Meeting Of The Global Organic Cotton Community A Pre- Conference to IFOAM Organic World Congress 2014, Istanbul Meeting Highlights Introduction The Global Organic Cotton Community currently has 840 members. After a first face- to- face meeting in Switzerland (2009), and a second one in Spain (2011) community members had been invited to a third f2f- meeting held as a half- day session at the pre- conference of IFOAM s world congress 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey (October 10 th, 2014). In this session we had a mix of actors from the organic cotton supply chain, including producers, manufacturers, brands/retailers, researchers, certifiers and government agency representatives, amongst others. Overview of Presentations The meeting began with a welcome by Liesl Truscott from Textile Exchange, followed by an introduction by Deepika Malik to the C&A Foundation (sponsors of this event) and an introduction to the Global Organic Cotton Community Platform by Andrea Bischof from Helvetas (also sponsors of this event with funding of SECO, Swiss state secretariat of economic affairs). 1. The Future of Organic Cotton Textile Exchange Farm Engagement Program and introduction to the Organic Cotton Accelerator - Liesl Truscott, Textile Exchange, UK Liesl Truscott, Farm Engagement & European Director for Textile Exchange, presented the current status of the global organic cotton market. Production is declining year- on- year while demand and consumption for organic cotton textiles is growing year- on- year. Decline in supply is due to a number of challenges facing the sector, including: Market signals are not getting through/supply is not responding to demand Lack of economies of scale and complexities of the value chain Inability to access quality seed suitable for low- input agriculture 1
Prevalence of GMOs in many organic- producing areas and potential for contamination Competition from new easier- entry sustainability initiatives Supply chain disharmony (between cultivation and market cycles) Timeliness of payments and leakage of organic into conventional cotton supply chains The Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) is a new multi- stakeholder initiative that aims to: Build a prosperous organic cotton market that benefits all, from farmer to consumer. OCA s foundations were in an Inquiry Process that Textile Exchange, along with partner Change Agency, undertook with brands and retailers who are successfully integrating organic cotton into their business. OCA was formed during the Organic Cotton Round Table at the Textile Exchange Conference in Istanbul in November 2013. C&A Foundation has committed to funding the first two years of OCA s incubation and its further growth. OCA s Incubation Steering Group includes brands and retailers (C&A, EILEEN FISHER, H&M, Kering), C&A Foundation, CottonConnect and Textile Exchange. The Steering Group has guided and invested in the first year of the incubation of OCA. Although the early development of OCA has been driven by whole supply chain consultation - in 2015, OCA will look for wider ownership and stakeholder dialogue to drive the next phase of its development. The Chetna Coalition - Marci Zaroff, Founder of Under the Canopy and Portico Brands, USA Another project that holds promise for the future of organic cotton is the Chetna Coalition, a pilot project presented to us in this meeting by Marci Zaroff. The Chetna Coalition is a pilot project in which a number of brands have joined forces to improve the organic cotton supply chain by collating their procurement projections for the following year. Their total collated demand is then communicated and agreed with a select group of farmers, so that the farmers can be sure they have a market for their organic cotton before planting it and brands can be sure they have a source of organic cotton before planning to use it in their products. The initiative is still in its pilot phase, but aims to become a legal entity next March after a full analysis of the value chain has been carried out, including analysis of the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the pilot project (this study is known as the 3 Dimension Profit and Loss Programme, or 3DPnL). Some of the key targets that the Chetna Coalition aims to achieve as the project develops include: To decrease leakage of organic cotton into the conventional market by 35% by 2017 To increase total sales of organic cotton through the coalition by 10% a year Increase in total farmer household profitability by 25% by 2017 Increase in the total land area under organic cotton cultivation by 20% a year To increase farm productivity by 35% by 2017 2
Seed Security and Managing Contamination - Mans Lanting, Lanting Agriconsult/Louis Bolk Institute, The Netherlands, Textile Exchange, Global Mans Lanting introduced us to some of the key preliminary findings from a research project currently being undertaken by Lanting AgriConsult, Louis Bolk Institute, and Textile Exchange (led by Mans) into the seed issue. The key objectives of this study are to: Find out in which parts of the world organic cotton seed is difficult to obtain. Find out how important contamination of organic cotton with GM cotton is in different parts of the world for different actors in the chain. Get an impression whether it would be required to set up organic seed production programs and in which regions (and prioritize these regions). Get an idea how much a seed program would cost. Get an idea about the developments in the market according to the different actors in the chain. Get an idea how much congruence in expectations of development of the market exists between various actors in the chain. The full results of the study are still being finalized, but will be available soon. 2. The Syprobio Project - Abel Gouba, Coordinator of the Organic Cotton Programme, Burkina Faso Abel Gouba presented to us the findings from a recent study carried out in Burkina Faso by the Organic Cotton Programme and HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation into the bio- intensification of organic and Fairtrade cotton. The primary objective of the study was to provide appropriate support and extension approaches to help farmers increase productivity. To do this, 94 producers were interviewed and participatory workshops were held, during which production methods were analyzed and best practices were identified. The study found that the 3 main factors limiting intensification of organic production were: 1. Application of technologies 2. Production factors 3. Framework conditions for the organic sector Using these findings, different intensification strategies were developed for different types of farm (categorized predominantly by how well equipped they were). These strategies are already showing many signs of success, and as you can see from the graphs on Abel s final slide, average cotton yields have increased over the past two years. 3
