BRETT MATHEWS

GENEVA – Demand for Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) procured cotton leapt by a remarkable 79 per cent in 2017. Estimates suggest around 90 million CmiA certified products were launched on the market in 2017 as demand increased from the textile industry and CmiA retail partners. Early forecasts suggest the trend will continue in 2018.

Said Tina Stridde, managing director, CmiA: “Our partners are demonstrating that sustainable cotton can be used worldwide on a very broad basis in the textile industry. With Cotton made in Africa, textile companies can reconcile sustainability with profitability and contribute to the protection of the environment and to better working and living conditions for African smallholder farmers and their families.”

CmiA now certifies around 40 per cent of the cotton produced by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Additional companies now on board with CmiA include Tendam Global Fashion Retail from Spain, Vlisco from Holland and Gudrun Sjöden from Sweden.

Around 1,033,500 smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are currently working with CmiA and growing cotton in accordance with the CmiA sustainability criteria.

Tendam Global Fashion Retail, formerly Grupo Cortefiel and one of the leading fashion retailers in Europe, is the first CmiA partner in Spain to sell shirts for men and women with the CmiA seal under the Springfield brand. Beyond using the sustainably grown cotton, the company goes one step further – all CmiA labelled products are manufactured in Ethiopia according to the HIP system. The Hard Identity Preserved (HIP) system ensures transparency at every step in the textile value chain. The cotton can be traced all the way from the cotton field to the finished product.