Ireland's Primark to train cotton farmers in sustainability by 2023

It will bring the total number of farmers in the PSCP to over 275,000, an expansion of over 80 per cent, cementing its position as the largest of its kind of any single fashion retailer. Primark developed the programme and launched the first pilot in India in 2013 in collaboration with agronomic experts, Cotton Connect, and the grassroots organisation, the Self-Employed Women’s Association, with the aim of reducing its impact on the environment, changing the way the business sources its cotton and improving the livelihoods of farmers. Since then, the programme has expanded to Pakistan and Bangladesh with the expertise of local market partners, and has already trained almost 150,000 smallholder farmers, 80 per cent of whom are women, the company said in a press release.

Primark’s sustainable cotton is grown through a unique process using CottonConnect’s REEL (responsible environment enhanced livelihoods) Programme. Cotton farmers are trained over three years to address an over dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides in order to preserve the biodiversity and help mitigate against climate change. The programme helps build a transparent and resilient supply chain, which gives back to local farming communities.

On average, farmers in the programme use 40 per cent fewer chemical pesticides and fertilisers and 10 per cent less water used per acre, with a 14 per cent increase in yield and growth in profits by 200 per cent. Moving forward, the programme will be focused on restoring biodiversity, with 100 per cent of farmers in the Programme adopting more regenerative practices by 2030.

The programme supports the Primark commitment that 100 per cent of the cotton in Primark’s clothes will be sourced from the Sustainable Cotton Programme, organic or recycled by 2027 and its commitment to make all its products from recycled fibres or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030. Currently almost 40 per cent of Primark clothing is made from recycled fibres or more sustainably sourced materials. Cotton is the most commonly used fibre in Primark clothes - over half of all Primark clothing clothes are made primarily from cotton - and already today, over a quarter (27 per cent) of cotton clothes are made using PSCP cotton. A further 4 per cent are made from organic cotton, and 2 per cent from recycled cotton, Primark said in a press release.

“We developed our Sustainable Cotton programme with our partners almost a decade ago to reduce the impact on the environment, support farmer livelihoods and improve the way we source our cotton. We’re proud of how far it’s come, evolving into the largest of its kind of any single fashion retailer. It has taken time to build a programme of this scale, and the positive impact it has had on the livelihoods of thousands of farmers means we can continue its expansion - benefitting more farmers and supporting our ambition to offer our customers more sustainable options at Primark,” Lynne Walker, director at Primark Cares, said in a statement.

“We are pleased to further our long-standing partnership with Primark to collaborate on the largest programme of its kind by any single retailer in the fashion industry. Any programme at such scale is complex, but working in close collaboration with Primark and the local partners means we are confident we can support Primark’s ambitions and support the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. We look forward to the next stage of this programme and seeing the positive impact it will have for many more farming communities,” Alison Ward, CEO at CottonConnect, said.