Farmers

A new initiative to help wool and cotton producers in the US is targeted at greenhouse gas reduction, emissions and sequestration, along with equity, social justice, including benefits for historically underserved groups.

LVMH is one of the biggest and richest luxury conglomerates in the world, and the vicuña wool for its Loro Piana brand is exquisite and expensive. But the indigenous farmers in Peru remain impoverished and exploited, an investigation by Bloomberg has revealed.

The golden fibre jute has lost much of its sheen in India and continues to deteriorate as its cultivation dropped by 20% in the last nine years. 

Enrollments are open for US farmers to join the voluntary, science-based sustainability programme  — Cotton Trust Protocol — that will help them adopt and implement sustainable practices that benefit both their operations and the environment.

The importance of the cotton plant in the fashion industry in tackling climate change is often under a shadow. Not many are aware that it takes planet-warming gases out of our atmosphere and sequesters them in its biomass, giving it a net negative carbon footprint. As Mumbai gears up for the opening of the International Cotton Advisory Committee’s 81st Plenary Meeting, 2–5 December, learn more about this wonder raw material. 

Solidaridad has just published a paper on the interplay between cotton and climate change, which shows that in the near future almost every cotton producing country will be negatively affected by climate change. The paper’s author, Tamar Hoek, Senior Policy Director (Sustainable Fashion), responds to questions related to the paper.

In the foreseeable future, almost all cotton producing regions around the world will be negatively impacted by climate change, and if brands/retailers don't do their bit about their relationships with cotton farmers and value chains, the damage to livelihoods and production could be irreversible.

The backbone of agriculture, empowering women in the cotton value chain can have positive effects beyond farm productivity, leading to improved living standards and food security, says a new report by CottonConnect.

The 2023 India Impact Report by Better Cotton claims environmental, social and economic benefits of Better Cotton production.

A first of its kind Small Farmer Atlas brought out by nonprofit Solidaridad is a comprehensive satisfaction survey detailing their inputs on issues ranging from prosperity and income, to sustainability, bargaining power and land use.