Cotton LEADS℠ Partner Meeting – Lima

The Cotton LEADS℠ Program continues to increase awareness of responsible cotton production by keeping partners informed through a series of Partner Meetings. A Partner Meeting was held on April 23 in Lima, Peru, the second event in Latin America this year. The program focused on responsible cotton production and continuous improvement efforts.

Twenty representatives from 11 Cotton LEADS℠ partner companies attended the event. Similar to the Mexico City Partner Meeting, the program included a program update, highlights of responsible production in the U.S. and efforts for continuous improvement in production in the U.S. and Australia.

Mark Messura, Senior Vice President of Cotton Incorporated shared how the Cotton LEADS℠ program has evolved over the last year and how the program promotes partners through meetings, events and press. Dr. Andy Jordan, U.S. Sustainability Advisor, described the Cotton LEADS℠ Program’s efforts with Field to Market® to measure and monitor progress. In addition, Dr. Jordan shared four case studies of U.S. growers who use the Field to Market® Fieldprint Calculator and how their efforts have led to further reduction of pesticides, improvements in water efficiency and improved soil health and biodiversity.

The meeting focused on the program’s commitment to continuous improvement through investments in research, technology and innovation. Joint research efforts including the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the facilitation of a Research Roundtable in 2015 were highlighted. The LCA research will be the most comprehensive and robust study of its kind – including cotton production data representing 67% of global cotton production, knit and woven manufacturing data from 5 leading textile manufacturing regions. Many Cotton LEADS℠ Partners, such as Textil Oceano, are participating in this research and are being promoted through the program’s new partner list that was introduced at the meeting. Efforts in Australia to audit and set sustainability targets were also highlighted.