Better Cotton today announces that Maxine Bédat, Founder and Director of New Standard Institute (NSI), will give a keynote speech on the theme of Traceability and Data at the Better Cotton Conference 2023, taking place in Amsterdam on 21 and 22 June.
New Standard Institute is a think-and-do tank using data to drive accountability in the fashion industry. The non-profit organisation fosters collaboration between citizens and leading researchers to ensure that the fashion industry is more sustainable, ethical, and equitable. Maxine has been a driving force behind the Fashion Act, a ground-breaking piece of regulation which NSI is working to get passed in New York, aiming to hold companies in the fashion sector accountable by introducing mandatory social and environmental due diligence.
Maxine is the author of the book, UNRAVELED: The Life and Death of a Garment, a Financial Times Book of the Year. Prior to NSI, she co-founded and was the CEO of Zady, a fashion brand and lifestyle destination creating a transparent and sustainable future for the apparel industry. She has also been recognised by Fast Company in its Most Creative in Business, Business of Fashion’s BoF 500, the definitive index of people shaping the global fashion industry, and Oprah’s Super Soul 100, for leaders elevating humanity.
As the industry turns from commitment to action, data and traceability will be central. I’m looking forward to joining the Better Cotton Conference to come together, share, align and get energised for the critical work ahead.
Maxine Bédat
Traceability and Data is one of the Better Cotton Conference 2023’s four key themes, along with Climate Action, Livelihoods, and Regenerative Agriculture. Each of these themes, which highlight key priorities from Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy and for the cotton sector at large, will be introduced by a keynote speech from an internationally recognised thought leader.
We recently announced that Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN, will open the conference with a keynote speech introducing the theme of Climate Action. The two remaining keynote speakers, as well as further details on the conference themes and sessions, will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
To find out more about the Better Cotton Conference 2023 and sign up for tickets, head to this link. For more information, please contact [email protected]
Photo credit: Jay Louvion. Location: Geneva, Switzerland. Description: Headshot of Better Cotton CEO, Alan McClay.
By Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton.
This article was first published by Reuters on 4 April 2023.
Sustainability is no longer the sideshow of mainstream business, to be wheeled out by the chief executive at conferences and then sent off back to the side lines. A company’s social and environmental performance is today a central concern of consumers, investors and regulators.
The latest evidence of the subject’s increasing profile is the European Commission’s recent approval of a strict set of new rules governing how companies disclose their activities in this space.
In the regulatory pipeline for several years, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive presents some clarity on what is – and what is not – appropriate with regard to the methodologies underpinning corporate claims. This is hugely welcome.
The timing of this new legislation is by no means coincidental. Consumer interest and investor pressure are pushing companies to brandish their sustainability credentials more than ever before. With the commercial stakes so high, the temptation to massage the message is intense.
From false claims by automakers over air pollutants to the use of misleading environment data by clothing brands, accusations of “greenwash” are intensifying by the day.
Market dynamics aside, however, the ability to confidently compute a company’s overall sustainability performance is still by no means assured. Modern corporations are vast entities, often with global footprints that stretch from far-off farms and factories through to shoppers at the local corner store.
Fortunately, a data revolution is under way. Automated data collection and storage, Big Data analysis, machine learning: these and other digital tools are placing a wealth of information at companies’ disposal.
For years, the struggle for businesses was to lay their hands on the data demanded of them. Today, companies are awash with facts and figures about non-financial issues. Now, the question is about what data to prioritise, how best to use it, and – above all – what it really tells us.
Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton
This last point is crucial. Every protocol for reporting performance data carries with it the priorities and proclivities of its creators. Some approaches are geared towards avoiding risks (environmental pollution, high carbon emissions, etc); others adopt a lens of opportunity (investments in low-carbon technologies, talent development, etc).
The overall picture is complex, yet one crucial dividing line runs through almost every reporting methodology – namely, the emphasis (or not) placed on the higher-level effects of a given intervention, its impact, in other words.
As an organisation, Better Cotton’s focus is on improving the lot of cotton farmers and the communities that they support. As the largest sustainable cotton initiative in the world, our goal is to see farmer livelihoods and environmental protection increase hand in hand.
Yet, finding a disclosure standard that fits an impact-oriented approach like ours is far from easy. Why? Because measuring impact is complex. It demands localised data, longitudinal samples and contextualised analysis – none of which can be generated (as yet) at the switch of a button, especially considering that 99% of the cotton growers we work with are small-scale producers, most of whom farm cotton on less than one hectare of land in some of the world’s remaining digital deserts.
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Seun Adatsi. Location: Kolondieba, Mali. 2019. Description: Aerial view of a field in a cotton farm.
Instead, the market is dominated by simplified, risk-oriented evaluation systems. Underpinning many of these approaches are methodologies premised on the long-standing logic of lifecycle assessment (LCAs).
