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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Better Cotton will be at the forefront of cutting-edge sustainability conversations as it holds its symposium for Programme Partners in Phuket, Thailand from 6th – 8th February 2023. Over 130 representatives from across six countries will be attending in-person alongside the Better Cotton Council and its CEO, Alan McClay. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together Better Cotton Programme Partners to inspire progress, share best practices for implementing the Standard and to update partners on the latest exciting new initiatives. Programme Partners are the organisations that Better Cotton works with to reach millions of farmers, workers and their communities to improve the way they grow cotton.
One of the major themes spearheading this year’s symposium is the need to adapt to climate change and address the cotton sector’s future impacts to ensure more sustainable livelihoods.
The ‘Innovations Marketplace’ symposium is the first since the pandemic and provides an important opportunity for cross-sector dialogue between local partners in Thailand and international agricultural, commodities, textile and supply chain stakeholders. This annual event provides a unique forum to discuss the ground-breaking innovative tools and practices that have greatly impacted and shaped farmers growing Better Cotton. It will also provide the latest updates on the revised Better Cotton Standard, which lays out the global definition of guiding principles and criteria.
Innovations Marketplace
As in previous years, Better Cotton’s members, including the farmers they work with, can reflect on the insights, shifts and developments that have taken place to support and improve field practices. In past meetings, they have seen ground-breaking examples, from new farming models and training activities to alternative farming delivery mechanisms.
Day one highlights Better Cotton’s Climate Change Approach and includes a panel interview with Programme Partners on farm-level mitigation and adaptation best practices. In addition, climate data and its critical data points that help monitor climate change to benefit smallholders will be discussed. Attendees will also get the chance to hear the latest on Better Cotton’s Traceability programme and its links to insetting, farmer remuneration and payment for ecosystem services.
Day two highlights will focus on farmer and smallholder livelihoods with a panel on best practices for livelihood improvement and increased resilience of communities. Another key topic for discussion will be technology and how it can be leveraged further to support smallholders.
The full agenda topics being covered across the two days include:
Climate action and capacity building
Better Cotton’s Approach to Climate Change
Farm-level mitigation and adaptation practices – Technical expert and Partner contributions
Launch of the Online Resource Centre (ORC)
Climate change and links to data and traceability
A training cascade workshop – focusing on a follow-up to the farmer centricity and Field Facilitator / Producer Unit (PU) Manager surveys
Livelihoods – Better Cotton’s Approach, partner activities and discussions on future plans
Climate and livelihood innovations
Innovations marketplace
We’re hugely excited that the meeting is returning to a face-to-face format after two years of remote events and are looking forward to the fantastic opportunities for networking and idea sharing to support farmer livelihoods that this will bring.
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Florian Lang Location: Surendranagar, Gujarat, India. 2018. Description: Better Cotton Farmer Vinodbhai Patel is explaining to a Field Facilitator (right) how the soil is benefiting form the presence of earthworms.
Better Cotton has published a management response to a recently-published independent study carried out by Wageningen University and Research (WUR). The study, ‘Towards more sustainable cotton farming in India’, explores how cotton farmers who implemented Better Cotton recommended agricultural practices achieved improvements in profitability, reduced synthetic input use, and overall sustainability in farming.
The three year-long evaluation aimed to validate the impact of Better Cotton on agrochemical use and profitability among cotton farmers participating in Better Cotton’s programmes in Maharashtra and Telangana, India. It found that Better Cotton Farmers were able to reduce costs, improve overall profitability, and safeguard the environment more effectively, compared with non-Better Cotton Farmers.
The management response to the study provides acknowledgement and analysis of its findings. It includes the next steps that Better Cotton will take to ensure that the findings of the evaluation are used to strengthen our organisational approach and contribute to continuous learning.
The study was commissioned by IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Better Cotton.
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Better Cotton Management Response: Validating The Impact of Better Cotton on Cotton Farmers in India
We are pleased to confirm the launch of a Better Cotton Programme in Uzbekistan. As the sixth largest cotton producer globally, this programme brings us one step closer to our vision of a world where sustainable cotton is the norm.
