The CEO of social enterprise CottonConnect urges fashion brands to focus on regenerative agriculture combined with traceability and accountability to secure a more sustainable future for the industry, Global Data reported.
CottonConnect is looking to increase its impact beyond just damage control. CEO Alison Ward tells Just Style that when she first joined the company a decade ago its work was more focused on reducing the harm caused by the fashion industry.
At the time, this meant reducing water usage and promoting alternatives to harmful pesticides sometimes used in cotton farming.
However, in the past four years, Ward says she’s seen “a real move towards regenerative” and adds: “I think that as agendas move forward we really see that we need to be having this positive impact”.
This means CottonConnect has taken a more holistic approach, looking at the social impact of the cotton industry and soil health, as well as the wider impact on smallholder agriculture. “I think this move toward regenerative is really about, in some cases, going back to practices that perhaps were happening before,” she explains.
Regenerative agriculture can also help improve harvest for cotton farmers. Last year, CottonConnect's 2023 Impact Report highlighted an 18.5% increase in yield for its flagship REEL Cotton programme, leading to a 47% rise in profits for cotton farmers.
Improving soil health with regenerative farming
In recent years, Ward points out soil health has emerged as one of the most pressing issues facing cotton farmers.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of concern about degree degradation of soils,” Ward notes. In summer 2023 CottonConnect conducted a survey of its members and found that soil health was the most important concern for cotton agriculture, overtaking climate change and chemical use.
“Where there’s been extensive chemical use, you really see that the soil perhaps doesn’t have the life it should have in terms of the number of nutrients and the fibre matter that should be in there,” shares Ward.
Healthy soil, rich with organic nutrients, is essential for maintaining quality and volume of cotton. In 2016, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated that the world could run out of topsoil within the next 60 years if degradation rates are not reversed.
Reducing use of pesticides can help improve the health of soil as Ward explains: “One of the biggest pieces of work we do is encouraging farmers to make their own organic pesticides.”
CottonConnect has recently conducted a pilot Regenerative Cotton scheme in Gujarat, India. Farmers on the scheme were encouraged to make their own pesticides using local trees as part of Regenerative Cotton. The neem tree has natural pesticide and antibacterial properties and it can be used to make a spray for crops.
“That’s an example of where, rather than buying a synthetic fertiliser or pesticide, we’re looking to nature for the solutions,” she adds.
So far, the scheme has reported that 10% of its farmers are now preparing and applying homemade bio-pesticides as well as a 23% reduction in the use of chemical fertilisers by project farmers, compared to those not enrolled in the pilot.
Tackling the effects of climate change
Like many sectors, cotton farming has started to see the consequences of climate change in recent years. “We’ve really seen the impact, particularly on smallholder agriculture,” shares Ward, adding that this often impacts the most vulnerable farmers in the supply chain. She cites erratic monsoons in India, which make it difficult to time harvests, as well as extreme heat and increased pest attacks.
Regenerative farming can help here with methods that improve moisture control, as well as soil quality. CottonConnect has also worked on educating farmers about the potential impact of climate change. “We see regenerative as part of the solution,” she states, although she's quick to highlight the practice can only help to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Working with communities, especially with women in training centres has helped CottonConnect to have a positive social impact too: “It operates on a number of levels. It works with nature and there’s a cost effectiveness, but it’s also about giving farmers that sense of control of their farm which is quite important.”
The pilot scheme in Gujarat has also found that using regenerative practices has a positive impact on carbon emissions. Project farms reported 23% lower carbon emissions per acre compared to control farms.
And this is where regenerative agriculture could become key for fashion brands as so many are trying to reduce emissions.
Increasing traceability within the fashion supply chain
As well as tracking climate impact, CottonConnect is also able to assist brands with increasing traceability in their supply chains, which is critical given new and upcoming EU and US legislation. “It gives brands the confidence in their supply chains but it also brings accountability,” she says.
The company’s traceability tool, called TraceBale, has so far enabled fashion brands to track the equivalent of 1.4bn cotton t-shirts. So far, the tool has 900,000 farmers registered and is working with more than 18 separate retailers, including European retailer C&A.
In November 2023, CottonConnect announced the broader availability of TraceBale, as an essential tool for brands across the apparel industry.
With so much pending legislation targeting supply chains, this is likely to become an increasing focus for fashion brands in the coming years.
“There are 16 pieces of legislation going through the EU at the moment that will affect textiles over the next three to five years,” reveals Ward. She also cites pending legislation in California and border control in the US, stating that it all “hinges on traceability”.
Ward says she is “not a fan” of legislation as a tool to drive change as she's found the positive changes in the cotton sector “have all been driven by companies that are passionate about their values,” rather than penalties.
However, she does believe these new laws will “drive more rapid adoption”. “I think it’s about brands being ready for that,” she adds. “Traceability and accountability are really fundamental to the work they’re going to need to do in the future.”
CottonConnect is also proud of the fact it takes its brand partners to meet farmers on the programme. “It’s quite often described as life-changing,” declares Ward. “They can then understand the impact that an investment into sustainable cotton can have on a farmer in their programme.” /BGNES