BHOPAL – The C&A Foundation recently gathered cotton sector stakeholders in India to look at ways to boost organic cotton output in Madhya Pradesh – the country’s largest organic commodities state. Madhya Pradesh, in central India, accounts for 40 per cent of all India’s total organic cultivation area, however, this has declined in recent years due to a sharp fall in organic cotton output.
The C&A Foundation staged the Cotton Trailblazers event together with the government of the state of Madhya Pradesh as part of a celebration of the state’s global leadership in organic cotton production.
The event also looked at ways to facilitate talks between stakeholders of the organic cotton supply chain on working collaboratively to build a robust and resilient in the organic cotton sector.
Participants included government representatives, academia and stakeholders from across the organic cotton supply chain, including representatives of international brands and retailers as well as a large number of organic cotton farmers.
Speakers highlighted the challenges the sector was facing and called on stakeholders to work collaboratively towards building a prosperous value chain for organic cotton that benefits everyone from farm to store – farmers, manufacturers, brands, research institutes, and civil society.
Head of sustainable raw materials at the C&A Foundation, Anita Chester said: “This event highlights that it is the collective and focused effort from all stakeholders of the organic cotton ecosystem in the state, that need to come together and support the real heroes of this sector – the organic cotton farmer.
“Madhya Pradesh is the leader in India’s organic farm output and a global leader in the production of organic cotton. This needs to be celebrated. We also need to make note of the many challenges that present themselves in the sector so there is much still to be done.
“We at the C&A Foundation are delighted to be partnering the government and will continue to foster this collaboration of the different stakeholders so that both the organic cotton sector and the farmers who are part of it continue to flourish and keep the flag of both Madhya Pradesh and India flying high.”
