Polish fashion company LPP has partnered with Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), launching another year of growth for the standard for sustainable cotton.

By joining CmiA, Danzing-headquartered LPP, whose brands include Reserved, Cropp. House, Mohito and Sinsay, is making a commitment to sustainable cotton cultivation and people in cotton-growing countries. Its first CmiA-labelled products will come to market before the end of 2022.

With this new partnership, LPP is making a valuable contribution to environmental protection and is supporting African small-scale farmers and their families. The globally active fashion company’s contractually agreed purchase volume of up to 60 million items per year supports its strategic sustainability goals, which include significantly increasing the percentage of more environmentally friendly products and implementing good production standards for a sustainable textile industry.

“We are thrilled to have won our first Polish partner in LPP and to be working with them to create a sustainable basis for their product portfolio through CmiA,” says Tina Stridde, managing director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, Cotton made in Africa’s parent organisation.

“Cotton is one of the key raw materials for our textiles and the chance to go through Cotton made in Africa enables us to procure a valuable raw material that has significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions, conserves natural resources and observes social criteria,” added Dorota Jankowska-Tomków, environmental social and governance (ESG) director at LPP.

For each CmiA-labelled textile item, LPP pays a licensing fee to the Aid by Trade Foundation,

Licensing revenue is then reinvested in CmiA’s activities in Africa, which focus on providing small-scale farmers with training in sustainable cultivation methods and in business fundamentals, ultimately enabling them to maintain soil fertility and to protect their plants with natural materials.

In addition, the CmiA standard prohibits the use of genetically modified seeds as well as the logging of primary forests. Only rainwater is used for irrigation. According to the latest study results, CmiA cotton has a significantly smaller ecological footprint while also helping to improve living conditions for small-scale farming families through training provided by CmiA. There are currently around one million small-scale farmers growing CmiA-verified cotton in ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, making up around 30% of African cotton production. Consumers can identify these products by means of a Cotton made in Africa label.

www.cottonmadeinafrica.org