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Today, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) shared in our 2020 Annual Report that Better Cotton – cotton produced in line with the initiative’s Better Cotton Principles and Criteria by licensed BCI Farmers – now accounts for 23% of global cotton production, with BCI’s nearly 70 Implementing Partners rapidly adapting their practices to evolving circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic to deliver training and support to 2.7 million farmers* in 23 countries.

Together with our partners, BCI has made great progress from when the first bale of Better Cotton was produced in Pakistan just over a decade ago, but there is still much more to do. The global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity and social inequality are more pressing than ever. BCI is committed to supporting cotton communities and applying lessons learnt to deepen our impact as we move into the next decade.

2020 Year in Review— BCI remained committed to improving livelihoods and supporting cotton farming communities throughout the pandemic, transforming the way we work and raising funds to support the majority smallholder farmers in lower income countries. Strengthening our capacity to promote decent work and prevent forced labour, we revisited our approach to addressing decent work challenges with the help of a task force, culminating in a Decent Work Strategy. BCI also closed the first phase of our Gender Strategy, measuring and piloting women’s empowerment projects in South Africa and India, while advancing the gender conversation within the Cotton Community. Through the Delta Project, BCI helped lead the way in strengthening efforts of multiple sustainability initiatives to address social and environmental challenges in agriculture, protect workers’ rights and improve farmers’ livelihoods with the creation of a shared approach to measuring and communicating sustainability progress.

The BCI Journey— In 2016, BCI began our journey towards Better Cotton being recognised as a mainstream sustainable commodity by 2020. In the 2019-2020 season, BCI Retailer and Brand Members sourced 1.7 million metric tonnes of Better Cotton, a 13% increase on 2019 sourcing volumes and a record for the industry. In 2020, BCI also welcomed more than 400 new members across five membership categories. By the end of the year, BCI’s membership base had exceeded 2,100 members, spanning 60 countries and accounting for a 14% increase on 2019.  As BCI moves forward, creating and measuring meaningful impact will be an increasing focus of our work, as we continue to reach more farming communities. More on this will be shared later in the year.

Access the BCI 2020 Annual Report to find more detail on BCI’s performance to 2020 and how BCI’s stakeholders are determined to deliver real impact for cotton farming communities here.

“Our 2030 strategy is testament to our determination to help cotton farming communities build climate resilience, conserve natural resources and promote decent work, strengthening our sector while supporting the global push to achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. We want to deliver real impact for cotton farming communities. That’s why the work we have undertaken with our stakeholders in 2020 to refine our strategic approach and align our climate efforts with science-based targets is so important.”

– Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton Initiative

“In the 2019-20 cotton season, we strengthened our capacity building approach, dedicating more resources to helping farmers adopt sustainable practices and finding new ways of building lasting relationships with our partners as well as developing new partnerships with technical experts. This provided a robust foundation from which to respond rapidly to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.”

– Jyoti Narain Kapoor, India Country Director, Better Cotton Initiative

* This figure refers to ‘participating farmers’. There are 2.4 million farmers licensed to grow Better Cotton, 2.7 million participating farmers receiving BCI’s training and support to grow cotton more sustainably, and 3.8 million farmers reached by BCI’s programmes including Farmers+. More information is available here.

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is delighted to be partnering with the FAO Global Soil Partnership to promote sustainable soil management.

Soil health is one of the seven Better Cotton Principles and Criteria, which lay out the global definition of Better Cotton. Soil is one of the fundamental assets for any farmer. However, poor soil management can lead to poor yields, depletion of soils, wind erosion, surface runoff, land degradation and climate change. A better understanding and use of the soil can lead to a significant increase in the quality and quantity of yields and large cost reductions in fertilisers, pesticides and labour, while there is also the potential for healthy soil to act as a carbon sink, mitigating against climate change. Sustainable soil management has the ability to create numerous positive outcomes for both the environment and farming communities.

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Florian Lang
Location: Surendranagar, Gujarat, India. 2018.
Description: Better Cotton Farmer Vinodbhai Patel is comparing soil from his field with the soil from a neighboring field.

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) was established in 2012 as a way of developing strong interactive partnerships and collaboration between stakeholders working with soils. The partnership manages a portfolio of global programmes designed to improve soil governance and to promote sustainable soil management.

“Better Cotton is delighted to be engaging in a fruitful collaboration with the Global Soil Partnership. Through the implementation of two pilot projects, Better Cotton will receive significant support to work with national governments, agricultural stakeholders and farming communities to build the capacity of cotton farmers on sustainable soil management practices.” – Gregory Jean, Standards and Learning Manager, Better Cotton Initiative.

