Partnership forged for better cotton production

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), the Agriculture Extension Department (AED), Government of Sindh, and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) have signed a Commitment of Cooperation (CoC) to undertake agriculture specific activities focused on widespread dissemination and promotion of the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) in Sindh.

The formal agreement was signed on Thursday by Hammad Naqi Khan, director general/CEO of the WWF-Pakistan; Hadait Ullah Chijro, director general of the Agriculture Extension Department, Sindh; and Lena Staafgard, chief executive officer (COO) of the BCI, in the presence of Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo, agriculture secretary of Sindh. The CoC forges a partnership of five years between the organisations starting in February 2017 and ending in February 2022.

To achieve the BCI’s main objective of mainstreaming the Better Cotton Standards System (BCSS), the plan is divided into three phases. The first two years will make up the first phase of the project, and the WWF-Pakistan will work as the main implementing partner in collaboration with the AED.

The third and fourth year, the second phase of the CoC, will see a reduction in the WWF-Pakistan’s role in direct field implementation activities and the WWF-Pakistan will act as the BCI’s strategic partner.

In the third phase of the project starting from fifth year, the WWF-Pakistan will continue working as a BCI strategic partner in the province and the AED will take the overall field-related implementation activities as the core BCI implementing partner in order to mainstream the BCSS in the province.

Talking on the occasion, Hammad Naqi Khan expressed his willingness to partner with the Sindh government to help make agricultural commodities like cotton and sugarcane part of a sustainable industry and make their production environment friendly as well as to reduce their footprint on priority ecosystems.

“WWF-Pakistan believes in collaborating with all stakeholders and working together towards a sustainable future. Our organisation is already in a formal partnership with AED Balochistan and AED Punjab for the capacity building of cotton farmers and other relevant stakeholders,” he added.

Hadait Ullah Chijro, director general, Agriculture Extension Sindh, welcomed the initiative to be partner with the WWF-Pakistan and looked forward to sustainable cotton production in future in the province. The agriculture secretary ensured full support for widespread collaborating activities to mainstream better cotton production in the province.