Uzbekistan’s cotton sector has come a long way in recent times. After years of well-documented issues of systemic forced labour, the Uzbek government, International Labour Organization (ILO), Cotton Campaign, civil society institutions and human rights activists have been successful in driving state-led labour reforms in the Uzbek cotton industry. As a result, Uzbekistan has successfully eliminated systemic child labour and forced labour in its cotton sector, according to recent ILO findings.
Driving more progress across the Uzbek cotton sector
Building on this success, Better Cotton believes that commercial incentives can help ensure that the newly privatised cotton sector continues to reform and meet international standards. The Better Cotton Programme in Uzbekistan has the potential to provide that incentive by linking cotton farmers to international markets and supporting them to continuously improve their practices.
Through implementation of the Better Cotton Standard System, we will provide robust and credible decent work monitoring systems that can demonstrate impact and results made on the ground. We will also introduce physical traceability, under which cotton from licensed farms will be fully segregated and traced through the supply chain. Any licensed Better Cotton from Uzbekistan will, at the present time, not be sold via the mass balance chain of custody.
Better Cotton exists to work in contexts with both environmental and social challenges. Uzbekistan’s cotton sector, government and the farms themselves have made enormous progress, and we are looking forward to building on this multi-stakeholder engagement and to drive further positive change across the sector.
Better Cotton CEO Alan McClay.
The Participating Farms
The International Finance Corporation and GIZ began piloting implementation of the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria in Uzbekistan in 2017. The pilots provided a strong entry point for our programme, with 12 large farms already benefiting from significant training, six of which have maintained participation. These are the same six farms now participating in the programme during the 2022-23 cotton season. All the farms were assessed against the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria by trained and approved third-party verifiers.
Farms with manual picking received additional decent work monitoring visits that focused on extensive worker and community interviews, along with management interviews and documentation reviews. This additional decent work monitoring looked specifically at labour risks due to the country’s past challenges. In total, nearly 600 workers, management and community leaders, local authorities, and other stakeholders (including civil society actors) were interviewed as part of our decent work monitoring. The findings of these third-party verification visits and the decent work monitoring were documented and discussed with technical labour experts and contributed to our enhanced assurance activities, which confirmed that no systemic forced labour was present on any of the farms. Like in all other Better Cotton countries, not all participating farms received a license this season. We will continue to support both the farms that received licenses as well as those who were denied licenses through our capacity building efforts so that they can continuously improve their practices, and are equipped to meet the core requirements of the Standard moving forward.
Looking Ahead
As we begin our work in Uzbekistan, we are concentrating on several key areas where progress still needs to be made. These include ensuring the effective implementation of labour unions and the appropriate use of worker contracts. We are energised by the progress that has been but do not expect our journey ahead to be without challenges. We will succeed together thanks to a solid foundation, strong partnerships, and commitment from all involved stakeholders.
We look forward to supporting the continuous improvement of Uzbek cotton production.
Lisa Ventura joined Better Cotton in March 2022 as our first Public Affairs Manager. She had previously worked for more than eight years at the World Economic Forum, focusing on public-private partnerships and engaging stakeholders to drive social change. With a keen interest in business and human rights, she collaborated with business, public sector and civil society leaders to build a more resilient, inclusive global economy.
We caught up with Lisa to seek her thoughts on how Better Cotton will engage in the sustainability legislative landscape and beyond.
Why is Better Cotton becoming more active in advocacy and policy making?
To fulfil our mission and help transform cotton production, while also supporting more sustainable sourcing and trade, we need a supportive public policy environment. Better Cotton aims to advocate for policies that support millions of farmers and farm workers worldwide to grow cotton more sustainably and improve their livelihoods.
Concretely, what does this mean?
We will engage in public policy advocacy in a variety of ways. First, by engaging with think tanks, other sustainability standards, civil society, governments, international organisations, brands and retailers to ensure the farmers and farm workers’ interests are at the heart of policy-making.
