Primark to more than double 'sustainable' South Asian cotton supply
06/05/2022
Since it began, the initiative has delivered training to almost 150,000 farmers, roughly 80% of whom are female. This latest move represents a major commitment from the company as it works to boost the programme’s membership to around 275,000 smallholders.
Primark estimates that its access to this more sustainable cotton fibre, which can be traced from shop floor back to an individual farmer’s village via a partnership with technology provider Oritain, will in turn grow by 60%.
Compared to control data gathered from participating Indian smallholders between 2013 and 2019, the retailer added that farmers signed up to its Sustainable Cotton Programme generally use 40% less chemical pesticides and fertilisers on average, as well as 10% less water by acre. They also tend to experience yield increases of 14% and a 200% boost to their profits, Primark said.
According to the Dublin-based business, it further expects that all member farmers will adopt “more regenerative” cotton-growing methods by 2030.
Director of the company’s Primark Cares arm, Lynne Walker, commented: “Primark’s Sustainable Cotton Programme plays an integral role in our long-term vision to make more sustainable clothes affordable for everyone. Over half of our clothing range is made with cotton, so by further increasing the number of farmers, we will be able to meet our commitment that all the cotton in our clothing will be organic, recycled or grown through the programme by 2027.”
Primark is also part of a coalition of enterprises currently working towards bettering working conditions such as grievance handling and job security within Pakistan’s textile sector, which will involve providing training to around 20 participating factories.
In addition to Primark, partners on the project include Hugo Boss, Fairtrade and Takko, as well as Germany’s Partnership for Sustainable Textiles and development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Image by Praveen Thirumurugan on Unsplash.
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