Cotton is used as a raw material for clothes, bed linen, towels and much more all over the world. In the past years the “white gold” has been challenged by synthetic fibres, but it is still very popular in the textile industry as well as among consumers. However, cotton has two faces: On the one hand, it is the most important source of foreign currency in many developing countries and the only source of income for thousands of farmers. On the other hand, cotton farming is quite problematic from an ecological point of view: the use of enormous amounts of pesticides harms human health, decreases soil fertility and pollutes (drinking-) water. Intensive irrigation leads to soil salinization and scarcity of water. A silent witness of the latter is the desiccated Lake Aral in Central Asia.
The complex problems of cotton cultivation can only be solved if all the involved actors – from the farmer to the retail business – work hand in hand to promote sustainable cotton production. Organic cotton should not be seen as a “silver bullet” in this context, but as an innovative idea to show that quality cotton can be produced without using chemical substances and without depleting natural resources.
Helvetas is committed to bringing together farmers, traders, the textile industry and the retail trade in order to realise joint projects in organic cotton farming.
Overview of Helvetas organic cotton projects in West Africa and Kyrgyzstan. |