Secondly, we are keeping our Better Cotton Principles & Criteria (P&C) up to date. For example, following a public consultation in the past few months, we are currently reviewing the P&C to ensure it not only complies with new legislation, but also sets an ambitious framework for sustainable farming.
Finally, we will partner more with our country offices and other local stakeholders to address barriers to restoring the environment and upholding good labour standards.
Could you name one upcoming piece of legislation that you are closely monitoring and why?
There are quite a few, but one that is top of my mind is the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. We commend that this directive covers both adverse environmental and human rights impacts across organisations – and their supply chains. It is an important step forward.
However, we want to ensure that farmers and farm workers’ livelihoods are taken into consideration in such policies, so far they are at risk of being excluded of global markets. Furthermore the EU should cooperate with all developing countries, especially producing ones to develop policies that will address the root causes of climate change and truly support smallholders and other vulnerable groups.
This directive will also help create growing momentum for enabling transparent supply chains. Better Cotton is currently developing a physical traceability solution that we believe can truly transform the cotton sector and support millions of farmers.
Any reflections from COP27?
One of COP27’s four priorities was collaboration. With growing inequality, it’s vital to re-affirm a commitment to the global climate agenda, while ensuring the participation of all relevant stakeholders. I did notice a lack of representation from the groups and countries most affected by climate change, such as indigenous peoples to smallholder farmers.
More action is needed to support vulnerable communities, where people are increasingly on the frontline of climate change. In addition, smallholder farmers currently receive just 1% of agricultural funds, yet represent a third of production. We need new ways to help farmers and producers gain access to finance in order for them to adapt to climate change, diversify their businesses and adopt sustainable practices. Sharing success stories at COP27 is central to replicating and scaling these approaches. For example, ABRAPA, the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers and a Better Cotton’s Strategic Partner,[1] explained how farm owners were remunerated for preserving an area greater than that required by Brazilian law.[2] This has a direct impact on farmers’ livelihoods.
This article was first published by Sourcing Journal on 9 December 2022
Improving farming starts with people. For cotton, that means smallholders: Ninety-nine percent of the world’s cotton farmers are operating on a small scale. And it is those smallholders that are most adversely affected by sustainability issues like poor soil quality, poverty, working conditions and the effects of the climate crisis.
As Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton, said during a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal sourcing and labour editor Jasmin Malik Chua, sustainable agriculture practices go hand-in-hand with contributing to viable livelihoods for farmers. Better Cotton is currently conducting a revision of its standard, with one focus being alleviating poverty among farmers and workers.
“We’re working to ensure that the shift towards climate-smart, regenerative farming and resilient communities is socially and economically inclusive for those literally millions of individuals concerned by this agricultural production,” he said. “Change can take a generation sometimes, and for some situations, a generation is far too long. We need to bring about rapid change as best we can.”
A study in two regions of India, conducted by the Netherlands’ Wageningen University, found that Better Cotton farmers received 13 cents more per kilogram of cotton, which averaged to a seasonal profitability of $82 per acre. “When you can increase yields and profitability, you’re obviously going to help the smallholders rise above the poverty line,” McClay said.
This focus on financial welfare can also contribute to a better position for women working in the cotton industry. Women, who are often dealing with lower wages, can be a key driver for improving sustainability, provided they have the right resources. One study found that just a third of women cotton cultivators in Maharashtra, India attended any training in 2018-19. But once women were given access to training, adoption of better farming practices rose by up to 40 percent.
“Everything is interconnected,” McClay said. “You pull one thread, and then you’re going to be causing effects across the chain. So you have to make sure you understand the complexity of the whole system.”
To understand the impact of the Better Cotton standard, the organization collects millions of data points from farms. It is also leveraging external assessments, partnerships with other institutions as well as digital and cloud-based tools to improve the reliability of its data. In India, a pilot with startup Agritask aims to create a “learning feedback loop” for farmers so they can make improvements based on data.