Championed by the authoritative standards body, ISO, LCAs have been adopted over the years by regulators around the world as a means of determining the environmental credentials of a product or service.
Typically, LCAs depend on an agreed set of easily accessible environmental metrics, overlaid with basic geographical, sector-specific or other relevant variables. LCAs play a valuable role as a broad-brush means of raising red flags or offering a generalised snapshot of a given product at a given time, including identifying hotspots within a product’s manufacturing and use cycle.
But as a tool for assessing positive (or negative) impact over time, or generating insights about why improvements have (or have not) been seen, LCAs reveal next to nothing.
Take the example of fertiliser use in cotton production. An LCA will ask how much chemical fertiliser a farmer uses and grade him or her accordingly. An impact-driven approach will ask the same, but then ask how this compares to the same farmer’s use the year before and to the industry average.
If consumption levels have changed, furthermore, it will interrogate the cause. What role did changing fertiliser prices have to play, for instance? Did participation in sustainability initiatives run by the likes of Better Cotton exert any influence? Is market demand a factor? What is the effect on the farmer’s net income, is he or she better off?
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Florian Lang Location: Surendranagar, Gujarat, India. 2018. Description: At her home, Better Cotton Lead Farmer Vindobhai Patel’s wife Nitaben (48), is demonstrating how she grinds Bengal gram to make flour. Vinodbhai is using this lentil flour to produce organic fertilizer which he is using in his cotton field.
At Better Cotton, we have been working with Wageningen University & Research to apply just such an approach among cotton farmers in two districts in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Telangana. The initial findings reveal a wealth of data around farming techniques, yield levels, and progress on material environmental issues.
For the 2021-22 season, for instance, we now know participating farmers in Maharashtra saw their expenditure on synthetic insecticide reduce by 75% as they switched to bio-insecticides. We also know that the gate price for their cotton was 20% higher than the baselines, with ginners remarking that the fibre quality was higher.
An LCA approach might result in a generic “tick” to the farmers in question, but it would offer up none of this granular detail, nor any evidence that the Better Cotton programme had anything to do with the results achieved.
An impact-based assessment approach opens the door to better decision-making and, in turn, to enhanced environmental performance. This is data as a workhorse for continuous improvement; not, as is still so often the case, data for data’s sake (or, at best, ticking boxes).
We are not there yet. Nor do we pretend that cracking this measurement challenge will be straightforward. But, like it or not, these are the questions that consumers are already asking. And investors and regulators will not be far behind.
Photo Credit: Rehab ElDalil/UNIDO Egypt
Location: Damietta, Egypt. 2018.
Description: Farmer holds up Egyptian cotton fresh picked during harvest celebration.
By Emma Dennis, Senior Manager of Global Impact, Better Cotton
For 350 million people around the world, cotton is a way of life. From Brazil to Australia, the US to India, its production is the bedrock of an entire industry and touches all corners of the planet. As the world’s most popular natural fibre, cotton is used in one third of all textiles. Each year, over 22 million tonnes of cotton are produced – and now, 14 years after Better Cotton began, over a fifth of global cotton is grown in line with our standard.
Better Cotton Farmers have adopted our principles for over a decade now, but there is always more to be done. That’s why, as part of our 2030 Strategy, we have developed Impact Targets spanning soil health, women’s empowerment, pesticides, sustainable livelihoods, and climate change mitigation to help map out our journey forwards and enable progress to be clearly measured and communicated.
Understanding the Challenges
Better Cotton works alongside field-level partners to help cotton farmers, farm workers, and communities benefit from better yields, improved working conditions, and more sustainable agricultural practices. So far, it has been transformative – 2.2 million farmers now produce cotton under the Better Cotton Standard. As an example, in Tajikistan in the 2019-20 cotton season, synthetic pesticide use among Better Cotton Farmers was 62% lower than Comparison Farmers. Similarly, in the same season, Better Cotton Farmers in Pakistan reported 12% higher yields and 35% higher profits than Comparison Farmers, largely due to their improved knowledge on seed selection, crop protection and soil health.
Our goal is to drive change across all facets of cotton production. After all, our Impact Targets are naturally interlinked. Improved soil health, for example, will be intrinsic to ensuring sustainable production of crops including those for household consumption for farmers, thus improving their livelihoods; whilst efforts to minimise pesticide use can in turn be expected to benefit soils. For Better Cotton, success will mean that our targets have struck a balance that allows for change in one area without detriment to another.
To ensure this, we called upon a committed network of internal and external stakeholders with the view to determining an effective path that addresses the most pertinent topics and issues impacting cotton production. It’s with their insight that we were able to refine our approach and ensure the Impact Targets will drive progress in what is widely deemed to be a defining decade for humanity.
Helping to Make Meaningful Change
Supporting farming communities to transition to more resilient, sustainable farming methods is critical. The Cotton 2040 multi-stakeholder initiative, of which Better Cotton is a member, estimates that around half of the world’s cotton growing regions will face high or very high-risk exposure to at least one climate hazard by 2040 unless we make significant improvements to the way cotton is produced.
