Better Cotton Initiative signs MoU with AbTF

20 Oct '11

2 min read

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) have signed a MoU. This MoU sets out the intention of both organisations to develop a partnership, under which Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) can be sold as Better Cotton, and activities of both organisations are coordinated and harmonised.

The aspiration is to sign a 'Partnership Agreement' by the end of 2011, but not later than the 31st of March 2012.

A successful partnership would deliver Better Cotton, produced by the AbTF to market by late 2012, increasing market access for retailers to more sustainable cotton sources and offering increased efficiency for hundreds of thousands of Sub-Saharan farmers in Africa.

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) exists in order to respond to the current impacts of cotton production worldwide. BCI aims to promote measurable improvements in the key environmental and social impacts of cotton cultivation worldwide to make it more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.

Sustainable development is essential to ensure viability for future generations, and to protect resources that are essential for life. That is the conviction which led Dr. Michael Otto to set up the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) in 2005 – initially with the name “Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry in Developing Countries” (FSAF); in 2007 the Foundation then changed its name to “Aid by Trade Foundation”.

Better Cotton Initiative