Cotton made in Africa

Cotton made in Africa ("CmiA") is a project initiative launched and managed by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. AbTF was founded in 2005 by Dr. Michael Otto, the Hamburg business entrepreneur and Chairman of Otto Group. Cotton marketed under the badge is produced according to strict criteria for environmental, economic and social sustainability. Development work in Africa Core principles 'Helping people to help themselves' is a core CmiA principle. The smallholder farmers receive on-site training in improved cultivation methods which allow them to increase their crop yields, generate higher income and thus raise their standard of living through their own efforts. CmiA plans to finance training over the long term through financial contributions from participating cotton trading companies, as well as through levying CmiA licence fees. Strictly speaking, CmiA is not organic cotton but places a strong emphasis on reducing the use of pesticides. However, pesticides listed under the Stockholm Convention are banned, as non-degradable or partially degradable organic toxins, so-called POPs. Countries CmiA Project countries include the West African states of Benin and Burkina Faso apart from Zambia - and more recently, Mozambique (April 2008 onwards). These four countries are amongst the poorest on the planet. The CmiA Project reaches around 130,000 smallholder farmers in these regions and their efforts produce ~85,000 tonnes of raw CmiA cotton from a cultivation area of ~160.000 hectares.