Cotton made in Africa cooperates with African Cotton Foundation

The Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative will join forces with the African Cotton Foundation (ACF) to promote socially and ecologically sustainable cotton cultivation. This includes training and other implementation measures conducted by cotton companies in the CmiA project countries, which will be coordinated by the AFC. They can now apply to the Aid by Trade Foundation — the CmiA’s parent organisation — for co-financing for the implementation of specific activities, especially regarding innovative measures to protect the soil or to promote integrated farming.

“Sharing agricultural knowledge with small-scale farmers through workshops and training is a key priority for Cotton made in Africa. In the African Cotton Foundation, we were able to win a partner who has become firmly established in the African cotton sector by uniting and pooling the forces of many actors who are especially committed to sustainability,” explains Tina Stridde, managing director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, in a press release on Tuesday.

“We are happy to be able to count on this partner’s competence and support with the implementation of our goals, allowing us to continue successfully improving the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers and making cotton cultivation in Africa more socially and environmentally sustainable”, adds Stridde.

## CmiA and ACF want to support cotton farmers and protect the environment “The goals of both organisations are perfectly complementary. ACF is working to develop a prosperous, modern, and sustainable cotton sector in Africa. Together, we want to ensure that cotton growing is profitable, the environment is protected, the communities grow stronger, and human rights are respected,” says Belinda Edmonds, managing director of the African Cotton Foundation.

Cotton made in Africa was founded in 2005 by Dr. Michael Otto and established by the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation. As the primary standard for sustainable cotton in Africa, Cmia supports more than one million small-scale farmers in ten countries and connects them with trading companies and fashion brands throughout the global textile value chain. The objective is to employ trade rather than donations to offer help for self-help and improve the lives of farmers and protect the environment.

Founded in 2018, the African Cotton Foundation is a members’ organisation that comprises representatives of cotton companies and cotton traders. Its goal is to sustainably support African farmers in improving their livelihoods. To this end, ACF employs its members’ infrastructure to implement services and development projects that significantly improve the income, food security, and resilience of small-scale farming households in a co-ordinated, sustainable, and scalable way.

Photo: Martin J. Kielmann for CmiA