Our strategy was founded with the belief that Better Cotton and its indispensable network of partners and field-level facilitators can greatly influence the transition we must see in the coming years. That said, it is the commitment of farmers and their communities that will make this a reality.
All of this work comes with the overarching aim of supporting farmers, workers and their wider communities to build more sustainable livelihoods. If they are unable to meet basic needs with a living income, it will be difficult to focus on improving their agricultural practices.
We are heavily promoting the use of locally appropriate regenerative soil management practices and reductions in the use of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs). Our pesticides target is a commitment to reduce the volume and toxicity of synthetic or inorganic pesticides used by Better Cotton Farmers by 50%.
Our Women’s Empowerment target is focused on improving inclusion within the Better Cotton programme, as women are often side-lined away from decision-making. Our aim is to work in partnership with women’s rights and women-centred organisations to improve women’s access to resources, support the growth of Women’s Groups and Producer Organisations and mainstream women’s empowerment initiatives to promote equal farm decision-making, build climate resilience, and support improved livelihoods.
Change Already Underway
Around the world, Better Cotton Farmers have already made huge strides towards meeting our 2030 targets. Notably, we announced the Climate Change Mitigation target at the end of 2021 – to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of cotton produced by 50% from the 2017 baseline. During the 2019-2020 season, even before the target was released, India – the region with the most Better Cotton Farmers – recorded some highly encouraging results.
In comparison to non-Better Cotton Farmers in the region, they used 10% less water, 13% fewer synthetic fertilisers, 23% fewer pesticides, and 7% more organic fertiliser. These farms also returned 9% higher yields and 18% higher profits – proof that Better Cotton methods contribute to real, positive impacts on cotton farming.
We are developing the systems for increased data reporting, including through the addition of a number of indicators from the Delta Framework that Better Cotton launched last year with industry partners. Combining these mechanisms will enable us to effectively demonstrate progress across the environmental, social and economic metrics, as well as identify our successes, challenges, and issues that need further investment and research.
We’re currently scoping a baseline from which to calculate progress and will provide updates periodically until 2030. The final report in 2030 will evaluate progress as a whole to help understand where and how Better Cotton Farmers have succeeded, as well as establish areas we can work together to improve. Our focus is on improving the livelihoods of the cotton farmers, but the benefits of transitioning to more sustainable practices will go far beyond the farming communities themselves.
The Impact Targets form part of Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy and will help drive environmental and social improvements at the field-level for millions of farmers and farm workers
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Khaula Jamil. Location: Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, 2019. Description: Cotton harvest.
Better Cotton today announced four new Impact Targets covering Soil Health, Women’s Empowerment, Pesticides, and Sustainable Livelihoods. These ambitious new metrics form part of its ongoing 2030 Strategy and detail plans to galvanise change at the field level in key areas. The new targets sit alongside the first commitment outlined in the organisation’s strategy – related to Climate Change Mitigation – which sets out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% per tonne of Better Cotton lint produced by the end of the decade.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) recent Synthesis Report warned that every increment of global warming results in rapidly escalating climate hazards, with more intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall and other weather extremes expected to further increase risks to human health and ecosystems.
“Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits,” insisted IPCC chair, Hoesung Lee.
With more than 22 million tonnes produced annually, cotton is one of the world’s most important renewable resources and exists in very diverse landscapes. The sector’s development has the potential to reduce poverty whilst promoting sustainability and equality which is why four Impact Targets were developed in conjunction with leading civil society organisations and industry experts:
Sustainable Livelihoods – Sustainably increase the net income and resilience of two million cotton farmers and workers.
Soil Health – Ensure 100% of Better Cotton farmers have improved the health of their soil.
Women’s Empowerment – Reach one million women in cotton with programmes and resources that promote equal farm decision-making, build climate resilience, or support improved livelihoods. And ensure 25% of field staff are women with the power to influence sustainable cotton production.
Pesticides – Reduce the use and risk of synthetic pesticides applied by Better Cotton farmers and workers by at least 50%.
In the 2020-21 cotton season, Better Cotton and its network of field-level partners trained 2.9 million farmers in 26 countries on more sustainable farming practices.
Better Cotton continues to drive continuous improvement at the field level to help cotton farming communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. These new Impact Targets will help ensure more significant and lasting economic, environmental and social benefits in cotton-growing communities by establishing focus and helping to leverage funding, knowledge partners and other resources to build momentum for change at scale.
Driving impact at the field-level is imperative for Better Cotton’s ambitions in what is a defining decade for our planet. Our new Impact Targets will allow us to continue taking measurable steps to support more sustainable cotton production. Pushing further towards regenerative and climate-smart agriculture, we can ensure cotton farmers and farm workers are equipped to address their environmental impact, futureproof their operations and adapt to the often unpredictable effects of global warming.