Physical segregation of Better Cotton between farms and gins has been in place up until now, but the need for increased visibility throughout the rest of the supply chain has grown as legislation makes ethical sourcing a requirement rather than a choice. As a result, the organization has embarked on an ambitious traceability program. Better Cotton’s current method of volume tracking through mass balance will likely be joined by new traceability chain of custody models that will increase the visibility of Better Cotton supply chains. In turn, this should make it easier for farmers to be rewarded for their sustainability improvements, such as remunerating them for carbon sequestration. Pilots are now underway in Mozambique, Turkey and India to test these new models along with assessing accompanying digital tools.
“Of all the agricultural supply chains, cotton is possibly the most complicated and the most obscure,” McClay said. “This will help shed some light across the supply chain.”
Watch this video to learn more about Better Cotton’s approach to social and environmental change and how it is measuring the impact of its standard.
The pre-summit hype is all around a ‘Paris moment’ for the planet’s dangerously overstretched ecosystems. Environmental groups are desperately hoping for a set of ambitious, globally agreed targets that will not only protect what biodiversity remains, but also restore precious ecosystems that have been lost.
It is a prescient, planet-saving goal. And it’s one that global agriculture needs to embrace as firmly as any. A staggering 69 per cent of wildlife has been lost over the last fifty years, with “changes to land use” (a euphemism for the extension of industrial agriculture) identified as the chief culprit of this dramatic decline.
As government negotiators gather yet again, therefore, it is imperative that land – and agriculture’s role in managing it – is foremost in their minds. How we use it, what we use it for, and how can we best conserve it?
Success or failure with regards to the future of the world’s land and its ability to sustain life is one determining factor: soil health. The earth beneath our feet is so ubiquitous that it is easy to take it for granted, but it literally provides the building bricks of life.
Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton
Just one teaspoon of healthy soil can contain more microorganisms than the total number of people alive today. These crucially important microbes are responsible for transforming plant residues and other organisms into nutrients – nutrients that then feed the crops that provide 95 per cent of the world’s food.
The headline images of today’s biodiversity collapse are all too evident: decimated forests, dried out rivers, expanding deserts, flash floods, and so on. What is happening underground is as bad if not worse. Decades of mismanagement and pollution have given rise to a massive degradation in the soil biome, which, if not stalled and ideally reversed, will persist in bringing land fertility close to zero and crops and other plant life to wholesale collapse.
Declining soil health
Photo Credit: BCI/Florian Lang Location: Surendranagar, Gujarat, India. 2018. Description: BCI Farmer Vinodbhai Patel is comparing soil from his field with the soil from a neighboring field.
Healthy soils are, in fact, widely credited with helping sequester carbon. And it is not only environmentalists and climate groups who are worried about soil health. Agricultural businesses are concerned too. According to the United Nations, two-fifths of the world’s soils are now degraded, while a significant minority (12-14 per cent) of agricultural and grazing land is already experiencing “persistent, long-term decline”.
Agribusiness does not have to wait for the inevitable hit to its bottom-line. Farmers in Pakistan, for example, tragically saw 45 per cent of all their cropland disappear under water after terrible floods in August. Droughts in California, meanwhile, have seen available farmland shrink by nearly 10 per cent this year, with lost profits calculated at US$1.7 billion. As for continental Europe and the UK, lack of rain is causing average annual farming losses of around US$9.24 billion.
Stemming the decline in soil health will not be easy, but a future of continued degradation and reduction in land fertility does not have to be inevitable. Soil science is advancing at incredible speed, offering an ever-greater understanding of how soil ecosystems operate and what contributes to healthy soils.
Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton
Sustainable agronomy and agricultural technology are also advancing at pace. Take the rapid development of biofertilizers in place of nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers, which increase soil acidity and harm microbial life when overused. The market for fertilizers made from fungi, for instance, is projected to grow in double digits in coming years, with valuations exceeding US$1 billion by 2027.
Important as scientific breakthroughs promise to be, many steps for effectively managing soil health are already well-known. Reducing tilling (no-till or low-till), use of cover crops, complex crop rotation, and rotating livestock with crops are just some of the practices proven to prevent erosion and improve soil biology.
All these approaches form part of the guidance and training that Better Cotton is currently providing to cotton farmers across the world. Under our revised principles, all Better Cotton farmers are also encouraged to develop soil management plans. Where relevant, these include a commitment to reduce their use of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides, ideally swapping them for organic alternatives.
