Adapting Sustainable Cotton Production for Improved Livelihood of Farmers and Sustainable Landscapes

Ethiopian farmers have cultivated cotton for thousands of years, and the traditional handloom sub-sector earns its income from the cotton sub-sector due to the favorable agro-ecological conditions in the country. Currently, the industry faces challenges such as limited access to improved inputs, infestations by pests, salinity, water management issues, market entry, and production standards for sustainable cotton. Given the numerous advantages of cotton over other crops chosen by smallholder farmers, implementing a sustainable cotton production system could potentially reverse the situation and restore their traditional income crop. Nowadays, textile suppliers are urging manufacturers to utilize sustainable cotton. The Organic, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA), Fair-trade, My Best Management Practices (MyBMP), and Committee on Sustainability Assessment (ABR) are widely recognized labels for sustainable cotton. In Ethiopia, CmiA, BCI, and Organic are the sustainability labels that have been introduced. The primary obstacles to Ethiopia fully realizing its potential for sustainable cotton production are the lack of adoption, insufficient funding for implementing sustainable production, a challenging process for applying for BCI membership, and the utilization of genetically modified (GM) seeds by small-scale farmers, which could result in rejection and exclusion from the CmiA and Organic labels.