Up to 100 million smallholder farmers in more than 100 countries worldwide depend cotton for their income. They are at the very end of the supply, largely invisible without a voice, ignored by an industry that depends on their cotton .
When it comes to clothing companies' supply chain engagement was once limited to who their importer was. Now they are engaging with their supply chain more and have better awareness of the factories used to manufacture their end products. Even before the Rana Plaza disaster of 2013, there had been an increased attention on improving the conditions expected by textile factory workers thanks to campaigns such as the Clean Clothes Campaign.
The reason we need to keep insisting that cotton farmers are an important part of the fashion supply chain is because cotton is failing to provide a sustainable and profitable livelihood for the millions of small holders who grow the seed cotton the textiles industry depends on. Just as its important for us to take home a living wage, to help bring a level of security for our families and the ability to plan for the future, I would argue that this is even more vital for people living in poorer countries whete thee is little provision for basic services as heath and education or the safety net of social security systems to fall back on.
As a global community, cotton plays a major role in the economic and social development of emerging economic and social development of emerging economies and newly industrialized countries. It is an especially important source of employment and income within west and Central Africa, India and Pakistan.
