ICAC Focuses on Growth Policies for All Sectors
September 15, 2011 As Terry Townsend says, “The underlying purpose of any International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) meeting is to encourage industry improvement by focusing on the role of governments in ensuring adoption of best practices to enhance efficiency, increase productivity, and achieve social, environmental and economic objectives in the cotton sector.”
That is an ambitious goal to set, but anyone who has ever been to one of ICAC’s Plenary Meetings knows that ambition is the name of the game. The Committee never skimps on the educational agenda, and although the market volatility this year was off the charts, that wasn’t the driving force behind this year’s lineup of speakers and sessions.
“There is turmoil in cotton markets every year,” explains Townsend, ICAC executive director. “Even though cotton price volatility in 2010/11 was far greater than average, that is not – in and of itself – a sufficient reason to hold a meeting. This year’s ICAC meeting is focused on ensuring that government policies facilitate growth in all segments of the cotton value chain, thus allowing all segments to expand.”
He adds that volatility in prices, however, does provide a backdrop for discussions about government policies and how they can contribute to better decision-making in the private sector by enhancing transparency and ensuring a stable/predictable policy environment.
Content and the meeting agenda
The 70th Plenary Meeting will showcase the need for increased investments in cotton technology development and extension to raise yields and reduce the costs of production. The meeting will provide a platform for sharing information about cotton industry developments, including long term prospects for cotton supply, use, trade and prices, and developments in the textile industry.
A quick glance at the program reveals a host of terms such as biotechnology, organic, sustainable production, and responsible labor. It might appear that sustainability – one of the hottest buzzwords in all of agriculture these days – was one of the guiding themes for the agenda, but Townsend refuses to get caught up in labels, semantics and terminology, preferring instead to focus on the bigger purpose of ICAC Plenary Meetings.
“Sustainability,” he says, “is a label without definition, and thus without meaning. The term is being used mostly by retailers as a public relations tool and by environmental activists seeking political objectives. The sessions on organic cotton production and responsible labor practices are intended to bring objectivity to the discussion of sustainability by providing empirical information about costs of production and choices that farmers face in their production systems.”
Governments are also eager to empower producers so they are able to grow and market cotton as profitably as possible. Accordingly, the first two sessions on Monday, September 5, are devoted to technology development and farmers’ organizations. Other topics for discussion include managing price volatility, the role of international trade in economic development, and policies for textile industry growth.
Even if ICAC set out to “stabilize” the cotton industry, it would surely be a waste of time and effort. The ICAC might contribute to industry growth and development, but it isn’t in the business of stabilization. “Commodity markets are inherently volatile, and efforts to stabilize volatile markets are doomed to failure,” Townsend says.
Instead, the ICAC – an intergovernmental organization within the international architecture of institutions supporting trade and good governance – contributes to industry growth and improved government and private sector decision-making by raising awareness of emerging issues, by providing information necessary for decision-making, and by facilitating cooperation.
Membership in ICAC allows governments to join the fraternity of countries in discussions of international issues of importance to the cotton value chain.
Townsend says the three most important decisions that governments will make at this 70th Plenary Meeting of the ICAC are:
1. whether to pursue the establishment of an international center for cotton research through the creation of a new organization, the Cotton Solutions Center (First Open Session, Monday, Sept. 5),
2. whether to encourage organic cotton production and, if organic is to be encouraged as a production system, under what circumstances (Third Open Session, Tuesday, Sept. 6), and
3. whether to endorse efforts in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discipline government measures that restrict exports (Fourth Open Session and First Plenary Session on Tuesday, Sept. 6).
“People who choose not to participate in this year’s ICAC meeting,” Townsend says, “are choosing not to have their views considered as these topics are discussed.”
And missing the opportunity to voice an opinion is not just doing a disservice to the individual; it’s weakening the collective impact we can make to improve the cotton value chain for all stakeholders through a vehicle like ICAC. The positive impact it has on the industry and member governments is undeniable.
“The events since 2008 – with price spikes and troughs and new government interventions in markets – provide clear evidence that the role of governments and the work of ICAC remain crucial to industry growth,” Townsend concludes. “On behalf of member governments of the ICAC and the Organizing Committee in Argentina, I welcome all those with an interest in cotton industry growth to the 70th Plenary Meeting of the ICAC.”
A look at organic production
In an attempt to capture some of the buzz surrounding the 70th Plenary Meeting, Cotton International reached out to the speakers from one of the sessions that is sure to draw a large crowd in Buenos Aires: “Organic Cotton Production: The Reality of Costs and Benefits” (Third Open Session, 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, Tuesday, September 6, 2011). Presenters are Simon Ferrigno, Advisor, Sustainable & Organic Farm Systems; and Jens Soth, Program Coordinator, Helvetas Organic Cotton Center.
Everyone agrees that reducing the environmental impact of cotton – in terms of water consumption and the use of pesticides and fertilizers, among other things – is a desirable goal. But in light of the many challenges that would need to be overcome to reach that goal, the question isn’t whether or not the goal should be pursued, but rather, how to get there.
From a global perspective, what are the primary issues facing current organic production?