Better Cotton continues to train an ever-growing global community on more sustainable farming practices. The Impact Targets will improve conditions across more than just cotton production, reaching beyond farming communities to benefit their landscapes, supply chains and ultimately consumers.
Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton
We welcome the four additional Impact Targets that form part of Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy. Together, we can help increase yields and market access for smallholder farmers, promote decent work, reduce inequality, and drive women’s empowerment in cotton production.
Climate change impacts everybody, but the most affected are often women, children, low-income households and small-scale producers. Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy continues to set the direction of its ten-year plan to drive impact at the field level over and above compliance with the Better Cotton Standard (Principles & Criteria). These new commitments also align with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and build on the agreements reached at COP27 to reach action-based climate mitigation outcomes for cotton farming communities.
Photo credit: Muhammadi Muminov. Location: London, 2023. Description: His Excellency Qurbon Khakimzoda, Tajikistan Minister of Agriculture (left) and Rebecca Owen, Director of Fundraising at Better Cotton (right).
Better Cotton has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Agriculture to reinforce the pair’s partnership and further support the production of more sustainable cotton across the Central Asian nation.
The MoU was signed by Better Cotton’s Director of Fundraising, Rebecca Owen, and Tajikistan’s Minister of Agriculture, His Excellency Qurbon Khakimzoda, at this week’s Tajikistan Investment and Development Forum, in London.
With increased collaboration, the pair will prioritise the expansion of more sustainable cotton production, with a focus on both environmental and social outcomes. Notably, improving the quality of cotton fibre, farmer wellbeing and overall agricultural sustainability are in scope.
To achieve this, the MoU establishes that Better Cotton and the ministry will develop a strategic roadmap for more sustainable cotton production in Tajikistan, according to the Better Cotton Standard System, considering the requirements of the global market.
The collaboration will see both parties conduct outreach and awareness activities across the country to promote the benefits of more sustainable growing practices, whilst the adoption of practical innovations will be explored to determine how domestic farmers can improve.
Fundamental to this shift will be the availability and allocation of financial resources. As such, Better Cotton will work with the ministry to identify new sources of funding and investment that can unlock new opportunities across the country’s cotton sector.
Better Cotton’s programme in Tajikistan has already shown results. In the 2019-2020 cotton season, synthetic fertiliser use among Better Cotton Farmers was 62% lower than Comparison Farmers, whilst yields were 15% higher.
This MoU is the start of a strategic roadmap to expand sustainable cotton production in Tajikistan – creating opportunities to improve the livelihoods, well-being and market access for cotton farming communities.
Rebecca Owen, Director of Fundraising, Better Cotton
Better Cotton Also Announces Conference Welcome Reception at Fashion for Good Museum
Better Cotton today announces the first of four keynote speakers who will headline the Better Cotton Conference 2023, taking place in Amsterdam on 21 and 22 June. Nisha Onta, Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN, will kick off the conference, introducing the theme of Climate Action.
Nisha is a climate change and gender expert who acts as Regional Coordinator for Asia at WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management), a women-led global network of professionals committed to organisational change for gender equality and environmentally sustainable development. She also leads Governance Lab’s work to design and conduct policy research for the sustainable development of Nepal, bringing together experienced researchers, policymakers and other partners.
Photo credit: Nisha Onta
A recipient of the NORAD fellowship and the UNDP Human Development Academic Fellowship, Nisha completed her PhD in Gender and Development Studies from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and is engaged in research in South and Southeast Asia related to climate change adaptation, livelihood diversification and gender. Nisha has participated and presented papers in various climate change workshops and conferences, and is actively involved in gender and climate change scholar networks.
Nisha will give a keynote speech at the conference, introducing the theme of Climate Action. This theme will bring climate experts from a range of sectors together, building on the discussions on climate action held at the Better Cotton Conference 2022, where participants and speakers sought to understand the climate risks facing the cotton sector and explore the implications for future production.
This year’s conference will be split into four themes, highlighting key priorities from Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy and for the cotton sector at large: Climate Action, Livelihoods, Traceability and Data, and Regenerative Agriculture. Each of these themes will be introduced by a keynote speech from an internationally recognised thought leader. The three remaining keynote speakers, as well as further details on the conference themes and sessions, will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
Welcome Reception To Be Hosted at Fashion For Good Museum
We are also happy to announce that we will be hosting the Welcome Reception for the Better Cotton Conference 2023 at Fashion for Good. The Fashion for Good Museum in Amsterdam tells the stories behind the clothes you wear and how your choices can have a positive impact. A must-visit for anyone interested in fashion, sustainability or innovation, all attendees will gain exclusive access to the museum and a guided tour around the ‘Knowing Cotton Otherwise’ exhibition.
‘Knowing Cotton Otherwise’ sits at the intersection of fashion, art and social change, highlighting the relationship between cotton and the fashion industry, the role of cotton in an increasingly intertwined web of global cultures, and the sustainable innovations driving its circular transformation.
