Fairtrade cotton is another of the many products available with fairtrade certification in the UK. This is a relatively recent addition to the range of products, with fairtrade cotton only launched in the UK at the end of 2005. Since then the range has increased enormously with over 450 products now available to buy in this country.
Fairtrade cotton is grown by small farmers in India, Peru, Mali and Senegal. Cotton farmers are susceptible to exploitation with many forced to accept prices which don’t even cover basic costs. The fairtrade initiative ensures that they receive a minimum price for their cotton as well as a further premium for community development projects. Fairtrade cotton therefore ensures that these workers at the bottom of the chain are no longer suffering the injustice of ludicrously low prices.
Fairtrade cotton is made into a wide variety of products including cotton wool, t-shirts, baby wear and bed linen with hundreds of products now available in the UK. Many of these can be bought on the high street as well as from specialist fairtrade companies and online. Marks and Spencer is one of the largest high street retailers to sell a wide selection of fairtrade cotton products, although many others are following suit.
Whilst some fairtrade cotton products are aimed at a premium market and are therefore more expensive than similar non-fairtrade products, many are competitively priced so price should not be a major barrier to purchasing fairtrade cotton products.
For more information on the brands of fairtrade cotton products available and where to buy them, visit the Fairtrade Foundation website and our Fairtrade Clothes page
