By AdminInternational Cotton Conference :From Farm to Fashion
Cotton is an important natural
fiber crop of world known as “white gold”. Livelihoods of millions of farmers
is dependent on this crop, in addition to millions of people employed along the
entire cotton value chain, from weaving to textile and garment exports. In the
wake of this global phenomenon, it is still unclear that whether cotton
production will be able to satisfy the future fiber needs of the growing
population as Cotton represents nearly half the fiber used to make clothes and
other textiles worldwide, with much of the rest coming synthetic products.
However, evidently cotton yield is declining or stagnating as no
new production technology is available for the producers and declining
international cotton prices are worrying many and likely to affect negatively
the whole cotton value chain, if translated in lower cotton production.
The International conference
“From Farm to Fashion” was organized in Izmir, Turkey from 3-5 August
2015by LokSanjh Foundation (LSF) in collaboration with Rural Business
Development Centre (RBDC) and was supported financially mainly by
Oxfam Novib, Pakistan which is highly acknowledged. Many other
institutions , such as, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Textile
Exchange, UK, SESRIC, Turkey, Nazilli Cotton Research Institute,
Turkey and Coventry University, UK also supported the conference as
co-host of the event.
The objective of the
conference was to bring together participants from cotton producing
countries, academics and business people in processing and trading to highlight
the innovation in cotton production, challenges of climate change,
investment opportunities in cotton industry and business and new styles
and trends that would shape the future of cotton industry.
The following were three main
themes of the conference:
·
Supply Side: Cotton
Production Technologies and Sustainability Issues.
·
Cotton Supply Chain and Trade
·
Demand Side: Trends in
fashion and demand for cotton, competition with synthetics etc.
In the
conference over 100 people from various countries representing
government, academia, farmers, policy makers, NGOs ,Research
institutes and private sector Ginners, international garment and trading
companies including major consuming countries participated . The
major countries of South Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Europe who represented
in the conference included: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia, Tanzania, Uganda,
Sudan, Switzerland/USA, Germany, UK, Denmark.
The
participants deliberated in seven different session for two days in which 28
presentations were made covering three major
themes: (1) Cotton Production Technologies and Sustainability Issues; (2)
Cotton Supply Chain and Trade ; (3) Trends in Fashion and demand for
cotton, competition with synthetics. In addition , a field visit to Nazilli
Cotton Research Institute was also arranged for the participants to learn from
Turkish experience in cotton production and processing technologies.
The conference offered an opportunity for experts representing various countries and organizations to discuss openly on issues and future prospects and farmers welfare related to cotton production technologies, excessive use of chemical inputs, new seed varieties, environmental effects, trade, business and value addition.