In-field training on Good Agricultural Practices

Training session for women cotton pickers on better cotton practices

Testing a hybrid tool for managing pests of the cotton crop

Group exercise with BCI farmers

Demonstration on the use of personal protective equipment

Women worker brainstorming session

Women's empowerment training

Tree plantation at a medium farmer's field

Tree plantation by farmers

Training of women workers

Training of famers on the cotton plant

Proper storage of fertilizer stock

In-field assessments

Mealybug mummies

In-field training for women workers on picking

Training on pesticide container disposal

Cotton picking by trained women worker

Compost heap

Field training assessment

Farming community training on child labour

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Project Overview

So, what’s the problem

Pakistan is the fifth-largest producer of cotton in the world. It also has the third-largest cotton spinning capacity in Asia (after China and India) making cotton Pakistan’s largest industrial sector. Cotton plays an important role in the economic development of the country and has remained a key livelihood source for thousands of farmers.

However, in Pakistan, the industry is losing around 10–15% of its value (around US$350m a year) through poor production, transport and storage practices.

Sustainable production and improved quality are essential to achieve more income from the cotton crop but the misuse of pesticides and water, inappropriate addition of chemical fertilizers, transportation and storage problems as well as gaps in knowledge and skills reduce productivity and quality.

To protect producers and the environment, farmers need to be made aware of these problems and trained on the Better Cotton Standard System and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). This will enable them to conserve limited resources and produce better cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.

What is this project doing?

‘Better Cotton’ is a scalable model for cotton that transforms markets and creates tangible impacts at scale; it reduces pesticide and water use, improves yields, and ultimately, the livelihoods of farmers.

This project is part of an ongoing engagement with Better Cotton. Better Cotton is the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton whose mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.

CABI is working with a number of small and medium farmers at field level in two of the major cotton-growing regions in Pakistan, Sindh and Punjab. We are supporting these farmers to produce better cotton that takes social, environmental and economic criteria into account.

To promote sustainable farming, the project is looking at ways to integrate soil management, adopt modern water conservation technologies and practices, and manage natural habitats through training, resources and environmentally friendly methods. The project will encourage proper cotton picking methods to avoid contamination, as well as better storage and transportation to markets and ginning mills where they process it. Decent work practices will be promoted, including labour monitoring, identification and remediation. The project is also promoting women’s empowerment through training and the development of female entrepreneurship for sustainable income generation through kitchen gardening, goat farming and tailoring centres.

Additionally, the project wants to achieve greater impact by expanding the Better Cotton project through an increase in the number of farmers trained and licensed, the number of hectares licensed and the number of metric tonnes of licensed better cotton produced.

In Pakistan, this means expanding the programme and reaching 50,000 farmers. We want to increase participation in the Better Cotton supply chain and secure domestic funding to implement Better Cotton projects. We also want to identify and try different methods of service delivery and farmer outreach models that engage with national and provincial extension services, or provide alternative services to mature farmers, for example.

Through a collaborative approach, CABI will help to build a stronger, more sustainable sector.