Through the collaboration with the Global Soil Partnership, Better Cotton is undertaking two pilot projects:

Soil Doctors 

The Soil Doctors programme promotes the establishment of a farmer-to-farmer training system and aims to build the capacity of farmers on the practice of sustainable soil management. By doing so, it seeks to:

• Support governmental agencies and organisations working on agricultural extension services at the field level.
• Support field research based on interactions between the Soil Doctors representatives and universities and research institutes, including providing access to demonstration and experimental fields.
• Promote the concept of soil testing prior to recommendations on soil management.

Better Cotton implemented a Soil Doctors pilot programme in Mali in April, and plans to roll the programme out in Mozambique later this year. Better Cotton ’s Implementing Partners in Mali (The Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement des Textiles) and Mozambique (TBC) will receive specialist training from experts from the Global Soil Partnership network, as well as access to demonstration plots, experimental fields, educational material and soil testing kits.

RECSOIL 

RECSOIL is a ‘Payment for Ecosystem Services’ (PES) scheme, whereby qualifying projects are given financial incentives and awarded credits based on the volumes of carbon sequestered in the soil and on the reduction on GHG emissions. This approach encourages more sustainable farming practices, while also creating an additional source of revenue for farmers.

Farmers are the central pillar of RECSOIL as they are the ones who can make a difference by adopting good practices that maintain carbon in the soil. They will then benefit from technical support and financial incentives for adopting and implementing these practices. Better Cotton is currently working with Global Soil Partnership to design a small pilot project in India – this has been delayed due to the Covid-19 situation, but testing will resume in the coming months.

Both the Soil Doctors and RECSOIL programmes are designed to allow farmers to make immediate and responsible decisions on soil management. Further updates on the pilots will be shared later in the year.

 
The Israeli cotton sector may be small, but its cotton farmers use some of the world’s most efficient irrigation methods, collaborating effectively to address key sustainability challenges, and growing very high quality, extra-long staple cotton.

Image ©ICB

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is delighted to announce that its longstanding partner in the country, the Israel Cotton Production and Marketing Board (ICB) is now a BCI Strategic Partner. This follows the successful benchmarking of the ICB’s Israel Cotton Production Standard with the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS). Benchmarking confers one-way recognition of other credible cotton sustainability standard systems, and is a key cornerstone of BCI’s long-term goal of national embedding.

“BCI is pleased to be strengthening its long-standing relationship with ICB, an enthusiastic contributor to the BCI community of companies and organisations, as it joins the growing ranks of BCI Strategic Partners.

We welcome the successful benchmarking of the Israel Cotton Production Standard and thank everyone involved with this work.”

Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton Initiative

Cotton production is highly mechanised in Israel, and its growers are well supported by a robust network of extension services. A total of 58 BCI licensed farms produced 9,000 tonnes of Better Cotton in the 2018-19 cotton season.

“We thank BCI for the benchmarking process and are proud to become aligned with its sustainable principles and criteria promoting excellence in cotton production, environmental considerations and decent human involvement.

In becoming a Strategic Partner ICB management and growers are ever more committed to the sustainability of the cotton sector and assume responsibility for its long-term preservation.”

Yizhar Landau, Managing Director, ICB

ICB is a farmer-owned producer organisation that represents all cotton farmers in the country. It has been an Implementing Partner of BCI since 2016, and all Israeli cotton farmers are enrolled in the BCI programme in Israel. The ICB coordinates relations between farmers, other supply chain actors and research and development institutions in Israel.

In 2018, ICB began developing its own cotton standard system – the Israel Cotton Production Standard (ICPS), pursuing the successful benchmarking with the BCSS in 2020. In doing so, Israel joins a select number of countries which have successfully benchmarked national standards with the Better Cotton Standard System. All Israeli farms continue to be eligible to market their cotton as Better Cotton.

About the Israel Cotton Production and Marketing Board (ICB)

The Israel Cotton Production and Marketing Board (ICB) is a voluntary farmer-owned producer organisation that represents all cotton growers in the country. The organisation provides sectorial leadership and coordinates relations between growers, supply chain actors and other stakeholders in Israel.

ICB engages in classing and organised marketing of the entire Israeli cotton crop. Additional functions include production and plant protection activities including field extension, administration of working capital funding, coordination of research and development and grower representation.

ICB and its collaborating Producer Units (PUs) administer the implementation of the Israel Cotton Production Standard System (ICPSS) in Israel.

 
A step further than sustainability – why communicating purpose is key to success.

On Tuesday 11 May, BCI will be joined by Brand Purpose experts, GOOD Agency, as they explore the primary drivers of purpose and unpick the ways in which brands can mobilise stakeholders, colleagues, and customers around their purpose and sustainability initiatives to create more value, now and in the future.

