With focus on building a more resilient cotton sector, a Call for Action sought out solutions to the challenges hampering the ability of cotton-producing regions in least-developed countries (LDCs), including the Cotton-4 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.
- The Call for Action commits signatories to continue seeking solutions that will enable these countries to improve competitiveness, achieve higher yields and greener production, and add value both to fibre and by-products.
- The Call came at the 8th Aid for Trade Global Review, where Better Cotton joined the Partners’ Conference focused on building a more resilient cotton sector. Jointly organised by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), the event focused on cotton’s contribution to mitigating climate change, reducing poverty, enhancing food security, and the creation of jobs, especially for women and youth.
- During the conference, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged donor agencies to mobilise resources in support of cotton projects in the least-developed countries (LDCs).
- The document was signed by DG Okonjo-Iweala along with representatives from the ITC and UNCTAD, who also co-sponsored the Call for Action. Conference participants from the Cotton-4, UNIDO, the OACPS Secretariat, Afreximbank and Better Cotton also signed.
- The document remains open for signature ahead of World Cotton Day on 7 October 2022.
Better Cotton: Today Better Cotton is grown in 24 countries around the world and accounts for 20% of global cotton production.
- In the 2020-21 cotton season, 2.2 million licensed Better Cotton Farmers grew 4.7 million metric tonnes of Better Cotton. However, these farmers are only part of the story. Over the last decade, nearly 4 million people around the world – farmers, farm workers, share croppers – have received training in more sustainable practices, reflecting the diversity of the cotton-growing, or ‘Farmer+’ community.
