Organic cotton update

The organic cotton sector has made considerable progress since it started in Turkey around ten years ago and the products are much better known than they were even five years ago. Available data show an overall global increase in production of around 80% — a dramatic increase in two years. Dorothy Myers reports on recent developments in production and consumption.

Stacking organic seed cotton after harvest – Kousanar, Senegal 2000. Photo: Peter Ton

Hard data on organic cotton production are quite difficult to obtain, often for reasons of commercial sensitivity. In the absence of ‘official’ channels such as exist for the conventional cotton sector, it is often necessary to rely on informal contacts with project managers, consultants, companies and certifiers. Some operations keep excellent records and are commendably open in their approach to information sharing. The Table summarises information about certified organic cotton fibre production currently available to PAN UK. Data for 1997 were published in Organic Cotton: from field to final product in early 1999 and are included again here for reference purposes. Some interesting comparisons present themselves which are indicative of changes in the size and structure of this relatively new sector.
    Although projects in Mozambique, India (Srida and Ginni), Nicaragua and Paraguay seem to have ceased production for the international market, most other producers known to have been in operation in 1997 have continued, with greater or lesser success. There are also indications that some new projects may have started within the past two years in India and Pakistan.
    Regional changes are striking: Africa (including Egypt), Latin America and Asia (India) regions produced 45% of the global total of organic cotton fibre in 1997 but by 1999 the share had fallen to 25% and in two of those regions production had fallen in absolute terms. Africa’s share had fallen by about 6%, Latin America by 6% and India by 8%. On the other hand, the global share of production by Turkey is now 41% and that of the US 34%. Turkish production has more than tripled and the US production has almost doubled from production totals that already accounted for a large part of the global output. 
    Information does not so far exist that would permit an analysis of the reasons for the changes described above but it would be assumed that project structures, management, agronomic back-up and expertise, market conditions, access to markets would all play their part. Testimony from farmers from several African projects acknowledges the positive contribution that organic production systems make to the health and environmental well-being of communities (see PN 47 and PN 49 for Benin and Zimbabwe, for example). Differences in production patterns should also be recognised. The African, Latin American and Indian plots tend to be quite small and projects tend to be integrated organic systems using rotations and intercropping in which a number of crops, including food, are produced as well as cotton, often in substantial quantities. Many family members would often be fed from the produce of the organic farms. The Turkish and US systems feature much larger plots often with monocropping and green manuring more likely to be features of the systems. Unfortunately little information exists to date which would allow quantification of amounts of pesticides or synthetic chemicals ‘saved’ by organic systems. Amounts vary greatly depending on the systems which existed prior to organic conversion, with large pesticide quantities being used in the US and India, for example, and almost none in systems pre-existing in Uganda and Tanzania.

Organic cotton markets
As for production, quantitative information about the organic cotton market does not yet exist but some indications of the current situation can be derived from anecdotal information. With the fashionable organic cotton boom of the early 1990’s well behind us, the organic cotton market appears to have expanded. Expansion has taken place in several ways: into countries which were hitherto undeveloped such as UK and Italy, in the range of products available, and in the number of players becoming involved, both large and small. In the UK, for example, the only companies involved five years ago were a handful of mail-order enterprises and small retail outlets importing products from other parts of Europe and the US. Within the past two years, the number of retail and mail-order outlets has increased, processing and manufacturing have started up, high street retailers have become involved and a fashion house has brought products to market. In anticipation of further expansion, the Soil Association is working on the preparation of organic textile standards. Market retail leaders in 1999 were Patagonia (US – specialist outdoor clothing company), Coop Schweiz (Switzerland – all types of clothing), Otto (Germany – large mail-order company), Nike (US – sports clothing), and Hess Natur (Germany – medium sized mail-order company)(1). 
    The textile sector in general is facing price competition as never before. Many companies are seeking comparative advantage in the quality of their products and in ‘greening’ themselves – and organic cotton is a way of achieving these objectives. The challenge is to communicate the health and environmental benefits of organic cotton production and processing to consumers so that their interest will be expressed in their buying preferences. This task may not be as difficult as it was a few years ago: in the UK, for example, the massive take-up of organic food is broadening out into organic ‘lifestyle’ products, including textiles. However, companies report that consumers will not buy a quality organic cotton product simply because it is ‘organic’: there can be no compromises in other features such as design, colour or workmanship. Garments have to be as good as conventional ones – and organic as well.
    Organic cotton products are usually sold at a premium which reflects the lack of economies of scale which exist in the conventional sector and the extra costs involved at each step in the chain. Higher costs of fibre production are usually only a small part of the story and the cost of raw materials in any garment is usually a very small proportion of the total production cost. With extreme downward price pressure in the retail sector, high retail premiums are increasingly unacceptable to consumers – especially when visible benefits do not exist. As several companies in Europe have already discovered, the key to success seems to be with those enterprises which can establish links right along the chain from farmers to consumers and which can, in that way, manage the value added at each step through collaboration and transparency. 
    Organic cotton has up to now been a ‘niche’ product but there are signs that it is now moving into the mainstream with large clothing companies such as Nike looking to blend small quantities of organic into their lines and expanding high street, large mail-order and supermarket interest around Europe. This is the next crucial step in increasing organic cotton production. Opportunities will be created for the projects which are in a position to respond by scaling up. The health, environmental and economic benefits have been well described by small farmers in Benin, Zimbabwe and India; savings in pesticide applications have been documented in the US. The challenge remains to quantify and publicise these benefits to a wider audience of policy makers, companies, consumers and the media worldwide in order to expand the organic cotton sector.

Reference
1. Arnt Meyer, University of St Gallen, Switzerland; International bioRe Conference, August 1999.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.50, December 2000, p14-15]