Timely and Trendsetting

Cotton made in Africa conducts Stakeholder Workshop in Berlin

“A project like Cotton Made in Africa can only make progress with support from a strong network of committed partners,” Aid by Trade Foundation Executive Director Dr. Johannes Merck said in his statements opening the Stakeholder Workshop held in Berlin on May 28, 2009. In addition to Karin Kortmann, parliamentary undersecretary with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the workshop was attended by representatives of NGOs including WWF Germany and Welthungerhilfe, the development aid organizations DEG and GTZ, and companies such as Tchibo, Tom Tailor, and Rewe. The workshop’s goal was to take stock of Cotton Made in Africa’s achievements to date and to ask the question: Could the Cotton Made in Africa initiative serve as a model for future development policy?

The idea for Cotton Made in Africa arose after the failure of the 2003 round of global trade negotiations. “We wondered whether a private initiative might be able to contribute to resolving inequities in global trade, and how,” Merck explains. The Cotton Made in Africa project can be understood as an answer to those questions, distinguished by three aims: the development of an attractive brand that stands for cotton production by African small farmers; the development of high standards for sustainable cotton cultivation; and the creation of a broad demand alliance of international brands and retailers. Compliance with high social and environmental standards is assured through a verification process developed exclusively for Cotton Made in Africa.

The effects of those efforts can already be felt: Two-thirds of the 150,000 African farmers enrolled in the project are now growing cotton in accordance with the standards of the Cotton Made in Africa initiative. Improvements in yield range from 30 to 70 percent. “Initiatives like Cotton Made in Africa are making a difference,” Undersecretary Kortmann said in her remarks acknowledging the “aid by trade” approach as a successful model that complements governmental development policies. “When industry and government cooperate on the development of new, certified brands and appropriate marketing strategies, we see lasting gains in employment and income in our African partner nations.”

In a talk on the future of ethical consumption, Dirk Bathen of Trendbüro Consultancy for Social Change in Hamburg maintained that the Cotton Made in Africa concept is not merely in step with the times, but cutting edge. The new spirit animating economic thinking is “benevolent capitalism,” he argued. Its maxim: “Profit, but harm none.”

That consensus was reflected in the concluding podium discussion as well. Its theme: “New Ideas to Speed Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries: Cotton Made in Africa – A Model for the Future?” It was agreed that different approaches to development can be complementary rather than mutually exclusive. After all, there is a single shared goal: improving living conditions for the people of Africa.