Blog & Resources | CottonConnect

A female farmer in Maharashtra is increasingly participating in decision-making at her home and farm

Manisha Vinod Dhandade is a 38-year-old woman farmer from Dighi village in Wardha District of Maharashtra, living with her husband and their two children. She and her husband gr...

Farmer Business School project in China

Our Farmer Business School (FBS) pilot project in China is the first step in building long-term resilience for farming communities, by offering basic training in financial mana...

12 things we’ve learned from our work with organic farmers

The world is getting very excited about organics. Organic farmers look after soil fertility and biological diversity, and they avoid the use of pesticides, antibiotics, fertilis...

The story behind Whitbread’s approach to ultimate traceability in cotton

Issues such as the climate crisis or protecting workers’ rights are more understood than ever. Consumers increasingly demand their brands to have sourced materials ethically and ensure that supp...

We know why traceability is good for brands. But what’s in it for the farmers?

Around 3 billion people live in rural communities in the developing world. Two-thirds of these people are part of smallholder farmer communities, working on small pockets of lan...

Brand credibility will only come by going where few have gone before: Traceability beyond Tier 2

More brands than ever before are able to confidently name their suppliers. They have worked hard to map their products and services to at least the first tier in their supply ch...

The case for supply chain transparency (as if we needed one)

So, you want to build a sustainable supply chain for your business? Of course, you do; silly question, really. As the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study shows, almost two-thirds of...

Building long term partnerships for a sustainable organic cotton supply chain

In order to meet its goal to use 100% organic cotton by 2025, global Luxury group Kering recognized that full awareness of each stage of the supply chain and a whole new way of ...

Women in Cotton: Use of Technology

CottonConnect intentionally focuses on women in cotton farming. The report ‘Planting the Seed: A journey to gender equality in the cotton sector’ gave an insight into the gender...

World Water Day - Sustainable Cotton Farming Significantly Reduces Water Consumption

On World Water Day, we shine a spotlight on responsible usage of a finite resource in the cotton industry and celebrate initiatives that contribute to SDG #12 – Responsible Con...

CottonConnect 2016/17 Impact Report

At CottonConnect we understand that by improving cotton farmer education and business practices, significant impacts can be made in improving community livelihoods. Enhancing th...

Sustainable Cotton and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Cotton accounts for almost 40% of global textile production and the industry supports an estimated 250 million livelihoods. Yet this sector continues to face significant agronom...

The Importance of Soil Health

World Soil Day celebrates the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human wellbeing. Held on 5th December 2017, the them...

The role of organic in creating a sustainable cotton supply chain

At CottonConnect, we support cotton farmers in the switch from conventional farming to support the production of organic fibre. Using 91% less water and 62% less energy than con...

Introducing natural and social capital analysis

In collaboration with natural capital valuation experts Trucost, CottonConnect has quantified how financial investments in the REEL Cotton Programme are benefitting society and ...

World Water Week 2017 - 'water and waste: reduce and reuse'

World Water Week, from 27 August – 1 September, is the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues, bringing together professionals from a range of sectors and countries to ...

Cotton 2040: Global coalition set to make sustainable cotton the mainstream choice

Leading international brands and retailers, cotton standards and other stakeholders across the supply chain have come together to form Cotton 2040 – an initiative aiming to maxi...

International clothing and textile brands unite for Sustainable Cotton Communiqué

Thirteen of the world’s most renowned clothing and textile companies have signed up to a sustainable cotton communiqué, through which they have pledged to use 100% sustainable c...