Home ›› 10 Aug 2021 ›› Opinion
Better Cotton Initiative or BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future, by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable commodity. To achieve this mission, BCI with a diverse range of stakeholders across the cotton supply chain promotes measurable and continuing improvements for environment, farming communities and the economies of cotton producing areas.
BCI has some specific aims. It wants to reduce the adverse environmental impact of cotton production and plans to improve livelihoods and economic development in cotton producing areas. Another goal of the BCI is to improve commitment to Better Cotton throughout the supply chain. It is keen on ensuring the credibility and sustainability of Better Cotton.
The Better Cotton Standard System is an approach to sustainable cotton production which covers all three pillars of sustainability– environmental, social and economic.
Each of the components from the production principles and criteria to the monetary mechanisms which show result and impact, work together to support the Better Cotton Standard System, and ensures the credibility of Better Cotton and the initiative. The system is designed to ensure the exchange of good practices and to encourage the scaling up of collective action to establish Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
BCI works using a mass balance system, which encourages suppliers to buy and use more Better Cotton in a cost-efficient manner because it does not require complexities that result in costly physical segregation along the supply chain. Mass balance means what comes out must balance with what went in. For example, if a retailer places an order for finished garments like T-shirts and requests one metric tonne of Better Cotton be associated with this order, a cotton farmer somewhere must produce one metric tonne of cotton to the Better Cotton Standard. This is then registered on BCI’s supply chain system and credits for the order are passed through the supply chain for that same weight in cotton, from one factory to the next.
The Better Cotton Production principles and criteria lay out the global definition of Better Cotton, by upholding different principles. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who minimise the harmful impact of crop protection practices. It is produced by farmers who use water efficiently and care for the availability of water. These farmers care for the health of the soil and conserve natural habitats.
By adhering to these principles Better Cotton farmers produce cotton in a way that is measurably better for environment and farming communities. At the beginning of 2014, farmers in more than 20 countries worldwide were working towards producing over a million metric tonnes of Better Cotton. More than 300 BCI members across the Better Cotton Supply Chain, are working to source Better Cotton for the shop-floors of major global brands and retailers including Adidas, H & M, IKEA, LEVIS, Strauss & Co, Marks and Spencer and Nike. BCI’s goal is that better cotton will become a mainstream commodity reaching 30 per cent of global cotton production by the end of this year.
By that time Better Cotton and its equivalents will represent 30 per cent of global cotton production. It will reach and train five million cotton farmers on more sustainable practices. 10 per cent of all cotton produced globally will be sourced as Better Cotton. Nine countries will take direct responsibility for funding and implementing the Better Cotton. Better Cotton will cover100 per cent of its core operational costs with earned income.
BCI manages the farm-level implementation of the Better Cotton Standard, a holistic approach to more sustainable cotton production. Licensed BCI Farmers produce cotton in a way that cares for the environment, minimising the negative effects of fertilisers and pesticides, and caring for water, soil health and natural habitats. This is what we refer to as ‘Better Cotton’. BCI Farmers also commit to decent work principles – conditions that support workers’ safety and wellbeing.
BCI’s highest priority is the large-scale transformation of cotton production worldwide so that as many farmers as possible gain access to knowledge and tools to improve the environmental, social and economic sustainability of cotton production. In order to achieve this, we rely on funding from private and public donors and funders.
Targets to be achieved by 2020 –2021
Better Cotton Initiative will aim for Better Cotton and its equivalents to represent 30 per cent of total global cotton production. Production of Better Cotton globally increased by 50 per cent compared to 2016-17 cotton season. Production of Better Cotton increased or doubled in India, Pakistan, South Africa and the USA. In India production rose by more than 75 per cent from 3,25000 metric tons to 5,72000 metric tons in 2017-18. 2 million farmers produced 5.1 million metric tons of Better Cotton which is 19 per cent of global production.
The following countries are planning to produce 30 per cent of global cotton production in 2020-2021.They are Brazil, China, CIMA, Pakistan, India, Australia, Turkey, Israel, Mali, South Africa, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the USA.
The way BCI is gaining global acceptability, we can try to produce better cotton in our lands reserved for cotton production. Cotton Development Board of ours has yet to come up with a sizeable output in its 30 years of existence. Only 3 to 4 per cent of our total cotton requirements are produced in the reserved fields. We should try for better cotton when it consumes less water and is environment friendly.
The writer is former Director General, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and Adjunct Associate Professor at ULAB, Primeasia, South East and BGMEA University