To find out more about the Better Cotton Conference 2023 and sign up for tickets, head to this link. For more information, please contact [email protected]
Photo Credit: Jay Louvion. Headshot of Better Cotton CEO, Alan McClay in Geneva
Better Cotton made significant strides in 2022 towards our vision of a world where more sustainable cotton is the norm. From the unveiling of our new and improved reporting model to a record 410 new members joining in one year, we prioritised on-the-ground change and data-driven solutions. The development of our traceability system entered a new phase with the stage set for pilots to commence, and we secured funding of over 1 million EUR to continue our work for traceable Better Cotton.
We have continued this momentum into 2023, kicking the year off with our Programme Partner Meeting in Phuket, Thailand under the twin themes of climate change and smallholder livelihoods. Our commitment to knowledge sharing continued as we collaborated with ABRAPA, the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers, to organise an Integrated Pest Management workshop in Brazil in February, with the aim of sharing research and innovative initiatives regarding the control of pests and diseases in the cotton crop. We are committed to supporting all efforts to reduce pesticide use.
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2023, we’ve been taking stock of the current sustainability landscape and mapping out how we can best use our resources and expertise at Better Cotton to address the challenges and opportunities on the horizon.
Welcoming a new wave of industry regulation and introducing Better Cotton traceability
2023 is an important year for sustainability as a growing set of regulations and legislation are being implemented around the world. From the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles to the European Commission’s initiative on substantiating green claims, consumers and lawmakers have wised up to ambiguous sustainability claims like ‘zero emissions’ or ‘eco-friendly’ and are taking steps to make sure claims are verified. At Better Cotton, we welcome any legislation that supports a green and just transition and recognises all progress on impact including at field level.
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Eugénie Bacher. Harran, Turkey, 2022. Cotton going through a ginning machine, Mehmet Kızılkaya Teksil.
In late-2023, following our supply chain mapping efforts, we will begin to roll out Better Cotton’s global traceability system. The system includes three new Chain of Custody models to physically track Better Cotton, an enhanced digital platform to record these movements, and a new claims framework which will give members access to a new Better Cotton ‘content mark’ for their products.
Our commitment to traceability will ensure Better Cotton Farmers, and particularly smallholders, can continue to access increasingly regulated markets, and we will drive significant growth in the volume of traceable Better Cotton. Over the coming years, we plan to create additional benefits for Better Cotton Farmers including local investment by providing direct connections with retailers, brands, and customers.
Optimising our approach and launching the remaining Better Cotton Impact Targets
In line with growing calls for evidence on sustainability claims, the European Commission has also issued new rules on corporate sustainability reporting. Most notably, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive came into force on 5 January 2023. This new directive introduces stronger reporting rules for companies operating in the EU and pushes for greater standardisation in reporting methodologies.
After more than 18 months of work, we announced a new and improved approach to our external reporting model at the end of 2022. This new model tracks progress over a multi-year timeframe and integrates new farm performance indicators aligned with the Delta Framework. In 2023, we will continue to share updates on this new approach in our Data & Impact blog series.
During the first half of 2023, we will also be launching the remaining four Impact Targets connected to our 2030 Strategy, focused onpesticide use (as mentioned above), women’s empowerment, soil health and smallholder livelihoods. These four new Impact Targets join our climate change mitigation target to complete our plan to make cotton better for the farmers who produce it and for all those who have a stake in the future of the sector, as well as for the environment. These progressive new metrics will allow better measurement and drive change across five key areas to ensure greater lasting economic, environmental and social benefits at the farm level for cotton-growing communities.
Unveiling our new Better Cotton Principles and Criteria
For the last two years, we have been revising the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria, which lay out the global definition of Better Cotton. As part of this revision, we are going further to integrate key components of regenerative agriculture, including core regenerative practices such as maximising crop diversity and soil cover while minimising soil disturbance, as well as adding a new principle on improving livelihoods.
We are nearing the end of our review process; on 7 February 2023, the draft P&C v.3.0 was officially approved for adoption by the Better Cotton Council. The new and improved Principles and Criteria are expected to be launched in the first half of 2023, followed by a transition year, and will come into full effect in the 2024-25 cotton season.
See you at the 2023 Better Cotton Conference
Last but not least, in 2023 we are looking forward to once again convening industry stakeholders at the 2023 Better Cotton Conference. This year’s conference will take place in Amsterdam (and virtually) on 21 and 22 June, exploring the most salient issues and opportunities in sustainable cotton production, building on some of the topics which we’ve discussed above. We are excited to gather our community and welcome as many of our stakeholders as possible at the conference. We hope to see you there.
Photo Credit: Better Cotton. Location: Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, 2023. Description: Damien Sanfilippo, Senior Director of Programmes, Better Cotton (left), Abdoul Aziz Yanogo, Regional Manager for West Africa, Better Cotton (centre right), Lisa Barratt, Africa Operations Manager, Better Cotton (right).
