With the future of hemp production at a “watershed moment,” Textile Exchange has said that production and use of hemp fibre has great potential to support the achievement of Climate+ goals which call for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from fibre and raw material production by 45% by 2030 while also improving soil health, water, and biodiversity in the pre-spinning phase.
- As the versatile hemp gains increasing currency, the nonprofit has come up with a global fibre guide that lays emphasis on its sustainable attributes and exhorts all stakeholders to shape its production system from the soil up.
- By working collaboratively and applying learnings from the past, its holistic benefits can be leveraged to meet climate and nature targets.
THE GLOBAL FIBRE GUIDE: The just released Growing Hemp for the Future: A Global Fiber Guide exhorts governments, brands, and farmers alike to set up systems that will result in high quality raw material with low toxicity inputs and maximum benefits to the environment.
- If business is conducted as usual, the same negative impacts on communities and the environment could well occur from the practices that are common in conventional agriculture today. And this poses the question—if the promise of hemp’s sustainability attributes starts to diminish, will the market still be interested in the fibre?
- As there are few conventional pesticides authorised for hemp’s production globally, the industry can develop production practices from scratch that work in harmony with nature and bring about measurable benefits for this newly reappreciated fibre crop.
- There is much excitement about the sustainability potential of this fibre crop, but growing, sourcing, or wearing hemp won’t be a solution in itself—it will all depend on how that hemp is grown, the Guide cautions.
KEY FINDINGS: Among those listed:
- Unlike other popular crops which have become reliant on synthetic pesticides, biological pesticides are to date the primary pesticides that governments have permitted for use on fibre hemp.
- Research is under way to add additional conventional pesticides to the limited fibre hemp pest management toolkit. In some countries, pesticides that meet the United Nation’s “Highly Hazardous” definition have already been approved for use on hemp. Availability and use of synthetic pesticides is likely to expand without industry commitment to the precautionary principle—exploring alternatives to possible harmful actions.
- Significant improvements need to be made to undertake and make public data that supports sustainability statements and identifies fibre hemp production regions and quantities.
- While data is incomplete, the leading hemp fibre countries by volume appear to be France, China, North Korea (estimated), Poland, and the United States.
- Sixty years of data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1961–2021) indicates that 2021 fibre hemp production by volume was approximately the same level as in 1961 but grown on far less land with far greater efficiency, resulting in higher yields.
At present, there is limited information to support all sustainability claims related to fibre hemp, or to accurately identify where and how much is grown internationally. Further research is therefore needed to substantiate claims.
- Textile Exchange also urged the hemp sector to improve global production tracking; avoid the adoption of hazardous pesticides and synthetic fertilisers; and to become certified to organic and regenerative standards that provide a chain of custody from field to finished product.
