Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world and also holds the third largest spinning capacity in Asia after China and India. The textile industry of the country is known all over the world for the high quality of its products, especially the textile products that it supplies to local and international brands. The usage of cotton in textile products here is far higher than that of synthetic fibre, thus resulting in increased demand for the commodity.
While the country is working on plans to increase cotton production, it faces another challenge without meeting which it cannot get orders from leading brands of the world. In order to stay competitive, it will have to promote the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) in the country and increase production of Better Cotton grown according to certain set of rules and procedures.
BCI is a multilateral initiative taken with the aim of encouraging best practices during the production of cotton and making all the procedures environment-friendly as well as human-friendly. A brainchild of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), this initiative has six core elements that follow:
1) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who minimise the harmful impact of crop protection practices.
2) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who use water efficiently and care for the availability of water.
3) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who care for the health of the soil.
4) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who conserve natural habitats.
5) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who care for and preserve the quality of the fibre.
6) Better Cotton is produced by farmers who promote Decent Work.
Compliance with these standards is also essential as major brands of the world are opting for Better Cotton and gradually decreasing the share of conventionally grown cotton. Ikea brand for example has switched to 100 per cent use of Better Cotton while Adidas has set the goal to purchase 100 per cent of the cotton it uses from sustainable sources by 2018. It aims to use 40 per cent Better Cotton by the end of 2015.
The local textile industry is aware of this challenge and hence trying to adjust accordingly, says Anis ul Haq, Secretary All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). He tellsTNSunder this initiative every activity starting from growing of cotton to ginning, spinning and weaving etc is monitored and recorded in a system and can be tracked. For example, it is possible to track the amount of water used to produce a certain quantity of cotton, the intensity of pesticide and fertilizer usage, the enforcement of labour standards and so on. As it will be a preferred raw material, he says, APTMA is playing its role to promote this product. He says APTMA and BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) Chief Executive Patrick Charles Laine signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last year to implement joint activities to mainstream sustainability in cotton production in Pakistan.
Dr Shafiq Ahmad, Country Manager BCI, tellsTNSthat they have an office in Pakistan and they work with farmers through partner organisations. These partner organisations come up with project plans and get funds and guidance to execute them. He says BCI funds comprise contributions from members belonging to the textile sector, global textile brands, governments and donor agencies.
Ahmad says the project being executed at the moment include those aimed at training farmers on the judicious use of water, conserving quality of soil, justified use of pesticide and fertilizers, integrated pest management and so on. The progress and results are monitored under a three-layered system. First, the implementing partner is asked to make entries according to the protocols developed for this purpose. Then comes sampling-based inspection by BCI and finally the assessment by a third party hired to assess the outcomes of the initiatives taken by the partner organisation, he adds.
Statistics show that more than 90 per cent of cotton growers live in developing countries and own farms less than five acres in size. Besides, it is a fact that cotton accounts for 16 per cent of global chemical pesticide use, more than any other single crop. Growing cotton in Pakistan also uses a lot of water, partly because of wasteful irrigation. It is also a fact that the cotton sector witnesses labour violations as well in addition to the environmental problems cited above. These considerations were very much on the minds of people who launched this initiative in a bid to set globally acceptable standards for cotton production.
An example of a healthy practice under the initiative was the preparation of 500 liters of neem seed extract and 1200 liters of bitter melon extract. These extracts were distributed among neighbouring farmers free of cost, so as to test these on wider scale. The spray of neem extract provided the desired control without the use of synthetic pesticides.
Asad Imran, Senior Manager WWF-Pakistan, tells TNS that the fund was working on sustainable cotton much before the launch of BCI. The purpose, he says, was to come up with standards related to clean production of cotton just on the pattern of 15 other items including livestock, tuna and sugar that WWF monitored. The good news is that around 1.5 lakh farmers are involved and Better Cotton is cultivated on 0.5 million acres of land at the moment. This, he says, is equal to 10 per cent of total cultivated land in the country.
Imran adds that the environmental footprint is quite high in the case of cotton due to the high use of pesticides and water. It is estimated that one T-shirt of cotton consumes 2400 liters of water starting from the farm to the finishing level. The whole purpose of this initiative, he says, is to make cotton production friendly to the environment and the people.