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Sustainability at Scale: Exploring the Benefits of a Landscape Approach

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Winners of Global Sustainable Farming Challenge Revealed

Joe Morphet on November 26, 2020

 
The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative are delighted to announce that Agritask Ltd., an Israel-based agricultural-tech start-up, has won the Better Cotton Innovation Challenge.

CropIn Technology Solutions, an India-based agricultural-tech company, was awarded with second place. The winning teams will now receive cash prizes of €100,000 and €35,000 respectively.

The Better Cotton Innovation Challenge, initiated by BCI and IDH and organised by Dalberg Advisors, launched in November 2019 to find new and innovative ideas to scale more sustainable cotton production. The challenge focused on two areas:

  • Customised training: Innovations to bring customised training on more sustainable farming practices to hundreds of thousands of cotton farmers.
  • Data collection: Innovations to reduce the time and cost of data collection to enable more efficient BCI licensing processes.

The challenge received close to 100 applications, 20 of which were shortlisted after a rigorous review process. Of the shortlisted applicants, five finalists – Agritask, CropIn, Ricult, WaterSprint and eKutir – were selected to trial their sustainable solutions in the field with BCI Farmers. Following the eight-week pilot period, a jury composed of BCI, IDH and Dalberg representatives, assessed the finalists and selected the winners based on a six-point criteria: impact, technical performance, likelihood of adoption, scalability, financial sustainability and team capability.

Agritask: winner

Agritask offers a holistic agronomic platform that enables agricultural stakeholders, including farmers, to capture and make use of a range of data in a highly flexible manner. The Agritask mobile app is customisable, allowing farmers to adopt digital solutions intuitively in a way that works for them. In addition, the platform enables remote monitoring via satellite and virtual weather stations and supports interaction with third-party systems. Data that is captured through the app is then aggregated and processed to provide actionable insights, tailored to each user.

Arsira Thumaprudti, Head of Business Development at Agritask commented, ”We are proud to work with global leaders in sustainability such as BCI. We are coming out of the field trials with a deeper appreciation of the complexity involved in implementing and monitoring sustainability programmes in the field, and this is exactly the type of challenge we were looking for.”

Images: ©Agritask. Cotton farming in Israel, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CropIn: runner-up

CropIn’s solution is a digital farm management solution that enables complete digitisation of farming processes. The platform empowers data-driven decision-making and provides complete visibility of people, processes and performance on a near real-time basis. It enables farmers to efficiently manage farming practices, while also ensuring they are adhering to compliance and certification requirements. The solution will assist farmers to address issues such as pest and crop-health and manage budgets and inputs, helping farmers to maximize their returns.

”The need for technological interventions to support sustainable farming is more pressing than ever. CropIn’s digital platforms are built to maximise value per acre for farmers, in an efficient, predictable and sustainable manner. Our solutions enable cotton farmers to manage and monitor crop farming in an accurate, affordable and scalable manner”, said Pallavi Kanak, Cropin Director India SEA.

Both winning solutions were selected from the data collection challenge category.

”The Innovation Challenge was set up to help identify solutions and partnerships that would accelerate the benefits for cotton farmers in their adoption of BCI principles and practices towards more sustainable cotton farming. The winning innovations have demonstrated in the field trials how adoption of new engagement models and technology can support and strengthen impact at field level,” said Pramit Chanda, Global Director Textiles and Manufacturing at IDH.

Cristina Martin Cuadrado, Programme Manager at BCI, praised the finalists, ”Congratulations to Agritask and CropIn, who persevered, along with the other three challenge finalists, and piloted their solutions despite the challenges and set-backs caused by Covid-19 this year. Now the challenge is over, we are excited to be exploring next steps and a potential roll out plan. We look forward to sharing further updates soon.”

Additional information about the Better Cotton Innovation Challenge can be found at: bettercottonchallenge.org.

About the organisations

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is a global not-for-profit organisation and the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. It aims to transform cotton production worldwide by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. BCI partners with on-the-ground Implementing Partners to provide training on more sustainable farming practices to more than 2.3 cotton farmers in 23 countries. Better Cotton accounts for 22% of global cotton production.

IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, convenes companies, civil society organizations, governments, and others in public-private partnerships in order to drive the joint design, co-funding and prototyping of new economically viable approaches. IDH is supported by multiple European governments, including the institutional donors: BUZA, SECO, and DANIDA.

Dalberg Advisors is a global advisory firm that provides high-level strategic, policy and investment advice to the leadership of key institutions, corporations, and governments, working collaboratively to address pressing global problems and generate positive social impact. Dalberg has a global presence, covering 25 countries across continents.

