit: BCI/Seun Adatsi. Location: Kolondieba, Mali. 2019. Description: Aerial view of a field in a cotton farm.

Better Cotton has submitted feedback to the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of an ongoing review of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides).

The FTC is a bipartisan federal agency of the US government that champions the interests of American consumers. Its Green Guides framework was launched in 1992 to ensure that product sustainability claims made by companies are accurate and substantiated, with guidance updated intermittently to best reflect a modern context.

The guidance made available to companies covers general principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims, including information on how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims and how these can be substantiated, and how marketers can qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers.

As part of this latest review, Better Cotton has submitted feedback to ensure that the document considers an agricultural context and what constitutes progress at field-level.

Notably, one of the six components of the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) is our Claims Framework, through which we provide support to eligible members to communicate their commitment to Better Cotton in a clear, transparent and credible way.

The ability for Better Cotton Members to communicate about their financial investment in Better Cotton to consumers strengthens their commitment to our farm-level programmes which seek social, environmental and economic improvements for cotton farmers and farming communities.

Better Cotton is supportive of the FTC’s initiative, through its revised Guides, to establish a common framework through which US companies can ensure they communicate their sustainability efforts in a credible, verifiable and accurate manner.

In doing so, businesses benefit from a level playing field and are empowered to continually pursue bolder sustainability targets with the opportunity to relay such ambitions to an increasingly sustainability-conscious consumer base.

That said, to improve the guidance in its current form, Better Cotton considers that the FTC should continue to include examples of substantiation from a range of methods and avoid limiting substantiation to one standard methodology.

Establishing one single method as the standard methodology for the substantiation of claims such as lifecycle analysis (LCA) or product environmental footprints (PEF) would not be appropriate as, to date, there is no standard methodology available that can cover all relevant impact categories for all product types.

Moreover, LCA raises specific challenges when applied to an agricultural context. If this approach is adopted in the revised Guides, some of the most trusted and widely used sustainability schemes and their labels would effectively be unable to provide environmental marketing claims for their members.

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Better Cotton Impact Targets: Q&A with Tamar Hoek, Better Cotton Council Member and Solidaridad’s Senior Policy Director for Sustainable Fashion

Julia Thordsson on May 12, 2023

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Eugénie Bacher. Harran, Turkey 2022. Cotton field.
Photo Credit: Tamar Hoek

Ninety-nine percent of the world’s cotton farmers are smallholders. And whilst production capacities per farmer may be small, together, they represent the bedrock of an entire industry, enabling its global reach.

With the launch of our recent 2030 Impact Target to promote Sustainable Livelihoods, we’re committed to increasing the net income and resilience of two million cotton farmers and workers.

It’s a bold ambition and one we won’t be able to reach without the support of a vast network of partners. In this Q&A, we hear from Better Cotton Council member and Solidaridad’s Senior Policy Director for Sustainable Fashion, Tamar Hoek, about the complexity of this topic and the role Better Cotton can play in supporting smallholders.

In supporting the development of Better Cotton’s Smallholder Livelihoods Impact Target, what issues were you and Solidaridad most keen to see the organisation address and how do you think its target will contribute to achieving this?

We are glad that Better Cotton decided to include net income and resilience for farmers as one of its targets. The livelihoods of farmers and farm workers depend on the price that is paid for the cotton but also on how capable the farmer is of dealing with uncertainties in production. For Solidaridad, the topic of living income has been high on our agenda for years. With the scale that Better Cotton brings, this new target can potentially lead to a higher income for a lot of farmers around the world, which is the first step towards a living income. The target will hopefully lead to appropriate tools for increasing net income, greater awareness in the value chain, best practices and income benchmarks that are needed to eventually scale the improvements.

With the scale that Better Cotton brings, this new target can potentially lead to a higher income for a lot of farmers around the world, which is the first step towards a living income.

Tamar Hoek, Better Cotton Council member and Solidaridad’s Senior Policy Director for Sustainable Fashion

What influence would increasing cotton farmers’ net income have on their ability to promote more sustainable agricultural practices and react to shocks and stressors in the market and the environment?

