Sustainable cotton consultancy Cotton Connect’s new impact report describes how its family of cotton programs achieved positive results in 2023-2024.
The London-based consultancy helps global brands source more fairly and sustainably by creating more robust, resilient and successful raw material supply chains. Part of this effort includes programs including REEL Cotton, REEL Regenerative, the Organic Cotton Farmer Training Program and the Regenerative Organic Program. The report showed how these programs, which trained 452,321 farmers during the period, resulted in a positive reduction in inputs affecting soil health and the environment, compared with control farmers.
Regenerative cotton is an important focus area. The consultancy’s goal is to have more than 90 percent of REEL Cotton farmers be trained to adopt regenerative practices by 2030.
Since launching in 2021, REEL Regenerative has trained over 250,000 farmers on more regenerative agriculture practices that restore the soil health and ecosystems needed to support cotton cultivation.
Compared with control farmers, the report said the regenerative program increased yield by 4.1 percent, reduced input costs by 9.8 percent reduced water use by 14 percent. All farmers used natural fertilizer, 87 percent of farmers used bio-pesticides, and 23 percent of farmers practiced crop rotation.
Regenerative agriculture is proving to provide financial gains for those growing organic cotton as well. A group of 391 farmers in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India, who are part of the REEL Regenerative Organic Cotton program, received 4.9 percent more profit than the control farmers due to 35 percent less input cost, even though they achieved 7 percent less yield than the conventional control farmers.
“The program demonstrated that including training on regenerative practices adds additional benefits to organic cotton cultivation, including increased profits from additional crops, improved soil health, and a balanced ecosystem,” Cotton Connect states in the report.
Across all its programs in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt and Turkey, the Primark Cotton Project collaborator reported that it used 21.4 percent fewer pesticides, reduced chemical fertilizer usage by 17.5 percent and reduced water usage by 21.9 percent. It also reduced input costs by 14.3 percent. The program, which increased its yield by 6.1 percent, also increased its profit by 26.1 percent, according to the report.
In the consultancy’s second LCA study to analyze how the outcomes of the sustainable agricultural practices in the REEL Cotton Program translate into reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Cotton Connect found a 35 percent saving potential in CO₂ eq. The LCA study demonstrates that the REEL Cotton Program achieves higher yields, reduced water consumption, and improved nitrogen use efficiency compared with control groups of farmers, the report stated.
This aligns with Cotton Connect’s overall goal to reduce GHG emissions for REEL Cotton by 50 percent by 2030, from the baseline year 2017.
“By sharing these insights, we hope to encourage and help other contributors in the textiles industry to collectively work on increasing responsible production of raw materials and supporting smallholder farmers to attain a resilient future,” said Alison Ward, Cotton Connect CEO.
Angela Velasquez, SJDENIM