Responsible soil management
Similar moves are afoot elsewhere. The US-based Soil Health Institute, for example, recently established a Regenerative Cotton Fund with the objective of incentivising farmers to implement progressive soil management techniques on over one million hectares of US cotton cropland.
At a farm level, approaches to soil management will inevitably differ. Soil type, climatic conditions, farm size, crop type, and a host of other variables will influence precisely what strategy farmers develop. Common to all, however, will be the integration of other sustainable practices, from steps to mitigate carbon emissions through to measures to protect water resources. Each feeds into the other.
As an organisation that exists to improve farmers’ livelihoods, it is our conviction that improving soil health will deliver for cotton growers as well as the planet.
Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton
The evidence base is still growing, but initial field trials show a clear connection between sustainable soil management and cotton’s yield attributes. For other crops, meanwhile, responsible soil management has been shown to increase average yields by up to 58 per cent.
Yield effects aside, there are also market trends to consider. Faced with growing consumer pressure, big brands are expressing ever greater interest in the social and environmental footprint of the raw material they buy. Brands such as Patagonia, the North Face, Allbirds, Timberland, Mara Hoffman, and Gucci are some of those in the US$1.3-trillion fashion industry now actively seeking out ‘regenerative’ fabrics.
With charges of ‘greenwashing’ so rife these days, it is essential to have robust mechanisms in place to back up soil-health claims. While many certification initiatives now exist, such as regenagri and Regenerative Organic Certified, there’s no authoritative ‘stamp’ as yet. For our part, we are in the process of developing formal guidance for Better Cotton farmers. Clarity here will not only help producers give buyers the assurances that they seek, but it will assist in providing alignment with other emerging standards in this space.
Strong as the logic is in favour of promoting soil health in global agriculture, old habits die hard. If industrial farming is to wean itself off environmentally damaging, short-term farming practices, a strong steer from government is needed. In fact, the inability of governments to act decisively is concerning. Most obviously, polluters need to be made to pay. More generally the markets need a level playing field to enable environmental initiatives to succeed. Equitable financial incentives, too, such as a recently announced US$135-million grant by the US and other international donors to expand fertilizer and soil health programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, are much needed.
As environmental delegates jet in for their next summit, be it in Montreal this week or elsewhere in the near future, a word of advice: look down – part of the solution is almost certainly right there under your feet.
In the first of a series of articles on data and impact reporting, we explore what our data-driven approach to measuring and reporting on impact will mean for Better Cotton
Alia Malik, Senior Director, Data and Traceability, Better Cotton
By Alia Malik, Senior Director, Data and Traceability, Better Cotton
At Better Cotton, we are guided by a principle of continuous improvement. From piloting new farmer tools to our Principles and Criteria revision, we are constantly looking for new ways to best support cotton communities while protecting and restoring the environment. For the last 18 months, we have been optimising our approach to monitoring and reporting results and are happy to announce the development of a new and improved external reporting model that will deliver greater insights and transparency to our programme.
Field-level reporting up until now
Up until now, Better Cotton reported on the results of licensed farmers by gathering data and comparing their performance on specific indicators against those of similar, non-participating farmers, referred to as Comparison Farmers. Under this framework, we sought to determine whether, on average, Better Cotton Farmers did better than the Comparison Farmers in the same country during one growing season. For example, in the 2019-20 season, we measured that Better Cotton Farmers in Pakistan used 11% less water on average than Comparison Farmers.
This approach was appropriate in the first phase of Better Cotton’s journey, from 2010. It helped us build an evidence base for Better Cotton-promoted practices and allowed us to demonstrate results in just one season while we were rapidly scaling up the programme. However, as Better Cotton’s reach neared the majority of cotton producers in some countries like Mozambique, and in certain production regions of some countries, it became increasingly challenging to obtain reliable data for Comparison Farmers with similar growing conditions and socio-economic situations. In addition, as our organisation and Monitoring & Evaluation department has matured, we recognised that now is the time to strengthen our impact measurement methodologies. So, in 2020, we phased out the collection of Comparison Farmer data. We then faced delays in developing needed IT infrastructure due to the Covid pandemic, but in 2021 began the complex shift to a new analytical approach.
