News
Letter from the Executive Director Regarding Covid-19
17 April 2020
To the Cotton Community,
As the world struggles to cope with the spread of Covid-19 a number of lessons are emerging out of the crisis. This silent killer is not only destroying people, livelihoods and whole economies but it is also changing for good the way we think and the way we do things. As a piece of graffiti on a wall in Hong Kong aptly put it, ‘There will not be a return to normal as normal was the problem in the first place’.
The enormous impact of Covid-19 can already be seen in our cotton and textile value chain. Whether you are a farmer in India who is finding it difficult to get inputs in time or you are a garment manufacturer in Bangladesh who has just had your orders cancelled by a brand because no one is buying clothes, the results are the same: Jobs and businesses are disappearing and with over 250 million workers employed in our industry — most of them poor — this is devastating and will in many cases lead to destitution, or worse.
It is also equally difficult to imagine the plight of the 28 million small-holder cotton farmers — 24 million in Asia and 4 million in Africa — whose livelihood primarily depends on cotton.
How will this affect our industry in the future? We don’t know the full extent of that yet but the ICAC Secretariat is pulling together all of the different strands of information so we can give you some early indications as to what cotton’s ‘new world order’ will look like. However, as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, ‘Covid-19 is showing dramatically: Either we join [together] or we can be defeated’.
Never has there been a greater need for governments, farmers, and cotton and textile professionals to have an ICAC, which can work with all parts of the supply chain and bring stakeholders together to restore prosperity and employment to the industry. We must now start thinking of what a post-Covid-19 world is going to look like and how cotton can meet its challenges while taking advantage of whatever opportunities it may bring. That is why we are reaching out to ask you what is happening in your particular country so we can better understand the developing situation and how badly the cotton and textile supply chain and value chain are being affected. We urge you to respond to our requests for information periodically so we can monitor how events are changing and provide you with the most current information and recommendations possible.
We are doing everything we can to gather the information we need — including the creation of a brief update survey that we’re promoting to visitors on www.icac.org — and distributing it for the benefit of the cotton industry.
You may have seen the launch of our ‘Cotton Connects’ series of video interviews in which global cotton and textile leaders tell us what is happening on the ground in their particular country or industry sector. In addition, we are planning to bring together all the key organisations in the cotton and textile supply chain from governments and key UN and international organisations, as well as private-sector businesses, to develop strategies to revitalise cotton and protect the livelihood of millions of people.
Finally, in light of the emergency caused by Covid-19, we are extending our ICAC Programme for Increasing Yields to as many ICAC Members in Africa and Asia as possible. That guidance will enable Members to put in place the steps required to double yields within 3 to 5 years. We are also actively approaching potential sponsors to fund other projects, which we believe are crucial not only to increase production of sustainable cotton but also to increase employment.
Achieving these goals requires your support for the ICAC and its activities. It would be an easy decision for governments to ‘hunker down’ and wait to see what happens. But it is precisely that mentality which has left so many countries bruised, unprepared and suffering the consequences today.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people who rely on cotton to earn a living. We at the ICAC shall ensure that we support our natural fibre and develop solutions and opportunities that will leave the cotton and textile sector stronger than ever once the crisis is over.
Kai Hughes
ICAC Executive Director