Human Rights Day

Cotton made in Africa Reinforces Its Commitment to Ensuring Respect for Human Rights in Cotton Production

On Black Friday, Sustainable Shopping Matters

With Black Friday just around the corner, the world is caught in the grip of a shopping fever. As people get ready to go clothes shopping, new surveys confirm that most consider sustainability important. Textiles made with sustainably produced cotton will also be available on Black Friday under, for example, the label “Cotton made in Africa®”.

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Italian Brand OVS Partners with Cotton made in Africa

OVS, one of Italy’s leading textile and fashion companies, is now partnering with Cotton made in Africa (CmiA). In 2025 so far, the Italian fashion house has already brought to market almost 2.5 million items made of CmiA-verified cotton, including children’s clothing. In this way, OVS is ensuring verifiable transparency and traceability from the cotton bale to the final product.

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Aid by Trade Foundation Publishes Annual Report for 2024:

Market Position and Impact Continue to Grow, Benefiting Environmental Protection and People in Production

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Cotton made in Africa

Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) is an internationally recognised standard for sustainable cotton from Africa. Since 2005, CmiA has been committed to protecting the environment while improving working and living conditions for smallholder farmers and ginnery workers.

Aid by Trade Foundation

Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is a Hamburg-based foundation established by Prof. Dr. Michael Otto. It administers the Cotton made in Africa standard with the goal of protecting valuable resources, improving living conditions, and ensuring the viability of future generations through sustainable action…

Sustainability Standards

The CmiA standards include sustainability criteria for cotton, with independent verifiers regularly monitoring for compliance.

Impacts

CmiA in figures for the year 2022

715,000

total CmiA cotton harvest (ginned, in t)

smallholder farmers

CmiA trading partners

total CmiA cotton harvest (ginned, in t)

smallholder farmers

CmiA trading partners

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CmiA Community Cooperation programme

With the CmiA Community Cooperation Programme, the initiative is working together with local cotton companies and textile companies to improve living conditions beyond sustainable cotton cultivation in the areas of health, education, women’s empowerment, environment and nature conservation.

Training

Training for smallholders is at the heart of Cotton made in Africa’s work and includes both agricultural and business management training.

African Cotton

Cotton is one of the most important raw materials for textiles. The African continent is one of the world’s largest producers.

Project Regions

Africa is a huge continent – larger than the USA, China, India, Japan, and Europe put together. CmiA is active in many countries on the continent, from Benin to Tanzania.

Projects

Health

2.1 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water, while 4.4 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. As a consequence, children …

Education

Many African countries south of the Sahara have a high rate of illiteracy. Purely practical considerations are often responsible for the lack of education: in many cases, the closest school is simply too far away…

Environment

Our image of Africa is that of a continent with unique scenery and exotic wildlife. The rich and varied flora and fauna are some of the …

Advancement of Women

The improvement of living conditions in sub-Saharan Africa is directly linked to the advancement of women. Women do a…

Make the Label Count Interview

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) has joined the Make the Label Count initiative which was created in response to the development of new EU regulations for product statements on sustainability.