Cottoning on to Fairtrade

In a dry, dusty desert of orange rock, the life of thousands of India's Fairtrade cotton products begins.

One-storey adobe farm huts dot the landscape, separated by spindly cotton plants with fluffy white buds and are surrounded by a few black pigs, a smattering of goats and the odd bushy green tree.

Yet this picturesque image of rural India does not tell the whole story.

Small-scale cotton farmers around the world are faced with difficult challenges, and here in Kutch, in the Gujarat state of western India, they are no exception.

Cotton prices are in decline due to subsidised EU and US cotton flooding world markets. This is bad news for a nation that earns £7.5 billion from cotton crop-related exports.

Some 10 million households in India are involved in cotton production, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and a handful of these are Fairtrade farmers.

In the Kutch region, 2,000 Fairtrade farmers are members of the Agrocel Pure and Fair Cotton Growers' Association, an organisation which teaches conventional farmers how to grow organically.

In Britain people tend to think of Fairtrade in terms of its ethically-sound economic model, but Fairtrade farming is also about protecting the environment.

The Fairtrade foundation teaches farmers how to run their farms organically, which includes using biofertilisers, rainwater for the harvest and natural crop rotation to cultivate fields.

Despite the relatively few numbers of farmers involved, India already produces 50% of all Fairtrade cotton.

But 85% of India's cotton production is still not Fairtrade. And these farmers' use of genetically modified crops and chemical pesticides is thought to be harming, not only agricultural communities, but the environment.

As sales of conventional cotton have tumbled, so too have those of Fairtrade cotton. For a country like India, which was hoping to increase its Fairtrade sales and convert more of its conventional farmers to Fairtrade, such an economic dent could spell disaster.

:: A healthier crop for the planet Cotton was first cultivated in India more than 3,000 years ago, making it the world's oldest commercial crop.

But it's also the world's dirtiest, according to the independent Pesticide Action Network [www.pan-uk.org], using 16% of the world's insecticides.

Every hectare of cotton crop land across the globe, is sprayed with 1kg of hazardous pesticides, according to PAN-UK. These include endosulfan - a pesticide which has been known to cause seizures and convulsions in farmers.

In India, more than 3,000 tonnes of the stuff are applied to cotton crops every year.

"Today, only 0.15% of the world's cotton is guaranteed to be pesticide-free," says director Linda Craig of PAN-UK.

"This means that the majority of the cotton we wear is likely to have contributed to the poisoning of lives and the environment in some of the world's most vulnerable communities."

As cotton prices have tumbled worldwide, small, conventional farmers have been the ones hit hardest, with many of them using more pesticides and fertilisers to boost their crop.

"One of the major problems with growing conventional cotton is debt," explains Shailesh Patel of the Agrocel Pure and Fair Cotton Growers Association.

"Local traders sell farmers pesticides and fertilisers on credit, but their crop is usually priced lower than the price of those goods - so they spend more than they earn from their crop.

"Many farmers, particularly in the South, have committed suicide as a result."

:: More economical crop for producers Since Fairtrade cotton was first introduced in Britain in 2005, annual sales have quadrupled to £78 million - although they've taken quite a battering in recent months due to the recession.

No matter what they produce, Fairtrade farmers receive not only a higher wage for their crop, but also a Fairtrade cash premium which goes toward community or business development.

Here in Kutch, premiums have been used to provide everything from books, school lunches and uniforms for the local two-storied school, Padampar Primary to short-term agricultural improvement loans, seed kits, solar lights and drip irrigation assistance.

Former conventional cotton-growing farmers in Kutch have been impressed by eco-friendly fertilisers made from animal waste, and pesticides made from neem seeds and cow urine - not to mention the social premiums Fairtrade provides.

"I used to grow vegetables like aubergine, onion and tomato, but as the amount of rain declined, so too did my income," says Premji Mali, whose heavy purple turban protects him from the harsh desert sun.

He considered emigrating to the city two years ago to find work but now owns 13 acres of cotton along with his two brothers.

"I earn more growing this drought-resistant cotton than from vegetable farming and also get other benefits, like organic farming assistance and advice."

Others, like Babu Parmar, who converted to Fairtrade cotton from conventional five years ago, find it easier to plan ahead now that they know they have a definite income.

"Before Fairtrade, I used to get late payments on the cotton I sold to a middle man," he says.

"Now I get a good price, and I get it on time."

The better wage he receives has allowed him to buy his family new clothes, send his children to school and consider buying more farmland.

And now that women are paid equally for the work they do on the farm, they're finding that their role in society is changing, too.

"When we began farming, it was women who did most of the work," smiles Rudi Mor, a Fairtrade farmer whose bright, traditional Gujarati dress pinpoints her easily in the six acres she owns with her husband.

"Now the women come and talk about how they want the premium spent. You could say that they even run the show."

Such role changes have been noted beyond the field, too. Four years ago, just four women worked at Pratibha, a garments factory which produces Fairtrade products for clients as diverse as Pants to Poverty, Tesco, George at Asda and Gossypium. Today, there are nearly a thousand women, and the number keeps on growing.

Parvati Kavchee, 19, a shape cutter in the underwear department, comes from a town just four hours away from the factory in Indore, central India - but she feels worlds away from her former life.

"I feel more respected now when I go back home to the village," she says, fingering her yellow sari shyly. "There are many more opportunities available to me now that I no longer work in the fields."

:: Why aren't all farmers Fairtrade?

In the short-term, cotton farmers get far higher crop yields from genetically modified seeds, than they do from using Fairtrade methods.

Genetically modified seeds are also made readily available to farmers in India by large multinational companies.

So despite the long-term problems of debt, farmers are inclined to choose conventional methods in the first instance.

There is also a problem of brand identity. Certain companies have tried to push Fairtrade cotton products, such as saris, within India itself, but local people don't recognise the symbol and its value.

Only when the Fairtrade sign is widely recognised in India, and understanding about Fairtrade production practices becomes widespread, will these environmentally-sound methods be adopted by farmers.

:: Where to buy Fairtrade cotton During Fairtrade Fortnight, February 22 - March 7 [www.fairtrade.org.uk], British consumers are being asked to swap their conventional cotton products, such as a t-shirt, for Fairtrade ones.

Bear in mind that cotton products are very diverse. The Fairtrade stamp can be on everything from household textiles like bedding, towels and cotton robes, to footwear (try Ethletic), stuffed toys (www.bishopstontrading.co.uk), hammocks (www.handmadehammocks.co.uk), and bathroom supplies like cotton balls and buds.

Former supermodel, Lisa Butcher, who has signed on as Fairtrade Foundation's ambassador and just returned from a visit to Fairtrade farmers in Kutch, says that there's never been a better time to make the switch.

"Coming to India has really affected the way I see cotton," she says, having designed a Fairtrade cotton t-shirt for Long Tall Sally [www.longtallsally.com] as a result.

"I didn't know much about Fairtrade before, but now that I've spoken to the farmers and seen the difference Fairtrade has made, I want to make people realise just how important it is to look for the logo."

Vanessa Brain of the Fairtrade Foundation agrees that while the recession has been felt in the West, "in the developing world it's even more severe".

"Cotton is at the end of a very long, complicated supply chain where cost can be squeezed all the way along, so Fairtrade is really the only guarantee of a sustainable income for farmers worldwide."

The farmers of Kutch would agree - and your closet might feel just a tad eco-friendlier as a result.