In recent years, the global cotton industry has been mired in yet another controversy, not similar to cotton trade manipulations by the leading cotton exporters. The cotton industries of some countries have fallen under deep scrutiny and controversy for using child labor and posing a health threat to cotton farmers due to their exposure to pesticides. This issue has given rise to what is now called ‘ethical fashion,’ or a ‘fair trade cotton clothing and footwear’ movement. This fair trade system was spearheaded by cotton producers from the countries of Cameroon, Mali, and Senegal in 2005. This began the era of organic cotton.

The worldwide cotton trade has not been exempt from environmental and ecological issues. Cotton is a pesticide-guzzling crop. As a pesticide-intensive crop, cotton consumes about 25 percent of the world’s insecticides and 10 percent of the world’s pesticides. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 20,000 deaths occur annually from pesticide poisoning in developing countries. Many of these deaths have been tied to cotton farming.

Cotton is also a water-guzzling crop and dependent on huge water supplies. With water resources getting depleted in the world today, economies that rely on their cotton industry have been beset by environmental problems. Uzbekistan is the world’s 2nd largest cotton exporter and a place where cotton is a major export, but the crop has also led to desertification in some areas of the country.

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Via PANNA