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High attendance at ICAC World Café on Organic Cotton

08
Dec '18

The turnout exceeded far expectations at the seventh annual World Café on 'Organic Cotton: Challenges and Policy Perspectives' hosted by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC). The three-day conference focused on creating a prosperous organic cotton sector that will benefit everyone in the supply chain beginning from the farmer to the consumer.

"I was very pleased with the initiative of ICAC to host this World Café on organic cotton, and the invitation to the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) and German Development Group (GIZ) to moderate it. It offered a great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other about strengthening the sector and the role of organic cotton in the future. It is a great step toward much-needed collaboration and supporting each other to contribute to that one goal we all share: Ensuring a sustainable future for cotton and the farmers who grow it," Bart Vollaard — programme director at the Amsterdam-based OCA.

The World Café was designed to give every attendee a voice by breaking the audience into groups of 8 to 12 people per table and encouraging them to debate and find consensus on challenging topics. Approximately 150 attendees discussed seven questions related to organic cotton, such as policies that can be enacted to support the sector, as well as what steps could be taken to make improvements at the farm level and throughout the value chain.

"I was astonished by the overwhelming participation and engagement on the topic of organic cotton," said Wolfgang Bertenbreiter, programme director with the GIZ, and co-moderator of the session. "One could almost got the impression that organic cotton is the most important topic."

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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