Jens Soth: We see that organic cotton projects are well positioned to contribute very positively to the debate about producing more while simultaneously increasing the sustainability of production. Steep price increases of conventional inputs, especially mineral fertilizers, made a lot of organic calculations much more competitive, while at the same time organic production set the yardstick for good practices of conservation of natural resources like soil and water. That does not mean that there is no room for improvement. Price volatilities also impacted the long-term partnerships that we have developed in our organic cotton projects since 2002. Handling this volatility is thus a very relevant issue in the near-term future.
Simon Ferrigno: Organic cotton, in many ways, faces the same challenges the rest of the cotton sector does: volatile markets, climatic conditions, and competition for land, water and energy. However, organic cotton also faces many challenges internally. For example, organic cotton must affirm its distinct identity against both other standards for sustainable cotton (such as Better Cotton) and sustainable textiles such as recycled polyester (competition against synthetic fibers is another similarity with the rest of cotton). In my opinion, organic cotton needs to stop defining itself as not being “conventional” but instead, as valid in its own right and as part of the cotton family. There has also been a distinct lack of governance in the sector, meaning that not all organic cotton is produced to the same high standard of care for both land and producers (for example, extension services, seed supply, research, finance and services), and some production has been distinctly opportunistic and short term, and thus not beneficial to producers.
What significant changes have occurred in organic cotton over the last few years? What trends do you expect to surface over the next 1-2 years?
Soth: Looking backward, most of the projects (including ours) were overwhelmed with the challenges that come with rapid growth: besides extension systems, certification systems (especially the so-called internal control systems that allow group certification) also had to grow from schemes catering to hundreds of farmers to grow into schemes apt for thousands of farmers. Parallel to that, the markets were playing rollercoaster, and value chain partnerships as well as public attention to sustainability discussions screamed for permanent attention. That prevented taking care of productivity issues. Looking forward, the debate regarding the sustainability of agricultural commodity production will become even more intense and cannot be avoided by any stakeholders in the future.
Ferrigno: In the 11 years I have been working on organic cotton and sustainable cotton, the growth has been tremendous – sometimes too fast, which explains some of the challenges I mentioned on governance and integrity. Organic cotton has gone from being a poorly regarded and much criticized niche to being much more accepted in the mainstream as worthy of a place. The growth trend looks set to continue but the ongoing impact of the global financial crisis is still posing problems and some larger brands may switch to Better Cotton or other, cheaper, sustainable sources. However, in the United Kingdom, organic cotton textiles are still showing strong growth in the independent retail sector, so there is a solid base of demand.
It’s commonly believed that organic production’s biggest flaw is lower yields. Given the growing world population and cotton’s competition with food crops for acreage, how does the organic cotton industry address the belief that it just doesn’t produce enough fiber to meet those demands?
Soth: In all of our organic cotton projects, we find lead farmers that comfortably outperform their conventional peers even though the productivity potential of organic farming has not been tapped. There is much room for further improvement if modern insights into plant nutrition (like mykorrhiza application, timely mineralization of nitrogen supply, intensification of biological activity of soils, green manuring) and biological means of plant protection (rearing of beneficials, bioagents, repellent crops, etc.) could be implemented on a small farmer level.
On top of that, the actual varieties are bred for conventional technologies, while breeding for organic would set completely different priorities.
Ferrigno: There are few studies or comparative studies showing how similar farmers in different production systems compare. I would say that while the average yield might be lower, there are different factors to take into account. In Africa, for example, farmers growing organic cotton are often the smallest and most resource-poor farmers, with low access to tools, animal or mechanical traction, credit and good land. They are often farmers who can no longer afford inputs to farm conventionally. Another factor lowering yields relates to the strong growth in organic, as farmers converting to organic do see yield loss in the early years. Organic cotton farmers with five or more years of experience are often much more competitive against others. Finally, organic cotton farmers are producing using crop rotation and other techniques and may produce more food crops, so they should be judged on the whole farm output rather than the one crop.
Can you envision a time or scenario in which the majority of the world’s cotton is produced organically? What is the best – but also the most productive – ratio of organic-to-traditional cotton for today’s world?
Soth: It will certainly not reach the majority, but the conventional technologies will continue to learn from lighthouse projects of organic production and will come much closer to organic production approaches with regard to soil fertility conservation, efficient plant nutrition and thoughtful plant protection.
Ferrigno: I think this is not possible – unless demand for cotton declines to the point where cotton is produced only in those areas it is naturally adapted too! I certainly think organic cotton could grow much larger than it is today, with investment, research and most importantly, demand. How much can its proportion be against the current level of production is hard to say … 5%, maybe 10% would be a good target for now.
Do you have any other thoughts or comments?
Soth: While the share of organic will not increase that quickly, it is quite likely that other organic fibers will enter the textile market rather rapidly: Since sustainability of land use is a big issue, several bast fibers fit well into sustainable crop rotations also in temperate climates. High cotton prices and new processing technologies (enzymatic and enzymatic/ultrasound) have the potential to make bast fibers much more competitive. Until now, the barrier has been the missing investment level necessary to leverage large volumes, but discussions between large-scale investors are under way. The combined share of both fiber sectors may be 10% to 15% of the cotton market within the next five to 10 years.
Ferrigno: Organic cotton is, in one sense, a laboratory in which we can experiment with growing cotton efficiently with little environmental impact, as well as make improvements in the way farmers are organized and supported. In another sense, it allows us to continue maintaining seed purity and research using traditional breeding methods.
GET THE NEWSLETTER TODAY!