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Better Cotton Farmers Achieve Tangible Results Through More Sustainable Farming Practices

Joe Morphet on November 20, 2020

 
In the 2018-19 cotton season*, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and our on-the-ground partners provided training on more sustainable farming practices to more than 2.3 million cotton farmers in 23 countries.

With BCI training, supportand capacity building, BCI Farmers are better equippedtotackle pertinent issues in cotton production – such as water use,pest management and gender equality –and producecotton in a way that is measurably better for themselves, the environment and farming communities.

Each cotton season, BCI andpartners collect data from BCI Farmers to monitor and assess a range of social, environmental and economic indicators. BCI provides an analysis of this data through our annual Farmer Results report, and we’re pleased to now release the 2018-19 edition.

Highlights

Here are some key highlights from six countries where the Better Cotton Standard System was implemented in the 2018-19 season –China, India, Mali, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey.

Environmental

  • BCI Farmers in Pakistan used 15% less synthetic fertiliser.
  • BCI Farmers in Mali used 31% fewer pesticides.
  • BCI Farmers in Tajikistan applied biopesticides 8% more often.
  • BCI Farmers in China used 10% less water.

Economic

  • BCI Farmers in India achieved 11% higher yields.
  • BCI Farmers in Pakistan achieved 38% higher profits.

Social

  • In Turkey, 73% of BCI Farmers had advanced awareness of child labour issues.
  • In Mali, 39% of BCI Farmers and farm workers trained on more sustainable farming practices were women.

All BCI Farmer results are relative to the results achieved by Comparison Farmers (non-BCI farmers in the same geographic area who are not participating in the BCI programme). e.g. BCI Farmers in Pakistan used 15% less synthetic fertiliser than Comparison Farmers.

Access the 2018-19 Farmer Results Report to see how BCI Farmers are benefitting from implementing the Better Cotton Standard and driving measurable improvements in cotton production.

*Cotton is sown and harvested in different annual cycles all over the world. For BCI, the 2018-19 cotton season harvest was completed towards the end of 2019. BCI Farmer results and indicator data must be submitted to BCI within 12 weeks of the cotton harvest. All data then goes through a rigorous data cleaning and validation process before it can be published.

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Better Cotton Launches New Cotton Sustainability Digital Series for 2021

Joe Morphet on November 12, 2020

 
We are delighted to launch a new Cotton Sustainability Digital Series for 2021!Sessions and speakers originally curated for the 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 throughout 2021 for the monthly Cotton Sustainability Digital Series, where the entire sector will come together to shape a more sustainable future for cotton.

Connect with industry leaders and experts andexplore the entire cotton value chain. Sessions will focus on topicsincludingclimate action, innovation today and social sustainability.

JANUARY EPISODE: REGISTER NOW

January Episode| A 2030 Futurescape

What will 2030 look like and how do we respond as brands, manufacturers, NGOs and citizens?’

Join Lucy Shea, Group CEO, Futerra, for an exploration of the sustainability trends that are shaping the world around us and the fashion and textiles sector. In particular, we will look at how companies who embed sustainability have proven to be more resilient in 2020 and are building back better, becoming the businesses that our future needs. The next ten years will see the disruption of almost every industry, driven by our fast-changing world and the shifting desires of consumers, especially Gen Z.Learn more about Lucy Shea.

Date: Tuesday 19 January 2021
Time: 15:00-16:00 GMT

REGISTER NOW

EPISODE SPONSOR

FUTURE EPISODES

You can look forward to hearing from a selection of brilliant speakers throughout the year! Episodes and speakers will be updated and added to the BCI website inthe coming weeks and months. Keep checking back for new sessions.

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Task Force on Forced Labour and Decent Work Finalises Key Findings and Recommendations

Joe Morphet on October 27, 2020

Cotton is grown in areas of the world with formidable challenges, both environmental and social. Better Cotton’s mission dictates that we operate in many of these regions, and therefore, we must manage complex, socio-political and economic conditions in order to deliver support and interventions where they will have the most impact. In order to adapt and respond to decent work and forced labour challenges, in particular, Better Cotton is actively engaged in dialogue on these issues with subject matter experts and key stakeholders, including civil society organisations, retailers and brands, and ethical supply chains consultants.