Today, Better Cotton will host a multistakeholder event in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire to explore the potential for new programmes and partnerships across West and Central Africa.
Taking place at the Pullman Hotel, Plateau, the event will enable key stakeholders across the region to share their experiences and perspectives on the future of sustainable cotton production on the continent amidst a rapidly changing climate. Delegates will also have the opportunity to learn more about Better Cotton Programmes and the long-term ambitions that underpin its 2030 Strategy.
Representatives from leading cotton companies and organisations including Solidaridad, The Sustainable Trade Initiative [IDH], ECOM, OlamAgri, APROCOT-CI, amongst several others, will participate in discussions to explore opportunities and challenges regarding sustainability in the cotton sector as well as engaging with stakeholders from the cocoa sector for cross commodity learnings.
Better Cotton is committed to building upon its presence across Africa to enable smallholder farmers to mitigate climate change and adopt a continuous improvement approach to sustainable agricultural practice. With a membership spanning farm to retailer and brand level, Better Cotton is strategically positioned to meet supply with increasing demand. At the farm-level, programme partners provide training and resources to small holder farmers to enable social and environmental improvements that culminate in more climate-resilient operations which in turn assist the livelihoods of the farmers.
Better Cotton is proactively engaging with sector stakeholders across West and Central Africa, in countries such as Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Cameroon, to develop multistakeholder collaboration to start impactful Better Cotton programmes.
In November, several West African cotton producing countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad – often referred to as the Cotton-4 – called for support to strengthen the resilience of their cotton industries at the World Trade Organisation’s Cotton Days event.
A report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at that time estimated that cotton production would increase in the four nations over the coming years, provided appropriate action is taken to promote sustainability standards, empower women and youth and reduce trade-distorting subsidies.
The event signifies an important opportunity for cotton stakeholders in Africa to engage with one another and explore partnerships needed to ensure market access and improved sustainability for cotton growers.
Damien Sanfilippo, Senior Director of Programmes, Better Cotton
By Eva Benavidez Clayton, Director of Communications at Better Cotton
One of the most common misconceptions about cotton is that it is a ‘thirsty crop’, a plant that requires a large amount of water to grow when compared to other crops. In reality, cotton is an inherently heat and drought-tolerant crop, and not a proportionately high consumer of irrigation water when compared to rice, wheat, maize, soybeans and fodder crops.
In celebration of World Water Day, taking place today, March 22, 2023, let’s explore the facts about cotton’s relationship with water, taking a look at the crucial role of water stewardship in the production of Better Cotton, and the steps we must take to combat water scarcity and pollution.
Data from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) shows that, to produce 1kg of lint, roughly equivalent to one T-shirt and a pair of jeans, cotton globally uses 1,931 litres of irrigation water and 6,003 litres of rainwater on average. Relative to other crops, this is not a disproportionately high quantity.
It’s also important to state that the data from ICAC is a global average and the amount of water consumed greatly differs per region. For example, in the US, cotton farmers in the southeast use 234 litres of irrigated water per kilogram of cotton on average whereas farmers in the west use 3,272 litres, demonstrating the importance of focusing on the local and regional context.
However, as highlighted by Transformers Foundation, we must equally recognise that global averages also fail to capture impact, and do not indicate whether water is sustainably managed on a case-by-case basis.
Labelling cotton ’thirsty’ in isolation from its growing context is therefore misleading. Cotton grown in water-stressed regions can contribute to water management challenges, but local climate, poor irrigation systems, poverty, and failure of governance are also contributing factors.
We must also remember that in approximately half of the regions where it produced, cotton is entirely rainfed. The other half require some sort of irrigation, and as freshwater becomes an increasingly scarce and precious resource, it is critical that we use it more sustainably.
Poor irrigation practices, or poor water management more generally, can have devastating, long-term effects on farming activities, on the whole water basin’s environment, and on the broader communities who share its water resources. This impact is not limited to the quantity of water available, but also the quality of the water, due to the use of agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilisers.
By implementing sustainable farming practices, farmers can learn how to use water efficiently on both rainfed and irrigated farms to achieve greater yields and consume and pollute less water. This not only contributes to more sustainable water use but also helps farmers improve their livelihoods and build resilience to climate change — something that will become increasingly important as pressure on water supply intensifies.
The Better Cotton Principles and Criteria provides farmers with a comprehensive framework for using water in a way that improves yields while conserving resources for them and their community. To find out more, head to this link.
After the earthquake of 6 February hit Turkey, Syria and surrounding regions at a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, the Turkish province of Hatay was struck with an additional magnitude 6.4 earthquake on 20 February, causing further devastation across the region. The death toll in Turkey and Syria now stands at over 50,000, with 14 million people impacted in Turkey and estimates suggesting that up to 5 million people in Syria may have been made homeless.