Tracking trends over time, with a suite of evidence and more context
Rather than reporting on results in one season for Better Cotton Farmers vs Comparison Farmers, in the future, Better Cotton will report on the performance of Better Cotton Farmers over a multi-year timeframe. This approach, combined with enhanced contextual reporting, will improve transparency and strengthen the sector’s understanding of local cotton-growing conditions and national trends. It will also help us determine whether Better Cotton Farmers are demonstrating improvement over an extended period.
Measuring results trends over time is especially relevant in the context of agriculture because of the many factors — some beyond farmers’ control like changing rain patterns, floods, or extreme pest pressure — that can skew a single season’s results. In addition to the enhanced annual results monitoring, we will continue to engage in targeted deep dive research to assess how and why we see the results we do and measure the extent to which the programme is contributing to them.
Ultimately, Better Cotton is committed to promoting and catalysing positive farm-level impact at scale and we’re in it for the long run. Over the last 12 years, we have built up programmes in partnership with dozens of national expert organisations, millions of small-scale farmers, and thousands of individual farmers in large farm contexts. This work happens in the midst of increasing climate change risks, unpredictable weather, and fast evolving policy landscapes. In our current strategic phase toward 2030 and as we work to establish traceability, we also commit to further increase our credibility through more transparent reporting to demonstrate where and how progress is being made and where there is still room for improvement.
Other changes we are making for improved reporting
In addition to the longitudinal approach, we will also be integrating new farm performance indicators into our reporting model as well as a commitment to country life cycle assessments (LCAs).
Farm Performance Indicators
We will incorporate new social and environmental indicators from the newly released Delta Framework. Instead of our previous eight results indicators, we will measure our progress on the 15 from the Delta Framework, plus others linked to our revised Principles and Criteria. This includes new indicators on greenhouse gas emissions and water productivity, among others.
Commitment to country LCAs
Better Cotton has taken a principled approach over the years to not conduct a global life cycle assessment (LCA) due to the numerous credibility pitfalls of using global LCA averages for measuring and claiming programmatic impact. However, the science behind LCAs for some indicators is sound, and Better Cotton recognises that for industry alignment it must adopt an LCA approach. As such, we are currently developing plans for country LCAs that are credible and cost-effective to complement Better Cotton’s multifaceted impact measurement efforts.
Timeline for implementation
2021: The transition to this new reporting model requires a more robust data gathering and management system. Better Cotton began investment in a major upgrade of its digital data management tools to enable this shift in our analysis and reporting approach.
2022: Considering the scale and reach of Better Cotton, the adjustment takes considerable time, and the new reporting model is still under refinement. Pausing our reporting this year is required to help us put this new system in place.
2023: We plan to launch a call for technical proposals for development of country LCAs in early 2023 and aim to have one to two country LCAs completed by the end of the year to complement our holistic reporting.
More information
Find out more about Better Cotton’s approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning:
Better Cotton is pleased to announce that we will host our 2023 Better Cotton Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands as well as online on 21 and 22 June.
The conference will help to drive our ambitious mission and strategic direction onward whilst highlighting the important work and perspectives of others working on the same issues.
Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and experts to explore the most salient issues in sustainable cotton production such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, traceability, livelihoods and regenerative agriculture. In addition, we’re delighted to invite members to attend an Annual Member Meeting which we will host during the conference.
Save21-22 June 2023 in your calendars to join the Better Cotton community at this major event for stakeholders in the sustainable cotton sector.
A huge thank you to our 2023 sponsors. We have a variety of sponsorship packages available, please contact [email protected] to find out more.
