Textile Exchange

My colleague Silvere Tovignan and I attended the 2^nd African Organic Conference in Lusaka, Zambia. The theme for the conference was: “Mainstreaming organic agriculture in the African development agenda”, with the overall objective being to promote the integration of organic agriculture into African policies and development agendas.

MOVING UP TO THE GOLD STANDARD OF ORGANIC

Perhaps more than you think!

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) defines organic agriculture as:

Organic cotton is an elegantly simple yet doggedly complex concept.

This year is International Year of Co-operatives

Probably more than you thought! Arguably, more than genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). And probably a more constructive conversation than dwelling on the misguided belief that we need to produce more food.

By Silvere Tovignan - Regional Director for Africa, Textile Exchange  

The occurrence of climate change has raised concerns in many industries, particularly in agriculture, because this is where more effects will be evident. The changes in environmental temperature, on water (increased flooding and drought), will impact on microclimates, pest populations, and product yield. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) it will be difficult to plan agricultural activities, due to increased climate variability. It is assumed that biodiversity will be reduced in fragile ecosystems, such as rainforests.

Our second guest blogger, Carl Pepper, returns to the subject of organic cotton markets. Carl reveals how his business risks are reduced through direct communication, out of the box thinking, and long term business security [read more]

We are delighted to welcome our first ‘guest blogger’ Graham Burden to the Farm Blog. Graham gives a Cotton Specialists perspective on the triggers behind the cotton market and how the whole value chain needs to better understand what’s required to support organic cotton production [read more]