Fashion brand sponsors organic cotton project

Fashion brand Edun Apparel has announced the establishment of a project to improve the livelihoods of African organic cotton farmers.

The new the Conservation Cotton Initiative (CCI) has been founded by Edun in partnership with The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which currently works on sustainable conservation farming with farmers in Madagascar, Uganda and Zambia. Its aim is to improve the livelihoods of communities in Africa by focusing in particular on cotton grown organically or through methods that are part of a transition from conventional to organic cotton production.

Starting this year, the project will run over the next three years to increase production of organic cotton and farmer incomes while protecting key conservation areas. Additional partners in the project include local governments, donors, NGOs and others involved in the production and marketing of organic cotton in the three focal countries.

The move comes as Dublin-based Edun, run by Ali Hewson, the wife of British rock musician Bono, says it has now sold over one million edun LIVE t-shirts. From the fields where the cotton is picked, to the spinning, knitting and finally the garment making, all edun LIVE products are 100% produced in Africa, with options of either 100% African certified organic or 100% combed African cotton.

Since the launch in 2005, countries of manufacture have increased from Lesotho to Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa, with the fabric being sourced from Mauritius, Uganda and Tanzania and raw cotton from various countries in Africa.

Ecotextile