Through the use of the certified sustainable cotton with the “Cotton made in Africa” (CmiA) label, more than 33 billion litres of water were saved. Customers who buy articles from the Otto Group with the CmiA label thus actively contribute, among other things, to saving the precious resource of water, combatting poverty and improving the future viability of millions of people in Africa.
Tina Stridde, Managing Director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, is pleased about the increasing uptake of Cotton made in Africa cotton by the Otto Group: “With its textile strategy, the Otto Group is continuing the positive development of the past years and was able to increase the order volume of Cotton made in Africa cotton for their own and licensed brands to nearly 16,000 tons. We are proud that the Otto Group is primarily committed to Cotton made in Africa to achieve its sustainability goals in the cotton sector.”
In comparison with global average, CmiA cotton saves about 2,100 litres of water per kilogramme of cotton fibre through the exclusive use of rainwater. By purchasing almost 16,000 tons of CmiA-certified cotton in 2016, the Otto Group has helped to save more than 33 billion litres of water in cotton farming. This amount of water would supply around 750,000 people in Germany for a whole year 1. That’s roughly equivalent to the population of Frankfurt am Main.
“Growing cotton usually requires high quantities of water”, stresses Andreas Streubig, Division Manager Sustainability Management at the Otto Group. “CmiA cotton is not artificially irrigated, but is grown exclusively with rainwater. By supporting the initiative ‘Cotton made in Africa’, we are therefore not only helping to improve the living conditions of cotton farmers and their families in the long term, we are also, especially, protecting one of the most valuable resources in the world – water.”
1 The daily per capita water consumption in Germany was 122 liters in 2015 (Source: statista).