These are regions where many Better Cotton Farmers and supply chain members are located, and we are continuing to communicate with members and stakeholders on the ground about the impacts of the disaster and the progress of relief efforts. Together with our Strategic Partner in Turkey, IPUD (İyi Pamuk Uygulamaları Derneği – the Good Cotton Practices Association), we are committed to continuing efforts to support sustainability in the cotton sector while communities recover and rebuild.
Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton, commented: “The large scale of destruction and devastation has become apparent since the first earthquake on 6 February. Many of our partners and stakeholders are directly affected, as are our own colleagues in the region. We are helping to channel our support through disaster relief organisations for the immediate, most pressing needs.”
Better Cotton will provide relief from contractual obligations to partners and members in the longer term as reconstruction gets underway. We are also supporting those organisations working hard to keep the supply flows running by ensuring access to the Better Cotton Platform.
As our Members and non-Member BCP Suppliers focus on business continuity, we hope that these actions are helpful and allow them the flexibility to continue working if they are able to do so. Better Cotton has issued a derogation for organisations in Turkey in relation to the Better Cotton Chain of Custody Guidelines version 1.4 – this information is available on the Better Cotton Platform.
Better Cotton Members across the world have rallied to support the victims of the earthquakes, providing both financial and physical aid to those affected by the disaster. We would like to highlight some of their relief activities below.
Mavi, which is headquartered in Istanbul, has converted its Vancouver warehouse into a donation point, collecting aid for delivery to victims in the disaster areas. So far, more than 500 aid parcels containing clothing, tents and food, have been dispatched. In addition, the company has made monetary donations to AFAD and AHBAP and delivered winter clothing to the affected region through the Red Crescent.
The IKEA Foundation has committed €10 million to emergency relief efforts. The grant funds 5,000 Relief Housing Units to support the most vulnerable people left without a home in freezing temperatures.
Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has donated €3 million to the Red Crescent to support humanitarian relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Its donation will be used to cover the basic needs of the victims.
DECATHLON has set up a €1 million solidarity fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. This fund will provide financial aid to NGOs that are actively involved in helping and supporting affected populations.
H&M Group has donated US$100,000 to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in response to the humanitarian needs in the impacted area, as well as providing winter garments to victims of the earthquakes. Additionally, the H&M Foundation has donated US$250,000 to the Red Cross/Red Crescent and US$250,000 to Save the Children.
Fast Retailing has donated €1 million to provide emergency humanitarian aid, whilst supplying 40,000 items of winter clothing to the UNHCR refugee relief agency.
If you would like to provide support to the organisations contributing to relief efforts in the regions affected by the earthquakes, please consider donating to the organisations below. If you have an ongoing relief campaign that you’d like us to highlight, please get in touch at [email protected].
Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Vibhor Yadav Location: Kodinar, Gujarat, India. 2019. Description: A farmers hands holding freshly-picked cotton.
A new study from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), exploring voluntary sustainability standards in the cotton sector in South Asia, has encouraged the region’s cotton sector to accelerate its adoption of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) such as Better Cotton.
IISD’s mapping of VSS criteria and market potential found that initiatives operating in the region, including Better Cotton and Fairtrade, can help address issues around pest management, water stewardship, and farmers’ incomes. These three issues all fall under Better Cotton’s key impact areas, alongside soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity & land use and climate change.
The report, produced as part of IISD’s ‘State of Sustainability Initiatives’ research, focused on the cotton sector in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, countries where cotton represents a crucial sector. It noted that various studies have shown that the implementation of VSSs’ requirements, such as the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria, has led to improvements in agrochemical use, water conservation, and the incomes of South Asian cotton farmers.
The report also highlighted the potential for growth in the region. From 2008 to 2018, South Asia contributed around 30% to global cotton lint production, and the report found significant market potential for VSSs operating in the cotton sector, estimating that Better Cotton alone has the potential to further expand cotton lint by 5.8 million tonnes based on 2018 South Asian production figures.
To read the full report, head to the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s website.
Photo Credit: Marc Plus Filmes Eireli/Carlos Rudney Arguelho Mattoso Location: SLC Pamplona, Goiás, Brazil, 2023. Description: Dr Paul Grundy (left) and Dr Peter Ellsworth (right).
From 28 February to 2 March 2023, Better Cotton held a workshop in collaboration with ABRAPA, the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM is an ecosystem approach to crop protection that combines different management practices into a strategy for growing healthy crops.
Taking place in Brasilia, the workshop brought together a range of international experts, with presentations and discussions on the latest research and best practices. It also included a field trip to a farm to look at the different ways pest management is executed on a large-scale farming system, including both the successes and challenges.
During the workshop, we sat down with Dr Peter Ellsworth, Professor of Entomology and Extension IPM Specialist at the University of Arizona and Dr Paul Grundy, Technical Lead for IPM at CottonInfo in Australia to talk about their experiences and expertise in IPM.