2023 Sponsors
The 2022 Better Cotton Conference brought together 480 participants, 64 speakers and 49 nationalities.Read more
Minimising the impact of crop protection practices is central to producing Better Cotton. It’s a key part of the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria (P&C) and represents a significant focus of our partners’ farmer capacity building programmes. Pesticides should be used as a last resort once all other methods have been exhausted. However, a certain level of pesticide use is sometimes necessary, and some are worse than others. The best and most realistic course of action is reducing their use, eliminating the use of harmful synthetic pesticides and enabling farmers to gain access to sustainable alternatives.
That’s why we’re taking our efforts to help Better Cotton Farmers reduce chemical pesticide use to the next level, as we strive towards a new pesticide reduction target for 2030. The upcoming target builds on our existing integrated pest management (IPM) approach, together with extensive research and collaboration with partners, and will be strengthened by revisions to our P&C pesticide requirements. It’s one of the four remaining 2030 Better Cotton targets to be announced (a climate change mitigation target was launched with the 2030 Strategy in December 2021).
Cotton growing can involve high levels of pesticide application, including the use of highly hazardous synthetic pesticides in some countries, with potential toxic impacts for humans, wildlife and the environment. We require Better Cotton farmers to use only nationally registered products for cotton, and have banned products classified as highly hazardous synthetic pesticides and acute toxic substances. We promote the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and the correct handling and application of pesticides. However, we know that smallholder farmers can be particularly at risk due to limited availability of PPE and a lack of access to the skills, knowledge and alternative inputs they need to change their practices.
IPM is a guiding approach that is based on an integrated pest control strategy, without relying on any single technique, particularly application of pesticides. It includes:
Selecting the best locally adapted cotton seed varieties, which are more resistant or tolerant to local pests and diseases
Preserving and enhancing the presence of beneficial organisms that are natural predators of the pest species
Using trap crops around the border of cotton fields to attract pests away from the cotton
Rotating cotton with other crops to reduce pest and disease build-up for the following season.
Encouraging the use of biological pesticide alternatives
Under IPM, pesticides are only applied as a last resort when a clearly defined pest threshold has been reached.
Preparing the ground for a pesticides target
Photo: Better Cotton / Paulo Escudeiro Location: Cuamba, Naissa Province, Mozambique. 2018. Description: Manuel Maussene, Better Cotton Lead Farmer, sprays his farm with pesticides whilst wearing locally adapted protective equipment. Manuel wears a hat, face mask provided by the IP (San JFS), gloves, long-sleeved jacket, long pants and shoes.
To create the new target, we have been analysing our field-level data, so we can move beyond understanding volumes of pesticides used to gain a more in-depth insight into the toxicity of active ingredients and their concentration in products used by Better Cotton Farmers. This is far from straightforward. There are challenges in conducting detailed studies and collecting significant data to define an accurate baseline (the current situation) for farmers, particularly in relation to smallholders. We need to make sure we have identified exactly which active ingredients are in each pesticide product used and in what volume they are used in, in every production country. Any recommendations we make must help smallholders to improve their yields and income. This is a delicate balance to maintain.
Working closely with our country teams, we have further reviewed and prioritised the highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) for elimination in each production country, setting in motion specific action plans. We have also collaborated with other cotton standards and organisations including the IPM Coalition to understand their perspective, best practices and progress on this topic.
To overcome the restricted choice of pesticides in some areas, we will need to deploy a systemic approach that takes into account the need to transform pesticide markets. This could include working with input providers to help explore more sustainable alternatives, and engaging in more advocacy work to encourage policymakers and regulators to define appropriate legal frameworks that catalyse change.
So what will our new target look like?
We’re keeping an open mind and exploring a broad range of approaches. Ultimately, we’ll define the target with the greatest chance of making a positive impact. We want to make sure it’s sufficiently ambitious and yet achievable for farmers, with a focus on the adoption of progressive IPM practices and the reduction and elimination of highly synthetic pesticides. Any requirements on toxicity will be clearly communicated in good time to farmers and other stakeholders.
To achieve this, we’re conducting further studies in India, Pakistan and Brazil, exploring an evaluation tool that will help measure farmers’ progress towards good IPM, and drawing on the work by our member and partner PAN UK to build a thorough understanding of pesticide poisoning risks.
