Meet the Farmers and Trainers of the Primark Cotton Project
Most farmers in the Primark Cotton Project are smallholders (i.e. those who manage small farms, typically with a family-focus) and around 80% of participants in the project are women.
The Primark Cotton Project
The Primark Cotton Project (formerly the Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme), now over 10 years, is helping us reduce the impact of the cotton we source while improving farmer livelihoods.
What is the Primark Cotton Project?
The Primark Cotton Project is an initiative that supports cotton farmers across India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan by helping them adopt farming practices which use less water and fewer synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. These practices are intended to improve soil health, increase crop yield and reduce the impact that cotton farming can have on the environment.
The Primark Cotton Project launched in 2013 with 1,251 female farmers in Gujarat, India. Over the past decade, it has grown to support more than 300,000 farmers and has been recognised as industry-leading.
How does it work?
We’re providing training to cotton farmers in accordance with CottonConnect’s REEL Regenerative Standard. The Standard defines practices that farmers are expected to follow with the aim of making cotton growing more sustainable, with less impact on the environment, as well as improving farmers’ livelihoods. The training provided helps farmers gain the skills needed to meet the Standard, covering all stages of the cotton growing cycle: land preparation and sewing; crop management; harvest and post-harvest management.
What are the benefits for farmers?
The practical, hands-on training is designed to give farmers the opportunity to put their new skills into use straightaway. The improved farming techniques are intended to help reduce the cost of growing cotton, boost the amount of cotton grown and thereby improve farmers’ earnings from the cotton. Many of the farmers in the project have told us that by using these improved farming techniques they have earned more. In their own words, that extra income has given them the chance to invest in equipment for the farm, support their children’s education, or create a better home for themselves and their families.Why is the Primark Cotton Project important for Primark?
Why is the Primark Cotton Project important for Primark?
The Primark Cotton Project is crucial for us because we use cotton more than any other material in our clothing and textiles.
By 2027, we’re aiming for 100% of the cotton in our clothing to be organic, recycled, or sourced from the Primark Cotton Project.
It supports our traceability goals
The Primark Cotton Project also improves the traceability of our cotton supply chain. We partner with CottonConnect and use their TraceBale system to track cotton from Primark Cotton Project farmers through the supply chain as it passes from ginner to spinner. We also collaborate with Oritain, a specialist scientific verification firm who we have worked with since 2018, to help verify the origin of our cotton using forensic science techniques.
How Oritain traceability mapping works
It supports farmers in the face of climate change
We're helping cotton farmers build resilience in the face of environmental pressures. The practices taught are intended to support improved soil health and increased biodiversity. Such changes are understood to increase farm resilience in the face of unexpected climate events, such as droughts or floods.
Additionally, when such shocks do occur, we have provided immediate support to farmers. For example, in collaboration with CottonConnect and our local partner in Pakistan, the Rural Education and Economic Development Society, we've provided vital resources like mobile medical and veterinary services, livestock and supported with infrastructure repairs during challenging environmental crises, like floods. Such short-term support to farmers in the face of crises, together with the agronomic training we provide, aims to help cotton farming communities build the resilience they need to protect their land, their livelihoods and their way of life in the face of a changing climate.
10 Years - A Journey Milestone
In 2023, we celebrated a decade of investing in farmers in our cotton supply chains across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan through the Primark Cotton Project. This was done with partners including CottonConnect and local organisations including the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and Myrada in India; the Rural Education & Economic Development Society (REEDS) in Pakistan and Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha in Bangladesh.
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