The Organic & Fairtrade Cotton Coalition West Africa CCBE is holding a launch event as part of the 2018 SICOT conference, highlighting its aims of providing improved market access for tens of thousands of small-scale organic farmers in the region. The CCBE was initiated by FiBL, the Swiss foundation ecos and Organisation of the Westafrican Cotton Producers AProCA as well as the organic cotton producers from Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal last December in Bamako.
FiBL and ecos were able to manage to get support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the German Corporation for International Cooperation GIZ in order to invite delegates from the four producing countries including representatives of the national ginning industry and international clients from the textile business. The aim of the cotton coalition CCBE is to expand the market share of organic and fairtrade cotton in the region from currently 0.5 to 5 percent, to improve the status and efficiency of the small-scale producers as well as to relaunch local textile handicrafts and industry.
The sector organization Textile Exchange and the Catholic Relief Services CRS will also deliver the Regional Organic Cotton Round Table, designed to give attendees the opportunity to gain a deeper insight on this particular area of the cotton industry. The conclusion of the four-day event will be a field trip to the construction site of the first organic ginning plant in West Africa and a visit to the first organic cotton producers in Burkina Faso.
The SICOT conference will take place from 26 to 29 September in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. On September 25, the CCBE delegates will hold an internal meeting in Ouagadougou, organized by FiBL.
Further information
Contact
Gian Nicolay, FiBL Switzerland
Links
- sicot-bf.com: Website of the International Cotton and Textile Conference SICOT
- ecos.ch: Further information on the website of the Swiss foundation ecos
- textileexchange.org: Sector organization Textile Exchange