Better Cotton gave its blessing to an initiative developed by Uzbekistan’s agricultural and textile partners to promote sustainable cotton production in the country.
The international cotton industry held an event in the country’s capital, Tashkent, to gather representatives from the government, civil society and fashion industry to establish the agreement.
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The road presents three main objectives: to coordinate the model of the policy cooperation and to define the responsibilities of management, funding and implementation; ensure effective collaboration with program partners and stakeholders to promote sustainable cotton farming; and establish and implement communication strategies designed to eliminate barriers to growth.
“This road shows that there is more to come Good Cotton in Uzbekistan,” said Katerina Gorbunova, Better Cotton’s country manager Uzbekistan Program. “Together with our partners, we can strengthen the foundations of Uzbekistan’s program and create new ways to ensure the success of the program.”
The agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan and the Association of Textile and Garment Industry Association (Uztekstilprom) aims to develop the Better Cotton Uzbekistan program based on factors that help farmers to register, strengthen and expand financial support and increase access to income through financial support and government support.
The main purpose of this cooperation is the training of the Ministry of Agriculture and Uztekstilprom that will allow them to lead the cotton farming areas and meet the requirements of the Better Cotton program. The Roadmap also suggests ways to reduce audit fatigue, improve governance, and improve governance.
Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest producers of cotton, growing about 740,000 tons of fiber in 2022-2023, according to Statista. The Central Asian country is known for its unique “cotton groups” – integrated businesses that grow, harvest and process cotton.
Better Cotton, which operates in 22 countries and accounts for 22 percent of the world’s cotton, was established in Uzbekistan in 2022 following the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) assurance that the country has successfully dealt with child is forced labor in its production of cotton. The partners in the program work with agricultural communities in the field to ensure that their production meets the standards of good cotton, which covers six areas: management, environment, crop safety, good fiber, good jobs and sustainable lifestyle.
The agency announced in September that it would switch to third-party accreditation after coming under fire for weaknesses in its due diligence and other issues. Better Cotton said it will hire an external agency to review and make certification decisions in order to improve the reliability of its process.
Good Cotton Partners with over 300 brands and suppliers, incl AdidasOpinions of the company Gap Inc., H&M Zara is the parent company of Inditex.
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