The Launch of World Cotton Day
October 10, 2019

The World Trade Organization’s launch of World Cotton Day reflects the importance of cotton as a global commodity.

This week is a big one for cotton. It began with the official launch of World Cotton Day on October 7 and winds down with a celebration of National Farmers Day in the United States, which is just two days away on October 12.

World Cotton Day was developed to reflect and amplify the importance of cotton by:

• Giving exposure and recognition to cotton and all its stakeholders in production, transformation and trade.
• Engaging donors and beneficiaries and strengthen development assistance for cotton.
• Seeking new collaborations with the private sector and investors for the cotton-related industries and production in developing countries.
• Promoting technological advances, as well as further research and development on cotton.

This launch provided heads of state, heads of international organizations, private sector executives and industry leaders the opportunity to participate in a high-level plenary session to strategize how to drive preference for the cotton crop and plan for the future of the cotton industry.

Event highlights included the panel discussion ‘Plotting the Future Path for Cotton,’ which explored perspectives on modern cotton production and addressed how the future of cotton will be impacted by many factors beyond the farm and the supply chain. It was comprised of industry experts throughout the cotton and textile supply chain (including one of our U.S. farmer partners, Lacy Vardeman, as well as J. Berrye Worsham, CEO of one of the founding organizations, Cotton Incorporated) and discussion centered around how developing a sustainable cotton future requires innovation. The panelists tackled subjects such as climate change, population growth, least-developed countries, plastic pollution and consumer preferences and activism.

The conference came just in time to cue people up for National Farmers Day in the United States on October 12. National Farmers Day is observed annually to pay tribute to the contribution of farmers throughout history. One of our own cotton farmer partners, Jimmy Webb, says, “I want to leave the land in better shape than when I got it,” and we want to help him and other farmers like him do exactly that. Check out this video to get Jimmy’s highlights on modern efficiency and conservation-focused cotton farming practices.

Commit to sustainably produced cotton – become a Cotton LEADS partner today. Interested in doing even more? Contact us for ideas to get the most out of sustainable cotton and your partnership with Cotton LEADS.