To that end and in the spirit of our commitment to continuous improvement, Better Cotton formed the Task Force on Forced Labour and Decent Work in April 2020 to review the current Better Cotton Standard System globally. The aim of the Task Force was to highlight gaps and develop recommendations to improve the effectiveness of this system in identifying, preventing, mitigating and remediating forced labour risks. The group was comprised of 12 experts representing civil society, retailers and brands, and ethical supply chain consultancies. The Task Force worked virtually for six months to review current Better Cotton systems, discuss key issues and gaps, and develop proposed recommendations. The process included extensive consultations with a wider group of retailers and brands, field-level Implementing Partners and worker-focused organisations, among others. Their work culminated in a comprehensive report that outlines key findings and recommendations.

”It has been a privilege for Better Cotton to be able to work with a world-class group of independent experts,” commented Alan McClay, BCI CEO. ”Their knowledge and experience have enabled us to build a robust foundation on which we shall rebalance our activities with a stronger focus on decent work and forced labour.”

The Better Cotton Council and Management Team are reviewing the report and will carefully consider the Task Force’s findings and recommendations through the lens of Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy. They will prepare a detailed response to the recommendations, which will be shared in January. Better Cotton recognises that strengthening our decent work programme will be a multi-year process and will require additional resources and funding. In the short-term, we will focus on strengthening our forced labour capabilities through capacity building for staff, Implementing Partners and third-party verifiers, enhancing our due diligence for selecting and retaining Implementing Partners, and revising our assurance processes to better identify and mitigate forced labour risks.

In 2021, Better Cotton is also exploring opportunities to pilot a more comprehensive set of decent work activities, including a detailed forced labour risk assessment and civil society engagement tactics, in one or two high priority regions.

Better Cotton would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the Task Force members all of whom volunteered their time and expertise, engaging wholeheartedly in the process. Their efforts have resulted in a thorough and complex analysis of an important area of social sustainability, and of the Better Cotton Standard System, and will serve Better Cotton as we continue striving to create change. We are committed to pioneering innovative approaches to promote decent work conditions in cotton fields for workers and farmers alike, which would not be possible without strong engagement from diverse stakeholders.

Please leave a few details below to download the report

Please note that all data submitted via the download form will be kept confidential. It will not be shared or used for any communications purposes.

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Better Cotton Celebrates World Cotton Day 2020

Joe Morphet on October 7, 2020

 
JOIN BCI AS WECELEBRATEWORLD COTTON DAY 2020

Cotton is used by nearly everyone across the world on a daily basis. Today, on World Cotton Day 2020, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate the cotton farming communitiesat the heart of the industry, and at the heart of the Better Cotton Initiative,who work tirelessly to bring us this incredible natural fibre.

“Promoting and embedding sustainability within cotton farming is more essential than ever. The Better Cotton Initiative exists to improve farmer livelihoods through the adoption of more sustainable practices. This past year has been challenging, but every crisis carries an opportunity. I applaud all the cotton farming communities around the globe that have adapted and persevered, and on World Cotton Day, I would like to thank them for their invaluable contributions to the sector.” – Alan McClay, CEO, BCI.

Follow the link below to hear from BCI Farmers from around the globe as they share their stories and details on how they are embedding sustainability into their farming practices.

Meet the BCI Farmers

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Innovation Challenge Finalists Pilot Sustainable Farming Solutions

Joe Morphet on September 28, 2020

 
In November 2019, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), with the support of Dalberg Advisors, launched the Better Cotton Innovation Challenge – a global project seeking creative ideas and solutions to improve sustainable cotton farming practices around the world.

The first round of the challenge aimed to uncover innovative approaches and/or existing solutions to two identified challenges:

Challenge One: Customised Training
Innovations to help bring customised training on more sustainable farming practices to hundreds of thousands of cotton farmers across the globe.

Challenge Two: Data Collection
Solutions that could reduce the time and cost of farmer data collection to enable more efficient BCI processes.

A jury composed of external experts, BCI representatives, IDH representatives and the Dalberg team assessed 87 applications and shortlisted 20, before selecting five candidates to progress to the final phase of the competition. The five finalists now have the opportunity to pilot their sustainability-focused solutions in the field with BCI Farmers.

Meet the Finalists

Finalists Challenge One: Customised Training for Farmers

EKutir

Ekutir’s solution restructures training content into shorter, easily digestible modules delivered to farmers at the appropriate time of the year. It also provides individually tailored, immediately actionable advice to farmers based on a combination of their progress in the cotton growth cycle and real-time weather data. Ekutir’s solution automates the delivery of general training content and creates several delivery routes that cater to both literate and illiterate, smartphone-enabled and smartphone-less farmers.

