Foreword

When Better Cotton launched just over ten years ago, we could hardly dare to dream that it would become the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world.

Today almost a quarter of the world’s cotton is produced under the Better Cotton Standard. Some 2.5 million cotton farmers have been trained in sustainable farming practices and licensed to grow Better Cotton. Many of the world’s leading apparel and textile brands support Better Cotton as members and investors in enabling more sustainable cotton farming in 25 countries.

While we can celebrate what we have achieved together with our many partners across business, civil society, international donors and the public sector, there is no cause for complacency.

The urgency and complexity of the challenges facing the world, from mitigating climate change and protecting the environment to alleviating poverty and combatting all forms of discrimination, make Better Cotton’s work even more vital today. The global pandemic has put the cotton sector under further strain in 2020 through to 2022, highlighting its fragility and making sustainability more important than ever. At the same time, there are grounds for optimism. The long-term prospects for sustainably produced cotton are positive. The private sector is committed to sustainable sourcing to secure its supply of commodities and to meet the demands of citizens and consumers. Donors and investors are increasingly focused on impact investing and embracing new models to help make smallholder farming more viable. Technology has the potential to revolutionise agricultural practices for the better.

We will continue pushing towards our goal of transforming the cotton sector – deepening our impact on cotton farming and communities while contributing to systemic change and remaining adaptable to respond to unforeseeable events.

We embrace change. We are ready to challenge conventional wisdom and established practice, and to re-think how and where, working with others, we should deploy resources to drive the greatest impact.

We are deeply grateful to all who have helped bring Better Cotton to where we are today. We eagerly look forward to working with you over the next ten years to reach a whole new level of strategic objectives.

Alan McClay, CEO

December 2021