London – Budget fashion retailer Primark has extended its sustainable cotton
programme in India for a further six years. The initiative, which launched
in 2013 in partnership with CottonConnect and the Self-Employed Women’s
Association, is looking to recruit a further 10,000 female smallholder
farmers onto the programme.
The aim of the scheme is to support women from traditionally
male-dominated farming communities in Gujarat, India, as well as to help
introduce sustainable farming methods, improve cotton yields and increase
incomes.
According to Primark, the three-year pilot has already trained 1,251
female smallholders, resulting in an average profit increase of 211
percent, as well as an average yield increase of 12.6 percent, and a
reduction of input costs by 5 percent.
As well as increased profits and yields, the pilot study also saw a
reduction in the use of pesticides by 53.5 percent and 13.5 percent
reduction in fertiliser usage, indicating that environmentally sustainable
farming methods are being adopted. In addition, the water usage decreased
by 12.9 percent.
Over the next six years it is hoped that the sustainable cotton
programme can introduce an additional 10,000 female farmers, with the first
seeds set to be sown by the new trainees in April 2016.
Paul Lister, who is responsible for Primark’s Ethical Trading Team,
said: “Primark has been working hard for the last decade to ensure that the
rights of workers within our global supply chain are respected, and the
lives of people working within the garment industry in emerging markets
change as industrialisation brings new jobs and opportunities.
“The Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme started with a desire to
develop a project that would improve sustainable cotton production and make
a meaningful difference for cotton farmers.”
CottonConnect chief executive Alison Ward added: “Achieving gender
equality and empowering women is one of the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals, but no one government, NGO, charity, business or brand can effect
positive change alone.
“Working with the Primark team and the Self-Employed Women’s
Association, we’ve been able to develop a unique programme that tackles
some of the challenges faced in achieving gender equality in farming
communities.”
Image: Primark