Why buy organic?
Conventional cotton is often promoted as a 'natural' product, yet cotton farming uses 25% of the world's pesticides despite the fact it is only being farmed on 3% of the world's farmland.
Whilst wearing non-organic clothing may not directly affect our health, non-organic cotton production can have a serious effect on the health of the cotton farmers. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 20,000 deaths occur in developing countries each year from pesticide poisoning, many of these attributed to cotton production.
Much of the world's cotton is grown in developing countries, and as more and more pesticides and chemical fertilisers are used, the soil fertility is damaged, forcing the farmers into buying more chemicals to encourage their crops to grow, thus sinking them, and their families into debt. This means these farmers cannot afford to send their children to school.
There is an alternative: organic cotton. This is cotton that has been grown for at least three years without chemical pesticides, defoliants or fertilisers and it is now farmed in over 22 countries in the world, including many developing countries. There are already 25,000 organic cotton farmers in Africa. By farming organically, cotton farmers have reported that they do not have to get into debt, and using viable alternatives to pesticides protects their health. For example, Ugandan organic cotton farmers use black ants to keep cotton pests away, others use ladybirds.
Organic cotton farmers can also grow food safely on their land, which they can use to feed themselves and their families or sell to increase their income, thus providing food security. Organic cotton farmers also report substantially higher incomes, allowing them to educate their families and gain access to healthcare.