The Better Cotton Initiative, of which Cotton Australia is a member, has released its 2019 Annual Report including snapshot summaries from each Better Cotton producing country including Australia. These explore the successes, challenges and key changes that happened in the 2018-19 cotton season.
KEY FACTS from latest BCI Annual Report
- Better Cotton was grown in 23 countries in the 2018-19 cotton season.
- Licensed BCI Farmers grew 5.6 million tonnes of Better Cotton. That is enough cotton to make approximately 8 billion pairs of jeans, a pair each for every person in the world.
- Better Cotton now accounts for 22%* of global cotton production.
- BCI and our 76 field-level partners delivered training and support to a total of 2.3 million cotton farmers.
- 2.1 million cotton farmers received a BCI licence to sell their cotton as Better Cotton – 99% are smallholders farming on less than 20 hectares.
- BCI Retailer and Brand Members sourced 1.5 million tonnes of cotton as Better Cotton in 2019 – a record volume.
- Uptake of Better Cotton now accounts for 6% of global cotton production.
- BCI welcomed more than 400 new members in 2019.
- By the end of the year, BCI had 1,842 members across five membership categories, a 29% increase on 2018.
According to Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton Initiative:
"It is particularly pleasing to share the progress BCI is making, thanks to the concerted efforts of our members, partners and other stakeholders, towards our 2020 targets. With two more cotton seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) within which to make further advances at field level, we are committed to not only continuing to deliver beneficial change at field level, but also to learning from the experience and adapting to become more effective. We do not yet know how close we will come to our 2020 targets, and we are still assessing how the current Covid-19 pandemic will impact our efforts. But one thing is certain, we have made significant and undeniable progress over the past 10 years, and there are many successes to celebrate."