You can read in more about the challenges and successes of this project, along with photos, maps and graphs, in Abel s presentation slides in the attached documents. Feedback from Breakout Sessions After a well- earned coffee break we regrouped for breakout discussions in two groups: Group 1: The Future of Organic Cotton This group spent time discussing what the future looks like for organic cotton, and identified some key issues and opportunities facing the sector: Key Issues: We need to find effective ways to manage the transition from conventional to organic and improve the business security and profitability of organic cotton production, since farmers understandably will not make the transition unless it is financially worth their while. It was discussed that this is possible through improving factors such as seed quality, soil fertility, education around organic methods, and extensions services. Developing programs to engage brands in supporting the transition years is also important. We need to find ways to overcome the market volatility and create more stability between growers and buyers. We ve seen other commodities (cocoa, coffee, oil for example) become more steeped in a region setting. Creating connectivity and stories of origin could help build more stability for all including the connection to the end consumer. Myths about organic cotton need to be exposed in order to remove stigma and encourage producers to grow more organic cotton (and brands to commit more boldly in organic textiles). In particular, myths around low yields in organic and miracles of GMOs were identified as key threats to building confidence and commitment to organic. Key Opportunities: Millennials - there is a new and growing generation of conscious consumers who are asking more questions about where their clothes come from and how they are made, etc. Innovation in organic agriculture is improving through the rising use of both scientific and traditional methods, such as the use of bio- inputs, composting and so on. Organization of farmers, such as through unions and producer groups, can bring significant opportunities through combining knowledge, resources and experience for communal benefit. It also enables more farmers to be introduced to organic methods of production and learn the correct techniques, and by collating production, groups can gain better and more secure access to markets. The discussion group left us with the positive take- home message of The future is promising! 4
Group 2: Seed Security and Managing Contamination This group discussed a number of important issues around seed contamination and availability issues. Key points resulting from the discussion includes the following: Contamination A small but significant proportion of cotton seed sold as organic is in fact contaminated with GMOs (Mans Lanting estimates around 3-4%). There are many possible causes of contamination, some accidental and some deliberate. The main point made here was that we need actors from the organic sector to fully control the selling of organic cotton seed, as this is the only way to ensure it is 100% organic. External seed companies should only be contracted to produce organic seed if they are able to provide a certificate guaranteeing that it is 100% organic. However, this is almost impossible for them to fully control and monitor, so really it needs to be the organic sector that controls production of all certified organic seed. Contamination can discourage farmers from going organic due to the fear that if their organic cotton is found to be contaminated with GM, they will only be able to receive conventional prices for it. The risk of contamination is unjustly with the farmer. Consumers The contamination of organic seed with GMOs risks devaluing organic cotton, since if consumers hear there s a chance their organic clothes may in fact be contaminated with GMOs, they are likely to question the worth of buying organic. We need to be able to guarantee that organic cotton is 100% GMO free, so that on the consumer side we can actively promote organic and its value beyond 100% GMO- free. We also need to communicate the fact that around 70% of clothes on the (conventional) market are made with GM cotton, as most consumers won t know this and it would likely help persuade them to buy organic. Better Cotton Initiative & GMOs BCI appeals to mainstream production and achieving scale in part because they allow GM cotton. It was discussed that being able to advertise organic as a key contributor to 100% non- GMO would be an effective marketing strategy to clearly distinguish organic (and most other sustainability initiatives such as Fairtrade and Cotton made in Africa) from BCI which allows GMOs. It was also mentioned that while Textile Exchange is one of the key homes for organic cotton, organic cotton has no centralized marketing division, core funder(s) or secretariat in the way BCI has. On a positive side, organic cotton has many homes in the wider organic community such as IFOAM, Helvetas, FT- Organic. More can be done to leverage and strengthen this broad ownership situation and avoid dilution. 5
Availability The unavailability of organic cotton seed is a significant and growing issue - farmers often can t get the quantities they need, if any at all. This is a particularly serious issue in India due to the dominance of Bt Cotton - Mans explains that we are at a very critical moment in time and change needs to happen now in order to enable the continued growth of organic cotton in India. Seed availability isn t only a problem in India, but in many other countries too. Politics Mans described noticeable differences between English speaking and French speaking countries, in that the former is more free market, where farmers have more of a say over prices and where there are usually many seed varieties available, whereas the latter is more centrally controlled in terms of seed supply and price, meaning there are often much fewer cotton varieties for farmers to choose form. For instance, Abel described how he wanted to import seed from Togo but needed permission from the government to do so, which took 3 months to receive (although it was about the same variety they already cultivated in Burkina Faso). Such situations have led to an increase in informal seed exchange across borders, making it more difficult to regulate the market (and contamination). This highlights the need for governments to become more involved in seed issues. Concluding Remarks As Liesl pointed out at the beginning of this session, we are at a critical juncture for organic cotton; demand is rising but supply is declining, so action needs to be taken immediately in order to keep the sector afloat and ensure that the growth of consumer interest in organic cotton can be nourished and maintained. This meeting focused on three main topic areas; the future of organic cotton, where two exciting new initiatives were introduced aiming to support and expand the sector; the seed issue, where the current research study into the availability of organic and non- GM cotton seed was introduced, along with discussion on contamination issues; and bio- intensification of organic cotton production, where an important study in Burkina Faso is identifying the most effective methods for organic cotton farmers to increase productivity. We would like to thank all presenters and participants for their active and valuable participation in the session, and invite you to discuss any of these topics in further detail on the Global Organic Cotton Community Platform. In addition, we always welcome input and feedback from the community, so please do get in touch if you have any comments or questions. 6