As the world’s largest standard for sustainable cotton from Africa, Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) now certifies around 40 per cent of the cotton produced by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Demand from the textile industry for CmiA cotton is up on the previous year by around 79 per cent and the trend is set to continue in 2018.
Additional companies now on board with CmiA include Tendam Global Fashion Retail from Spain, Vlisco from Holland and Gudrun Sjöden from Sweden. Around 1,033,500 smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are currently working with CmiA and growing cotton in accordance with the CmiA sustainability criteria. CmiA cotton is grown by smallholder farmers only in different climatic zones in Sub-Saharan Africa.
New international partners have joined the Demand Alliance for CmiA cotton, adding further strength to the backbone. Tendam Global Fashion Retail, formerly Grupo Cortefiel and one of the leading fashion retailers in Europe, is the first CmiA partner in Spain to sell shirts for men and women with the CmiA seal under the Springfield brand. Beyond using the sustainably grown cotton, the company goes one step further – all CmiA labelled products are manufactured in Ethiopia according to the Hard Identity Preserved (HIP) system. The HIP system ensures complete transparency at every step in the textile value chain.