First of all, increasing a net income should give the farmer the opportunity to improve their livelihood, the situation of his/her family and to save for unexpected situations. Then, improvements can allow for payment of better wages and working conditions, the purchase of health and safety equipment, and perhaps investment into more sustainable pesticides and fertilisers. We all know that the price that is paid for cotton is not enough for all of these investments, both socially and environmentally. Therefore, the increase of the price – and with that the net income – is a start that will allow for a lot of improvements that are needed for more sustainable production. (Editor’s note: While Better Cotton strives for the collective improvement of sustainable livelihoods, our programmes have no direct influence over pricing or commercial activities)

Given Better Cotton’s global reach, can you discuss the potential for its Impact Target to address structural poverty which persists in the sector?

Hopefully, Better Cotton will join forces with other organisations in the industry to scale the impact of the target and collectively come to a living income demand for all cotton farmers in the world. Better Cotton will need to lobby with policymakers, local governments and other stakeholders in the value chain to make sure that the right enabling environment is in place to get rid of systemic issues. Addressing structural poverty is ambitious but that will not happen overnight with just raising the net income of a group of farmers and looking at their resilience. It eventually needs a whole value chain to change and, for that, Better Cotton needs to work collaboratively.

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Carbon Insetting: What Is It, and How Does It Differ From Carbon Offsetting?

Joe Morphet on May 4, 2023

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Vibhor Yadav. Location: Kodinar, Gujarat, India. 2019. Description: Cotton plant.
Photo credit: Nathanael Dominici

By Nathanael Dominici, Climate Change Manager at Better Cotton

A term that is regularly used in discussions around climate action is ‘carbon offsetting’, a practice by which a reduction or removal of greenhouse gas emissions is made in order to offset emissions created elsewhere. Through this mechanism, companies frequently compensate for their emissions by purchasing credits from an organisation that is implementing climate projects which generate certified credits, for example through reforestation.

However, a new term that is becoming more common in climate discourse is ‘carbon insetting’. What does this term mean, how does it differ from carbon offsetting, and what is Better Cotton doing in this space? Ahead of a session on carbon finance that we will be running at the Better Cotton Conference in June, let’s explore what carbon insetting means.

What Is Carbon Insetting?

Carbon insetting is similar to carbon offsetting, in the sense that it acts to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. However, the key difference is that while offsetting can often see harmful emissions offset by activities that aren’t linked to the original source of the emissions – such as a European airline paying for credits to finance reforestation in South America – carbon insetting instead refers to interventions that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions within a company’s own value chains.

Insetting promotes a more holistic view of the full lifecycle of a business’s activities, taking into account both upstream activities (e.g. the purchase of raw materials and transport) and downstream activities (e.g. product use and end of life). Through insetting, companies can partner with key stakeholders in their value chains to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation targets.

Insetting interventions tend to be based on the implementation of climate-smart practices at farm level and with local communities. Minimising the use of synthetic inputs, installing drip irrigation systems and renewable energy technologies, minimising tillage practices and maximising cover and intercropping are all examples of activities that could generate insetting credits. There are also co-benefits of these interventions; through the conservation and restoration of landscapes, they both build climate resilience and create stability in a company’s supply chain.

Photo credit: International Platform for Insetting (IPI). Description: What is insetting? This image was developed by the International Platform for Insetting (IPI), a business-led organisation which advocates for climate action at the source of global value.

What Is Better Cotton Doing About Carbon Insetting?

At Better Cotton, we are working on developing our own carbon insetting framework to promote and incentivise sustainable agricultural practices, with the support of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Our belief is that insetting mechanisms can accelerate environmental and social progress, supporting smallholder livelihoods across our network.

Our aspiration is that our traceability system, due to launch later this year, will provide the backbone for this insetting mechanism. Once implemented, we aim to enable retailers and brands to find out which region the cotton they purchased was produced in, and to allow them to purchase credits that reward farmers and incentivise them to improve their field practices. To learn more about our work on traceability, head to this link.

We will be exploring carbon insetting further as part of a session on climate finance at the Better Cotton Conference 2023, taking place on 21 and 22 June in Amsterdam and online. One of the four key themes of the conference will be Climate Action, bringing together climate experts from a range of sectors to build on the discussions on climate action held at the Better Cotton Conference 2022. The Climate Action theme will be introduced by climate change and gender expert Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN. To find out more about the Better Cotton Conference, head to this link.

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Data & Impact Series: How We Use Complementary Methods to Evaluate Impact

Joe Morphet on May 3, 2023

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Morgan Ferrar Location: Şanlıurfa, Turkey. 2019 Description: Farm worker holding freshly picked cotton.

This is the second article in our Data & Impact series, where we explore Better Cotton’s data-driven approach to measuring and reporting impact. After looking at our new and improved reporting model, we are now shining a spotlight on how we evaluate impact.

