Thousands of farmers in India benefit from Solidaridad and its implementing partners’ cotton programmes
Istanbul, Turkey: The Solidaridad Cotton Solution Network (SCSN) team in India which works on the implementation of Better Cotton in the country since 2009 has won the prize ‘Proud to be an IP’ (implementing partner) during the General Assembly of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) held in Istanbul in June. BCI requested all of its Implementing Partners to submit their best practice stories which shows the innovation and impact in their projects.
Dinesh Gurnani (see Dinesh listening to the jury on the picture above), received the prize on behalf of the SCSN team. The panel decided to award the prize to the submissions: “A better decision maker” and “A change in attitude” – representations they felt provided the strongest combination of clarity, impact and originality. Solidaridad is proud and honoured to receive this recognition. The prize consists of a video camera which will be put to good use in the fields.
Promoting sustainable cotton
A total of eight projects are managed by the Solidaridad Cotton Solution Network and its implementing partner for BCI in India. With these projects, about 36 000 farmers are supported in cultivating better cotton.
Solidaridad works to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by promoting the production and marketing of sustainable cotton. The organisation embraces different routes to sustainability and is a pioneer in organic and fair-trade cotton. Solidaridad is a member of the Council of the Better Cotton Initiative, which aims to improve environmental and social conditions in the cotton sector. The organisation is one of the first implementing partners to support farmers in cultivating sustainable cotton and cooperates with global clothing brands like Levi Strauss & Co, H&M and Adidas to include Better Cotton in their supply chains.
Mensink re-elected to BCI Council
During the General Assembly of the Better Cotton Initiative, members voted for their representatives in the BCI Council for a period of 3 years. Janet Mensink who has been with Solidaridad since 2006, is the International Program Coordinator for Cotton, Textiles and Gold. In 2009 she was already elected as council member for BCI. She was re-elected last week to represent the category Civil Society together with Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) and WWF. The council will lead and monitor the strategy of BCI for the next 3 years.
You can read the two submissions for which Solidaridad won a prize here:
To learn more about Solidaridad’s projects on BCI, read more here or contact Janet Mensink.