The Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply-Chains (INA), implemented by GIZ and commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) proudly presents this TRT "Increasing resilience for small scale cotton farmers through diversification and landscape approaches" on the occasion of this years World Cotton Day.

The production of cotton in a sustainable and resilient manner gains more and more importance in times of dramatic climatic changes, the deterioration of nature and growing social imbalances. Additionally, and intensified by the COVID 19 pandemic, consumers demand for sustainably produced textiles increases significantly. Several big brands announced to solely use sustainable cotton until 2025. Following, a projection of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) the rapid growth in demand will likely outstrip supply of sustainable resources and result in scarcity.

Diversification on farm- and on landscape level is important to increase the resilience of smallholders in cotton production.

Diversification on farming system level like crop rotation and intercropping leads to proven agronomic, environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, considering diversification on farm-level alone leads to isolated approaches within more complex challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to also engage in more comprehensive approaches to manage diverse landscapes. By this, extensive monocultures or leakage effects between sustainably and unsustainably used land patches are avoided and synergies of ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and water capture can be valued. Eventually resilient landscapes are essential to secure the sourcing of agricultural commodities.

At this TRT several stakeholders in cotton-supply chains discuss on diversification in Indian smallholder agriculture (Organic Cotton Accelerator), on possibilities to tackle landscape approaches by a sustainability standard (BCI) and on implementation experiences in India (GIZ) and Tanzania (GIZ International Services/Laudes Foundation).

Organizer : The Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply-Chains (INA)
Venue : Online
Date of Start : 2021-10-07
Date of Ending : 2021-10-07
Read more: Click Here