Better Cotton is helping farmers in China, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey perform better on environmental, social, and economic criteria. In Tajikistan, Better Cotton farmers use 16 per cent less water than farmers not on the program. In India they achieve nine per cent higher yields, and in Pakistan they use 12 per cent less synthetic pesticides.

Better Cotton focuses primarily on supporting farmers on the ground. Continuous improvement is a core principle for Better Cotton. Its focus is on helping cotton communities to survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. It collaborates with businesses and civil society organisations from across the cotton sector, to advance sustainability and encourage demand for Better Cotton among suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and brands. Working with close to 70 different field-level partners, Better Cotton continues to reach more and more of the world’s cotton-farming communities.

Nearly all of them – farmers and farm workers – work on smallholdings less than 20 hectares in size. The initiative helps them enjoy better yields, improved working conditions and greater financial security. Over 2.4 million farmers now have a license to sell their cotton as Better Cotton. In total, Better Cotton has reached almost four million people whose working lives are connected to cotton production.