This session will look at the forces that have created an unstoppable momentum behind “purpose”; defined as “the demonstration of positive impact on relevant social and environmental issues, to create value for individuals, the business and wider society”.

GOOD Agency will also share their latest audience-first research and bring the perspective of brands to reveal what your stakeholders really feel about purpose commitments and communications.

Learn more about Chris Norman and Pete Grant.

Registration

Date: Tuesday, 11 May 2021
Time: 15:00-16:00 BST (GMT + 1)
Fee: €40

REGISTER HERE

BCI Members receive a 50% discount – please log into the members only event page on the BCI website to access the discount code.

Benefits of Registration  

Once you are registered for the event, you can make full use of the event platform to:

• Connect with expert speakers ahead of the session
• Start or join insightful discussion groups with peers
• Network and make valuable connections
• Access the episode recording and presentation through May

All series sponsors can be found on our event webpage.

Learn more about Good Agency’s approach to Purpose in our latest blog.

About the Cotton Sustainability Digital Series

In 2021, BCI launched a new Cotton Sustainability Digital Series. Sessions and speakers originally curated for BCI’s in-person 2021 Global Cotton Sustainability Conference will now be coming to you live online, at more accessible rates and times across the entire year. Join BCI and partners through 2021 for the monthly Cotton Sustainability Digital Series, where the entire sector will come together to shape a more sustainable future for cotton.

Today is International Women’s Day 2021, a global event to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. At the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), we are celebrating women’s achievements by sharing inspiring stories from the field, reflecting on and reinforcing our goals on gender equality in cotton, and sharing resources with our peers and members.

What is International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day (IWD), marked annually on 8 March, is a call to action to accelerate progress and awareness about gender equality. IWD dates back to 1911, and over a hundred years later we’re still far from a world of gender equality.

What does this mean for BCI?

Gender inequality remains a pressing challenge in the cotton sector. Globally, women in cotton production take on varied, essential roles, but their labour is often unrecognised and under-remunerated. Where the contributions of women remain invisible, their critical role in adopting more sustainable practices, and creating a transformed, equitable cotton future, is missed. For example, a 2018-19 study in in Maharashtra, India revealed that only 33% of women cotton cultivators surveyed had attended training in the last two years. Yet, when training was provided to women, there was a 30-40% increase in adoption of better farming practices. There is a clear business case to create better access to resources and knowledge for women in cotton. As an industry leader, BCI has an opportunity to address these challenges and to integrate gender equality as a cornerstone of sustainable cotton.

Learn more!

Stories from the Field

Women in cotton farming communities can face significant discrimination and challenges, partly as a result of pre-existing social attitudes and beliefs about gender roles. BCI and our partners seek to ensure equal and respectful treatment for all women in cotton farming communities, and today, we’d like to celebrate women’s achievements by sharing stories from the field from Pakistan and Mali.

Following her mother’s footsteps, Ruksana Kausar married a cotton farmer when she was young. Like many women in her community — where cotton communities farm the land to survive — Ruksana works hard on her family’s cotton farm, sowing seeds, weeding the fields and picking cotton amid the searing heat of Punjab. Learn more about Ruksana’s journey.

Since 2010, Tata Djire has worked for BCI’s on-the-ground partner in Mali, Association des Producteurs de Coton Africains, where she introduced the BCI Programme. Tata was instrumental to the success of the BCI Programme in Mali, supporting smallholder farmers and women in agriculture. Learn more about Tata’s journey.

Meet Pakistani cotton Farmer Almas Parveen and hear about her inspiring journey, enabling other farmers — both men and women — to benefit from sustainable agricultural practices. Almas regularly gives talks to girls in schools, and she helped to establish a new primary school in her village. Learn more about Almas’ journey.

BCI Gender Strategy and Working Group

The BCI Gender Strategy, published in November 2019, outlines our action plan to mainstream a gender sensitive approach. The strategy presents the context, challenges and opportunities for men and women in cotton. BCI also launched a cross-functional Gender Working Group in July 2020. The purpose of the Group is to: establish shared accountability for delivering BCI’s Gender Strategy, create learning and leadership opportunities for all participants, support the development of BCI’s 2030 strategy and impact targets, and action new opportunities and partnerships.

Network

This week, Business Fights Poverty is hosting a free, online Gender Summit on 9, 10 & 11 March with guest speakers tackling the following themes – “Unleashing Enterprise”, “Tackling Gender-Based Violence”, and “Building Farmer Livelihoods.” To register, just follow this link.

Celebrate International Women’s Day with us online! We will be sharing updates throughout the week. Join the conversation. #GenerationEquality #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021