However, it will require all of us to take a human centered approach, and thinking in solutions. Clearly, the government and powerful companies that dominate the supply chain can play an important role here, assuming part of the costs and risks that are implied by this process of transition.Ĭan cotton be grown sustainably? And with farmers getting fair wages and livelihoods? No doubt. However, it is often way too risky for a farmer to make the investment (both in time and resources) to transition to new methods of production. Another part lies in both companies at the end of the chain, and governments taking on the responsibility to help mitigate risks for farmers at the beginning of the chain: yes, cotton can in fact be grown using sustainable, and even regenerative methods. Meanwhile, the farmers make tiny margins and assume a big risk: they need to buy their seeds and inputs, but what if their crop fails?Ĭlearly, a big part of the solution lies in a more equitable distribution of margins and profits along the supply chain: it is the only way that each part of the chain gets their fair share. Download the UN News app for your iOS or Android devices. Where the real gains can be made, however, is in the different stages of the supply chain: currently retailers make the biggest margins while assuming relatively small risk. The rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti demands that the country remains at the centre of international attention and action, newly appointed UN Special Representative Maria Isabel Salvador said on Wednesday in her first briefing to the Security Council. Just raising the prices for consumer won’t work: there is only so much you’re willing to pay for your cotton t-shirt, no matter how good the story. Or more! They so deserve it! However, how much are you really willing to shell out for that organic cotton t-shirt?Īnd this is where the whole thing becomes a delicate juggling act, where on the one hand we do what we can to protect our farmers interests, while at the same time trying to ensure they can benefit from this immense opportunity that could potentially tremendously improve their lives. Haitian women and children are not just being caught up in the country’s spiralling gang wars they are increasingly being targeted for rapes, torture, kidnappings and killings by the 200 armed. EXTREMELY TOUGH! If it were up to us, we would pay our farmers 10x what they earn now. Has anyone of you ever spent 8 hours (or more) working the land in the tropics? It is tough. That said, of course the truth is that we also have to make compromises: somehow we are trying to create a model that allows us to turn this smallholder driven agricultural project into a viable enterprise that can cater to a global supply chain. In fact, the whole project is designed to empower them, improve their livelihoods, while at the same time incentivizing them to positively impact the environment (the name of our Haitian NGO / farmers cooperative is “Smallholder Farmers Alliance”). In short, smallholder farmers come first in our project. Some people go further than that, asking how this project is any different from the old colonial times, when slaves were exploited and treated in inhumane ways while working the cotton farms.Given history, these are of course extremely important and fair questions.
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