South Africa's Woolworth supports organic cotton pilot project

South African clothing and food retailer Woolworths expects about 30 tons of this year’s organic cotton needs to be met by a pilot project.

The project, a collaboration between Woolworths, the ComMark Trust, Cotton SA and the international Organic Exchange organisation, is running on a number of farms in Eastern Cape and Limpopo, directed by the Agricultural Research Council’s Institute for Industrial Crops.

The ComMark Trust, a regional development initiative aimed at reducing poverty, has committed about R1m ($145,000) to aid farmers with start-up costs, and the Organic Exchange will provide technical support for farmers.

Woolworths organic cotton business project manager Emil Grey said there was a need for more technical expertise in organic farming. The retailer had agreed to buy fibre from participating farmers once the cotton had been harvested.

Woolworths says it is the third-largest consumer of certified organic cotton globally behind Wal-Mart and Nike. The 30 tons expected from the organic cotton project is expected to provide about 1,4% of the 2,2-million kilograms Woolworths expects to use this year. Woolworths said this percentage was expected to grow “quite significantly ” as the pilot project gained ground. Last year, it used 1,8-million kilograms of organic cotton.

Planting was in November and the company expected the first cotton at the end of May, Grey said.

Business Day-South Africa