The need for sustainable farming has never been greater. This World Cotton Day we are celebrating the organic cotton farmers leading the way in Benin. A programme, supported by PAN UK and in collaboration with Organisation for the Promotion of Organic Agriculture in Benin (OBEPAB), is proving that organic cotton [...]
by Nick Tigg, Lewes Town Councillor Weeds spring up in unlikely places. They flourish in apparently unpromising soil, enthusiastically spreading through the fault lines under our feet. Which is also, coincidentally, how revolutions begin. And up on Lewes’s Nevill Estate in East Sussex, the smallest of revolutions is starting to [...]
The third and final part of Atalo Belay’s reflections on ten years of tackling hazardous pesticide use on smallholder cotton farms in Southern Ethiopia Read the first part ‘The pioneers’ here. Read the second part ‘Hard work pays off’ here. Are we winning? We have now trained more than 8,500 [...]
The second of Atalo Belay’s reflections on ten years of tackling hazardous pesticide use on smallholder cotton farms in Southern Ethiopia Read the first part ‘The pioneers’ here. A reason to believe It was difficult to get farmers to believe in the project at first. After years of using pesticides, [...]
This year we are celebrating 10 years since the start of farmer training in our joint project with PAN Ethiopia to get rid of Highly Hazardous Pesticides on cotton farms in Ethiopia’s Southern Rift Valley. We’re kicking off with a video from PAN Ethiopia’s Director, Dr Tadesse Amera, praising the [...]
Cotton is the world’s most popular natural fibre, produced by over 24 million cotton growers in 75 countries. Whilst cotton farmers and workers are indispensable to the global fashion industry, they are largely excluded from conversations and stories around sustainability. To understand and transform the fashion and textile industry, we [...]
The 2023 Cotton Ranking of retailers and brands reveals that just nine of the major fashion companies are doing the bare minimum to improve sustainability in the cotton sector. Much of the cotton purchased by major companies does not even meet basic certification requirements. Of the 82 largest cotton-sourcing companies [...]
by Dr Stephanie Williamson, PAN UK Staff Scientist PAN Ethiopia teams meet up for week of training in Arba Minch. Credit PAN UK I recently had the privilege of visiting my hard-working, dedicated colleagues in Ethiopia to find out how our joint projects on growing cotton organically and [...]
by Sarah Haynes, Collaboration Coordinator, hosted by PAN UK Over the last few months, PAN UK and RSPB have mobilised 45 organisations and individual farmers and academics to respond collectively to the UK Government’s public consultation on the revised UK National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides [...]
by Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes, PAN UK According to an April 2020 forecast by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), ‘global trade volumes are expected to fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world.’ The [...]
Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020 Published by PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF, the Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020 reveals significant progress by big brands toward more sustainable cotton. But also that the divide is growing between companies that take their responsibilities seriously and the many companies that do not. Adidas has surged ahead, [...]
by Selam Yilma, Communications Officer, PAN Ethiopia (19th September 2018) Pesticide Action Nexus Ethiopia (PAN Ethiopia) has taken on the role of implementing the 'information and communication pillar' of the Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) initiative in Ethiopia. This pillar works to complement the work of other EOA partners through creating increased awareness and knowledge [...]
by Prof Michael Eddleston and Dr Leah Utyasheva Highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) not only harm our health and environment and pollute our food and water.1 They also cause over 150,000 suicide deaths globally each year. Out of the 800 000 individuals who die from suicide worldwide each year - one death every [...]
As the Better Cotton Initiative General Assembly opens, PAN UK publishes a revised version of its report on global pesticide use in cotton. The revised report includes new data on the United States Cotton sector’s pesticide use provided by Cotton Incorporated, and includes a reanalysis of official US government data. [...]
Project success as 200 Ethiopian farmers become the first to produce certified organic cotton in the country Since 2013, with financial support from TRAID and in collaboration with PAN-Ethiopia, our project in southern Ethiopia has provided training for over 2000 smallholder cotton farmers. Training in our Farmer Field Schools demonstrates [...]
A review of pesticide use in global cotton production - 10th October 2017 (PLEASE FIND OUR REVISED ISSUE FOR JUNE 2018 HERE) A new report published today by PAN UK, with support from the C&A Foundation, investigates the current rate of pesticide use in cotton, and examines its trends [...]
A report by PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF Leading brands improve performance on sustainable cotton but many still fall short Used in hundreds of everyday items, cotton is a vital cash crop for around 100 million households in 80 countries. However, conventional production of cotton is characterised by environmental, [...]
by Sam Claydon, Communications Officer, PAN UK (19th September 2017) PAN UK is working with partners and colleagues in Ethiopia to teach smallholder cotton farmers how to manage their fields using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods in order to move away from an over-reliance on pesticides. In a lucky turn [...]
Since 2013 we have been working to support cotton farmers in Southern Ethiopia to adopt safer and more sustainable methods of growing pesticide-free cotton. We now have 2000 smallholder farmers achieving average yields over 100% higher than before. An organic cotton producers’ cooperative is selling Grade A organic cotton [...]
On Tuesday 28th March 2017, Sheila Willis, PAN UK's Head of International Programmes, travelled with a group from Obepab to the small village of Aliwou in central Benin. The temperature was around 40 C and it had not rained for weeks. Villagers gathered to meet them and although they were already [...]
