Stakeholders of Fair Trade Cotton Supply Chain Development project -
FTF-I, CTM Altromercato Italy, Chetna Organic, IIRD and KRUSHI met at
Yavatmal for a one-day concluding seminar on organic cotton cultivation.
Andhra Pradesh is witnessing yet another spate of farm suicides. Delayed
rainfall, prolonged dry spells, subsequent crop failures and unfriendly
government policies have forced many farmers to kill themselves.
“ProClimate Challenge” award ceremony was organised at Kaphri village to give the award to Chetna Organic Farmers Association on behalf of Progreso Network, an organisation based out of The
Netherlands. The award was received by Shri Kusum Rao, President, COFA
in presence of about 200 cotton farmers of this area. A prize amount of
Rs. 2500 USD and a certifícate was issued to COFA.
The record suicide rate among farmers in India continues to rise and
is threatening the country's stability and future development,
according to campaigners.
They are blaming the government's policies for the agrarian crisis and are demanding it takes urgent action.
More than a quarter of a million farmers have killed themselves in
the last 16 years in what is the largest recorded wave of suicides in
history.
In the category of
organisations working in the cotton sector, the Chetna Organic Farmers
Association from India is the winner. Their project consists of dealing
with erratic weather patterns due to climate change. They work out best
practices in the diversification of seeds to promote self reliance,
cropping systems and comprehensive management of natural resources based
on the principles of watershed management. The jury was particularly
impressed by the good value chain involvement.
Interview with Ashutosh Deshpande, CEO of Chetna Organic
Chetna Organic is the Shop for Change certified producer organization that is
supplying the cotton to AND for its new fair trade line. We spoke with
Chetna’s CEO, Ashutosh Deshpande, to learn a little more about Chetna,
fair trade, and the importance of the AND partnership.
Euronews - Farmers in India convert to organic cotton
Posted On : December 9 2011
Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chain
From Governance Knowledge Centre
Chetna Organic and Fair Trade Cotton Intervention Programme assists
farmers in growing organic and fair trade cotton. It systemises the
agricultural supply chain to create a niche market for outputs.
Marieke Weerdesteijn from Solidaridad The Netherlands and
Rama Krishna from Chetna Organic present today their cooperation with
fashion label Jackpot at the Sustainable Textile conference in
Barcelona. Many companies active in sustainable fashion exchange their
experiences at this conference. It is organized by Textile Exchange.
