by Wolfgang Jamann
A cotton flower is soft, fluffy and beautiful. But a 40 kilo bag of cotton is a 40 kilo bag - and Severine and Maina, two middle-aged women, have come a long way transporting their heavy load to the buyers' market here in Muape, northern Mozambique. They are tired but happy: It is payday, and selling 800 kilos of cotton each to the local cotton company means food, shelter and schooling for their families for the coming months. They have brought in the harvest of 2 hectares of land and three months’ worth of work, a harvest that was always at risk of being wiped out by drought or eaten up by pests – one of the harsh realities in this part of the world. It is therefore a precious load which is now being weighed, graded and sold -- so precious that Severine and Maina have accompanied their husbands to the market just to make sure that the income does not end under the neighbouring tree, where locally brewed beer is waiting for thirsty farmers.
‘White gold’ they call it here in northern Mozambique. Capo Delgado, on the border with Tanzania, produces cotton as almost the only cash crop for export. The local cotton company 'Plexus' works with thousands of smallholder farmers, providing seeds and training, and guaranteeing prices. Plexus has subscribed to a quality standard 'Cotton made in Africa', which ensures fair production and trading of GMO-free cotton produced without child labour. The standard is certified through independent auditors and serves the demands of a growing number of customers in Europe and the US for ethically produced commodities. It is one of several standards that exist in the textile sector, the latter facing heavy pressure to improve working conditions along the entire value chain, especially after the tragic deaths of hundreds of workers in the 2013 collapse of Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza factory.
Cotton farmers celebrate a harvest (Photo: CARE)
CARE supports this growing social responsibility in the textile industry and focuses on that most vulnerable of groups in the value chain – women like Severine and Maina. We are working with company owners, wholesalers and retailers to make sure that farmers’ and employees’ conditions improve and that the economic empowerment of women bring whole families out of poverty. In a CARE-supported project on water and sanitation in the cotton-growing region, we have made sure that latrines are built in every household, that hygiene and hand-washing practices are established, and that a water committee is taking care of the newly constructed well in the village. Proudly, the women testify that their children do not fall sick anymore from diarrhoea, and that the health and nutrition situation of their families has dramatically improved. Our project has provided over 20 new or rehabilitated boreholes, and serves 16 villages. It is just the beginning of what can be done to lift people out of poverty and provide for healthy families.