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FAQFrequently asked questions
This section shows some of the questions which we are frequently asked. Other information on Cotton made in Africa, Aid by Trade Foundation, our partners or on your business opportunities in the Cotton made in Africa initiative are shown on the relevant pages of our website.
If you have any questions, please use the contact form.
What is the quality of Cotton made in Africa?
How do farmers benefit from Cotton made in Africa?
Why is Cotton made in Africa available in so many brands?
What kind of products are made of Cotton made in Africa?
What is the difference between Cotton made in Africa and Fairtrade?
What is the attitude of Cotton made in Africa to genetically modified seed?
What is the quality of Cotton made in Africa?
Cotton made in Africa is of good social, ecological and of course also technical quality: it is medium staple cotton with relatively long fibres, and gives versatile yarns which are processed worldwide to make materials for fashion garments and home textiles.The high quality of African cotton is due not least to cultivation by smallholder farmers and hand picking in fully mature condition. Its high quality is improved still further in the framework of the Cotton made in Africa initiative. For example in some project countries cotton bags are being used to replace the plastic bags otherwise used in harvesting. That helps to prevent contamination of the harvested cotton by plastic remains. In Zambia, the cotton is also cleaned manually after harvesting to remove any further contamination, such as feathers, before ginning (the next stage of processing).
How do farmers benefit from Cotton made in Africa?
The farmers participating in the Cotton made in Africa initiative attend training to learn the use of modern, efficient cultivation methods and moderate, targeted use of pesticides.Apart from the training courses, the initiative also works together with African partners such as the cotton companies and farmers’ organisations, with companies from the Demand Alliance and development cooperation organisations, to implement practical measures for improvement of local infrastructure. The Public Private Partnership projects (PPP projects) for example have the goal of improving the situation in the educational sector (building of schools, literacy courses for adults, etc.) or improving the village infrastructure.
The cotton growers are also to benefit in the longer run from direct financial distributions from the surpluses earned with license fees.
Why is Cotton made in Africa available in so many brands
"Cotton made in Africa" is an ingredient brand, i.e. it is a kind of quality label showing that the product contains sustainably grown African cotton. The label is always used alongside an existing brand or in the garment ranges of the partner companies as an “additional quality” contained in the product, and is also identified as such. Many Cotton made in Africa products are marked with a Bordeaux-red label, enabling customers to recognise it easily.
What kind of products are made of Cotton made in Africa?
Practically all textile products, apart from shoes:
T-shirts, jeans, trousers, sweatshirts, knitted pullovers, underwear, nightwear, hosiery, bed linen, bedding, mattresses.
What is the difference between Cotton made in Africa and Fairtrade?
Up to now a good 98% of the cotton produced worldwide has been grown by conventional methods. That means little attention is paid to water consumption, soil fertility, the use of pesticides, or compliance with minimum social standards, such as the minimum wages as set by collective bargaining, or the ban on exploitative child labour. In many developing countries, cotton is largely cultivated by smallholder farmers. They often use the simplest of methods, employing hand labour by members of the family.Both Fairtrade and Cotton made in Africa have the goal of improving the conditions of life of these smallholder farmers and putting their activities on a sustainable basis. That includes training courses to help them increase their crop yields, to make resource-efficient use of pesticides, and to improve protection of the environment; it also includes projects to improve the local infrastructure, such as building of schools.
So both organisations are concerned with improving the economic, social and environmental situation of smallholder farmers in the developing countries. Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) works exclusively in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Fairtrade works mainly on the Indian sub-continent. CmiA and Fairtrade both set similar requirements in order to implement their goals, and the smallholder farmers or groups of farmers have to comply with these either immediately, or to make progress towards compliance (exclusion and sustainability criteria). Compliance with the principles is checked in the framework of verification (CmiA) or certification (Fairtrade) in the growing countries.
Fairtrade conducts its certification work via a sister organisation (FLO-Cert) both in the growing fields and in the processing chain, for example in garment manufacturing. Cotton made in Africa conducts its verifications in the growing countries with the farmers and at the ginning facilities. In the course of further processing, socio-economic standards are checked by the retailers involved, normally in the framework of existing verification systems (FLA, SAI, BSCI).
The differences between the two standards result from the somewhat different business models of Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Fairtrade:
- Fairtrade pays a compensatory price (Fairtrade minimum price) to bridge the gap between the prices paid by the cotton companies and what it defines as a “fair” price. Over and above this, Fairtrade pays premiums to enable certified farmer groups to fund community development projects.
- However, Fairtrade makes payments to the small-scale farmers only if it succeeds in selling the cotton along the processing chain. Unfortunately, that is the case only for a part of the crop of the certified small-scale farmers.
- The Fairtrade minimum price and certification of the entire processing chain mean that Fairtrade products are significantly more expensive in production and thus also in the retail trade for consumers, than products made from Cotton made in Africa or from conventional cotton.
- Cotton made in Africa does not pay compensatory prices, and does not pay premiums. CmiA cotton is treated like “normal” cotton. It is only by licence fee payment to AbTF (Aid by Trade Foundation) that the sustainability of the cotton as “proven” by verification is activated. This keeps price increases to a minimum.
- Cotton made in Africa uses the funds from licence fees to support agricultural training courses and community projects in Africa, and in the near future will also distribute profits to its smallholder farmers. The more successful CmiA is in sales in Europe and the US, the higher will be the distribution of profits to the smallholder farmers.
Although they use somewhat different procedures, and although each has a different business model, Cotton made in Africa and Fairtrade have the same goal – to help the poorest to help themselves, in the framework of sustainable development.
What is the attitude of Cotton made in Africa to genetically modified seed?
There is a general trend in some of the countries of Africa towards use of genetically modified seed. Many Africans see GM cotton as technical progress from which they also want to benefit. Cotton made in Africa has set a moratorium on the use of genetically modified cotton, up to summer 2012. There will be no Cotton made in Africa from genetically modified seed up to that time. At present Cotton made in Africa is conducting studies on genetically modified cotton. Based on their results, the situation will be examined again after elapse of the moratorium, and a decision will be made on the future attitude of the initiative to this subject.