WaterSprint

Water Sprint offers an interactive Decision Support System (DSS) which is designed to help farmers manage their crops by providing actual and forecasted measures of soil, climatic and agronomic conditions at local and regional levels. On the basis of the measurements, the system computes the required need for irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides. This proposed technology will use remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to gather data from satellites and formulate and communicate information to farmers through a smartphone app.

Finalists Challenge Two: Efficiency of Data Collection

Agritask

Agritask offers a platform to manage the entire cotton verification process, including digital data collection, field inspection planning, remote sensing and other technologies. Its mobile app enables farmers to keep records digitally, and for Field Facilitators (field-based staff, employed by BCI’s Implementing Partners, who deliver on-the-ground training to farmers) to document inspections digitally. Agritask enables remote monitoring via satellite and virtual weather stations and provides agronomic advice to farmers. It can also integrate with other technologies such as voice-based mobile apps to facilitate data collection.

CropIn

CropIn’s proposed solution is a digital farm management solution (that has both mobile and web interfaces) that enables complete digitisation of farming processes. The platform empowers data-driven decision-making and provides complete visibility of people, processes and performance on a near real-time basis. It enables farmers to efficiently manage farming practices, while also ensuring they are adhering to compliance and certification requirements. The solution will help farmers to address issues such as pest and crop-health and manage budgets and inputs, helping farmers to maximize their returns.

Ricult

Ricult is an integrated Artificial Intelligence based digital platform that collects data directly from farmers (through mobile phones) and via remote sensing, satellite imagery, processing mills, middlemen and other cotton supply chain actors. The platform processes and analyses the data and generates actionable insights which are then distributed throughout the agriculture ecosystem through mobile phones and a web-based application. The generated insights are both predictive and diagnostic and will help farmers in improving their yield and crop health, while also enabling cotton mills to gain access to yield forecasts.

Field Trials

The field-level trials provide an opportunity for the five finalists to test their proposed solutions in a real farming environment. To support the finalists, each organisation has been paired with one BCI Implementing Partner who will support them during the eight weeks of the trials.

The trials are now underway in India, Pakistan and Israel, after facing a slight delay due to Covid-19. Travel restrictions and social distancing requirements have also led the finalists to come up with alternative approaches to conduct many of their trial activities remotely, such as data collection and delivery of training sessions. Despite the challenges, the trials are going well and should be complete by the end of September.

Once the field-level trials have been completed, a new jury composed of Implementing Partner representatives, BCI representatives, IDH representatives and the Dalberg team will assess the finalists and select the final winners based on a six-point criteria: impact, technical performance, likelihood of adoption, scalability, financial sustainability and team capability.

The final winners will be announced around the end of October! We look forward to sharing a further update then.

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Sustainable Cotton Standards and Programmes Make Progress Towards Aligned Impact Measurement and Reporting

Joe Morphet on September 24, 2020

At the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) we know how important it is to measure the impacts of our own work on cotton producing communities and our shared environmental challenges. Looking at the sector more widely, it is clear that consistent, credible and comparable impact data across the wide range of sustainable cotton standards, programmes and codes is also important, and would encourage more brands and retailers to invest in a switch to more sustainable cotton.

During 2019 and 2020 we have been working collaboratively with fellow sustainable cotton standards, programmes and codes via the Cotton 2040 Impacts Alignment Working Group toalign sustainability impact indicators and metrics for cotton farming systems. The working group included: BCI, Cotton Connect, Cotton Made in Africa, Fairtrade, MyBMP, the Organic Cotton Accelerator and Textile Exchange, with advisory input from ICAC, the ISEAL Alliance and funding support from Laudes Foundation.

The two-year process was facilitated by international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future as part of the Cotton 2040 Initiative, working in close collaboration with the Delta Project. All partners in this initiative have a shared ambition to harness the benefits from more aligned impact data measurement and reporting: more credible, consistent data, with reduced time, costs, and duplication of efforts for all partners across the cotton system.

Together we have contributed to the development of the Delta Framework – a core set of indicators addressing key social, economic, and environmental issues which are relevant to sustainable cotton. The Delta Framework is voluntary and intended to apply worldwide to any cotton and coffee farming system, with the potential to be expanded to other agricultural commodities over time. Ultimately this common indicator set will help brands and retailers to confidently track the impact of their sustainable cotton sourcing decisions; support upgrading of farmer services to encourage continuous improvement at farm level; and facilitate increasing transparency and communication with consumers.