Let’s start with some definitions – can you explain to me what a biopesticide is?
Dr Peter Ellsworth: In terms of what most people think, it just means a biologically derived pesticide. A pesticide is just something that kills a pest. What a lot of people don’t understand is that a pest is only an organism out of place or out of time. So that could be a weed, it could be a virus, a bacterium, an insect or a mite.
Dr Paul Grundy: I’d describe it as a pathogenic organism that you can spray for the control of a pest. It will be either a virus, fungus or a bacterium. A key advantage is that many biopesticides have a narrow target range and can work well within an IPM program.
What about beneficials, natural enemies and cultural controls?
Dr Peter Ellsworth: When it comes to natural enemies and beneficials, there’s a little nuance there. A natural enemy would be usually some arthropod that feeds on other arthropods, but it could include the pathogens that naturally kill our insects. A beneficial includes all natural enemies, but also includes our pollinators and other organisms that have value in our system.
Dr Paul Grundy: Cultural controls are a range of things. It could be something as simple as an agreed sowing or crop end date. Essentially, it can be anything that entails a crop management tactic that disadvantages a pest.
Peter, can you explain the Arizona scouting and monitoring method that you developed?
Dr Peter Ellsworth: Sure – it’s just counting! But it’s about knowing where to count. In the case of Bemisia whiteflies, you have an animal that can colonise any part of the plant. It can be anywhere on any of the hundreds of leaves on the plant. So, years ago, we did studies to figure out exactly which leaf is most representative of the overall distribution of whitefly adults on the plant. Then we did the same thing for the eggs and nymphs.
Basically, the method is about counting down to the fifth leaf from the top of the plant, turning it over, and when there are three or more adult whiteflies on this leaf, classifying it as ‘infested.’ You also count large nymphs – you detach the leaf, turn it over and you look at a disc the size of a US quarter, using magnifying loupes that we have outfitted with a properly sized template, and if there’s one nymph in that area it’s infested. You tally these two counts up, and when you have a certain number of infested leaves and infested leaf discs, you know if it’s time to spray.
You’re from Australia and the US, which mainly have large cotton farms – but when it comes to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for smallholders, how much is transferable?
Dr Paul Grundy: Conceptually, it’s the same thing. Pest management is a people business, so the principles for IPM are just as applicable on a small scale as they are on a large scale. There are obviously different logistical scales associated, but the principles are very similar.
Dr Peter Ellsworth: Yeah, the principles I would say are identical. But there are a couple of notable things that change what a smallholder can do. One of them is area-wide factors. Unless the smallholder is terribly well connected with their community and many, many other smallholders cooperate, they don’t have the ecological landscape engineering opportunities that Mato Grosso has. Large farms can do very specific things around isolation, crop placement and timing and sequencing that a smallholder just wouldn’t be able to take advantage of. These area-wide approaches represent important prevention or avoidance tactics that reduce pest pressures on your cotton crop.
The other thing is the hazards. It depends on the smallholder, but for the most part, some of the safety procedures and equipment aren’t necessarily available there, so the stakes are so much higher.
What’s more important in IPM, people or technology – and how do you think about data and its importance in IPM?
Dr Peter Ellsworth: There’s no reason for IPM without people because we define what a pest is. I always say no bug was born to be bad, we make it bad. We place value on specific things in our world, whether that’s agricultural production, or having a mosquito-free home, or running a non-rat-infested restaurant.
Dr Paul Grundy: From a technology and research perspective, we use data to understand and describe what’s going on and to determine whether what we’re putting in place is successful or otherwise. So, if we look at pesticide use data and then we look at pest resistance testing data, often you can match those to data sets up to understand on-farm changes. Typically, a change in resistance will more than reflect a change in chemical use patterns, which is why it’s important to have that on-farm data. We have a saying in Australia which is “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.
How important is international collaboration in IPM?
Dr Paul Grundy: I’ve learned a lot from international collaboration. For example, in preparation for the possibility that Begomoviruses might enter Australia following the spread of its vector, the silver leaf whitefly in the mid-2000’s, we assembled a team that went to Pakistan to learn what we could from those with experience and form connections with people who we would be able to talk to should this problem emerge in Australia. That since came around full circle through Better Cotton – with my subsequent involvement with Pakistan researchers who have wanted to learn from us how to better implement IPM. The exchange of information is always valuable in both directions.
Dr Peter Ellsworth: I’ve worked a lot in northern Mexico. Sometimes people say, “You’re in US cotton, why are you helping Mexican growers?” I say that they’re our neighbours and any problem they have could be ours. They jointly eradicated boll weevil and pink bollworm with us, for example. They’re important partners in business and in everything.
Some people asked the same question about why I’m coming to Brazil, but I don’t look at the cotton industry in terms of competitors. I do think as an industry worldwide, there are many more ties that bind than separate.
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