We spoke to Eliane Augareils, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager at Better Cotton, to find out more.

Photo credit: Better Cotton. Description: Eliane Augareils

Why is evaluation important for Better Cotton?

To ensure our programmes are making a difference and we are contributing substantially to more sustainable cotton production, we need to understand the environmental, social and economic impact of the Better Cotton Standard System. A key part of that is ensuring effective evaluation. Evaluation complements monitoring so that we can understand how and why changes do or don’t happen, and whether those changes can be attributed to the interventions of Better Cotton and its partners.

How does Better Cotton evaluate impact?

We use complementary research and evaluation methods, and work with independent organisations and researchers to assess field-level impacts. A diversity of approaches is required to effectively measure results and impact both at scale and in depth — as no single approach or methodology can meet all the needs for understanding the reach, efficiency, results, and ultimately impact, of a sustainability initiative.

How does the Better Cotton Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Programme work?

Our MEL Programme focuses on farm-level results, to measure what matters most according to our Theory of Change: continuous improvement of environmental, social and economic conditions in cotton cultivation.

Through our MEL Programme, we collect farm-level data over time to analyse the evolution of Better Cotton farmers in terms of practices, sustainable performance and results. Through third-party research, we aim to demonstrate that this evolution can be attributed fully or partially to Better Cotton’s interventions, and to quantify our contribution to positive change.

At Better Cotton, we are equally interested in demonstrating our contribution to change as we are in attributing that change to Better Cotton interventions.

Which complementary evaluation methods does Better Cotton use?

We work in parallel on three levels of monitoring & evaluation: programme-wide monitoring, sampled monitoring, and research.

Programme-wide monitoring

The first element of our MEL Programme is programme-wide monitoring, through which we capture information, self-reported by farmers, on Better Cotton’s reach. This information includes the total number of Better Cotton Farmers, the number of hectares under cultivation and the volumes of Better Cotton produced. By measuring this reach data, we can assess the progress that we are making towards reaching our vision of a world where all cotton farming is sustainable.

Sampled monitoring

We also collect data from a sample of Better Cotton Farmers to assess their socioeconomic and environmental performance. We use these farm-level results to see whether the Better Cotton Farmers are achieving better performance results after joining a Better Cotton programme.

Going forward, rather than reporting on results in one season as we have done in the past (comparing the results from Better Cotton Farmers and non-Better Cotton Farmers in one given season), we are now starting to report on the performance of Better Cotton Farmers over a multi-year timeframe. This approach, combined with enhanced contextual reporting, will bring improved transparency and strengthen the sector’s understanding of local cotton-growing conditions and national trends. It will also help us confirm whether Better Cotton Farmers are improving over an extended period. To read more about this, check out the previous blog in this series.

Research

Finally, Better Cotton commissions independent studies to collect and analyse data from Better Cotton Farmers, and sometimes from non-Better Cotton Farmers as well. These studies use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Qualitative or mixed approaches allow us to hear in the farmers’ own words whether and how they feel that their participation in Better Cotton programmes is leading to positive change for them.

The comparison of Better Cotton Farmers’ and non-Better Cotton Farmers’ results at different points in time allows the researchers to identify and quantify the impact of Better Cotton’s interventions.

For example, between 2019 and 2022, Wageningen University conducted a study on Better Cotton’s impact in India. You can find more research papers on the ‘Demonstrating Results and Impact’ page of the Better Cotton website, under the ‘Independent Research and Evaluation’ section.

Depending on the needs and resources at hand, Better Cotton also commissions:

  • Outcome Evaluations: usually collecting baseline and endline data from Better Cotton Farmers, either for a specific project or across several Programme Partners.
  • Case Studies: using a smaller sample size to look at a specific topic or research question, using mostly qualitative or mixed approaches.

Lastly, we regularly provide farm-level (anonymised) data and give interviews to academic researchers or other research organisations that conduct independent research on sustainable cotton production.

How does Better Cotton ensure its evaluation is effective?

Next to our own internal policies and processes for monitoring and evaluation, the Better Cotton Standard System has also been independently evaluated against ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice.

Being ISEAL Code Compliant, alongside other sector leaders such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, means we are meeting rigorous international standards for monitoring and evaluation. We are committed to gradually improving the way we measure and report our progress and demonstrate our impact, investing in the reliability of the data we collect and in the robustness of our evaluation methods.

Find out more about our approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning here.

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