Revised Principles and Criteria – a foundation for change
The seven principles in Better Cotton’s Principles & Criteria
Our revised Principles and Criteria will provide a robust foundation for efforts and activities to achieve this target. We began the process of revising the P&C in October 2021, with a public consultation in 2022 and the new draft set to be launched in the first half of 2023, followed by transition year, with full use from the 2024-25 season.
The revision of the Crop Protection Principle reinforces our existing requirements, while continuing to promote the value of continuous improvement. It includes a series of practice-related IPM requirements, including the elimination or phasing out of highly hazardous synthetic pesticides, and requirements on preventive measures for handling and application. We will also further strengthen the links with other Principles that relate to pesticides (preventing their use and reducing their impact).
For example, within our work on natural resources, we will promote practices to improve soil health, protect water courses, and preserve biodiversity and natural habitats all of which will reduced the need for pesticide use. Within our focus on occupational health and safety, we will emphasise the need for appropriate PPE when protecting crops. And of course, we will provide clear, localised guidance for producers.
We’ll share more information on the upcoming Better Cotton target and indicator in due course. For more information on the revision of our P&C, please visit this page.
Stakeholder coalition to explore avenues for creating sustainable farming systems in Southern Chad
Better Cotton recently signed a multi-stakeholder Letter of Intent to participate in the landscape approach, developed with local stakeholders in Chad in conjunction with IDH. Through the partnership, the stakeholders intend to work towards improving the climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Southern Chad.
Sharing a common vision for sustainable, equitable, and socio-economic development of Chad’s Southern regions, the stakeholders will work together to design and implement a regional development plan following IDH’s Production – Protection – Inclusion (PPI) landscape approach.
This approach aims to create positive impacts for farmers and the environment through promoting and supporting sustainable production systems, inclusive land use planning and management, and the protection and regeneration of natural resources.
Cotontchad, with the support of IDH, is currently engaged in the Better Cotton New Country Start Up Process, in anticipation of starting a Better Cotton Programme in Chad, and embedding the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) in farming activities with thousands of small holder cotton farmers in Southern Chad
“We are very excited to begin this process with IDH and Cotontchad. Sustainable cotton is more in-demand than ever. Consumers want to know what commitments brands and retailers are making to protect the environment, mitigate climate change effects, and ensure responsible social practice. Through this process, we hope to ensure the resilience and longevity of the cotton sector in Chad by opening up new markets and increasing international collaboration whilst having a positive impact at field level.”
Lisa Barratt, Africa Operations Manager, Better Cotton
Better Cotton is actively reaching out to countries in Africa to explore collaboration opportunities and the potential to launch new country programmes. Implementing the BCSS ensures a commitment to sustainable farming practices that protect the environment, whilst also ensuring improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers. Furthermore, the BCSS aims to enhance positive impact on yields, soil health, use of pesticides and improved livelihoods of the farmers and also enables increased trade and improved access to international markets seeking sustainable cotton.
We are pleased to announce that our Senior Director, Data and Traceability, Alia Malik, has joined the International Cotton Association (ICA) as a new board member. The ICA is an international cotton trade association and arbitral body and was set up 180 years ago in 1841 in Liverpool, UK.
The mission of ICA is to protect the legitimate interests of all those who trade cotton, whether buyer or seller. It has more than 550 members from around the world and it represents all sectors of the supply chain. According to the ICA, the majority of the world’s cotton is traded internationally under ICA Bylaws & Rules.
I am delighted to join the board of one of the oldest organisations in the sector. Trade is crucial to driving demand for more sustainable cotton, and I am looking forward to contributing to ICA’s work
Alia Malik, Senior Director, Data and Traceability, Better Cotton
Comprising 24 board members, the new board “continues to represent the ICA’s global membership across all sectors of the supply chain and builds on its commitment to engage the entire global cotton community.”
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We’ve updated our Data Privacy Policy
These updates are intended to reflect changes to the Better Cotton Platform’s default sharing settings and data use in our Audit management system.
You don’t need to do anything to accept these changes – they’re effective from today, 2 April 2025.
You can read the full text by visiting our Data Privacy Policy page.