We are pleased to announce that we have reached a significant milestone in our collaboration. BCI along with the other working group members, has jointly-signed a Memorandum of Understanding – ”The Sustainable Cotton Aligned Impacts Measurement and Reporting Joint Commitment”. This sets out our intention that the Delta Framework will become a credible and shared framework to guide impact measurement and reporting of core sustainability issues of relevance to the cotton sector. During 2020 and 2021 we will be continuing to work with the Delta Project team to help test and refine the indicators and data collection and reporting methodologies. This will include piloting them with farmers and local partners as soon as local circumstances allow to ensure the indicators and methodologies meet the needs of cotton farmers and our partner organisations, including retailers and brands, and also the wider cotton sector.

“The Delta Project was initiated by BCI to respond to the needs of our stakeholders to have access to harmonised information on the outcomes of the different sustainability programmes implemented at farm level. Beyond the development of a common sustainability framework, BCI will ensure that farmers will also benefit from the data they provide, both through learning opportunities and more informed decision making, as well as through better access to more targeted services.” – Eliane Augareils, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, BCI.

We now encourage all organisations with interests in sustainable cotton to engage with the Delta Project as it moves forward. The draft indicators are publicly available for review and testing. Wider participation across the sector will help to accelerate progress towards alignment, supporting the transition to a sustainable cotton sector. The final indicator framework, including reporting guidance, will be available in 2021.

To receive future updates about this work please contact:

Delta Project: Eliane Augareils

Cotton 2040: Farinoz Daneshpay

Links:

Delta Framework – for further details on the indicator framework

Cotton 2040 Impacts Alignment workstream – for full details of the commitment statement

About Cotton 2040

Cotton 2040 is a platform which aims to accelerate progress and maximise the impact of existing sustainable cotton initiatives, bringing together leading international brands and retailers, sustainable cotton standards, and other stakeholders across the value chain. Facilitated by Forum for the Future, with support from Laudes Foundation, Acclimatise, Anthesis and the World Resources Institute (WRI), Cotton 2040 envisages a sustainable global cotton industry, which is resilient in a changing climate; which uses business models that support sustainable production and livelihoods; and where sustainably produced cotton is the norm.

About the Delta Project

The Delta Project is a joint effort of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), the Global Coffee Platform (GCP), the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), and it is supported by the ISEAL Innovation Fund. It is seeking to create a common language on sustainability performance across a range of agriculture commodities, starting with cotton and coffee, for measuring, monitoring and reporting progress.

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Better Cotton’s Membership Growth Continues in 2020

Joe Morphet on September 7, 2020

In the first half of 2020, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) welcomed 210 new members. BCI works with members across the cotton supply chain to ensure there is continuous demand for and supply of Better Cotton – cotton produced by licensed BCI Farmers in line with the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria.

New members in the first half of 2020 included 32 retailers and brands from 15 countries, 157 suppliers and manufacturers, and 21 cotton traders.

The retailers and brands that joined BCI in the first half of the year include: 7 For All Mankind, A.S. Watson BV, ABASIC S.L., ADT Group Holdings Pty Ltd, All Saints, AMC Textil Ltda, Brown Thomas Arnotts, C. & J. Clark International Ltd, Cawo Textil GmbH & Co., CIVAD, Craghoppers Ltd, Fynch-Hatton GmbH, Grupo Guararapes, Holy Fashion Group, Kentaur, Kesko, Lerros Modern GmbH, Love for Denim B.V., Magic Apparels Ltd, Margaret Howell, Matalan Retail Ltd, Nelly AB, Pepkor UK Retail Ltd, Pick n Pay Clothing, Pimkie Diramode, Seed Heritage, TFG Brands Ltd, Tommy Bahama, Uchino Co., Ltd, Van Gils Fashion B.V., Weber & Ott AG and Whitbread plc.

BCI’s demand-driven funding model means that its Retailer and Brand Member sourcing of cotton as “Better Cotton’ directly translates into increased investment in training for cotton farmers on more sustainable practices. At the time of writing, collective Better Cotton uptake by Retailer and Brand Members has already surpassed 794,000 metric tonnes this year, on track to exceed the 2019 uptake if sourcing continues at the current rate.

BCI Supplier and Manufacturer Members support the transformation of the cotton sector by sourcing increased volumes of Better Cotton for BCI Retailer and Brand Members – forming a critical link between Better Cotton supply and demand. In the first half of the year, new Supplier and Manufacturer Members joined from 26 countries including Algeria, Brazil, Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Italy, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, US and Vietnam.

You can find a list of all new members who joined in the first half of 2020 here.

Total BCI membership has now surpassed 2,000 members. The full list of all BCI Members is online here.

Organisations interested in becoming a BCI Member and supporting cotton farmers to embed more sustainable farming practices around the globe are invited to visit the membership page on the BCI website or get in touch with the BCI Membership Team.

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