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This year Primark announced a fivefold expansion of its Sustainable Cotton Programme, with a commitment to train 160,000 independent cotton farmers in sustainable farming methods across three of its key sourcing countries by the end of 2022.
This significant extension broadens the programme into China for the first time, in addition to enrolling thousands more farmers into the three-year training programme in India and Pakistan. This marks an important part of the retailer’s ongoing commitment to minimising its impact on the environment, improving livelihoods and bringing more sustainably-sourced cotton to customers at affordable prices.
Primark started this programme in 2013 in India, working with agricultural experts CottonConnect and local partners to train female farmers to use less water and chemicals. By starting at the very beginning of the supply chain, the cotton can be directly traced from cotton farm through manufacture to delivery to Primark’s stores. This gives the retailer and its customers complete confidence in the source of the sustainable cotton used, its environmentally friendly credentials, and the positive impact on farmers’ livelihoods.
The programme’s expansion comes amidst growing demand from customers for sustainable cotton products. Primark first introduced sustainably sourced cotton into one of its most popular product lines – women’s pyjamas – under its Primark Cares initiative in 2017. More than 14 million pairs of pyjamas have since been
sold, in addition to more than three million pairs of jeans, and six million duvet covers and towels made with sustainable cotton tracked through the programme at no extra cost to the customer. The expansion into China and increased farmer numbers will enable Primark to move one step closer to its long-term ambition of using 100% sustainably sourced cotton across its entire product range.
We have been working with Primark since this programme was first launched in 2013. Not only are we materially changing the lives of farmers and their families in rural cotton communities, but by working closely with Primark and their supply chain partners we have been able to trace the cotton all the way from the farm into products – a challenging but important step towards increased supply chain transparency.
Note: This page makes reference to the Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme (PSCP). Since 1 October 2024, the PSCP has been renamed the Primark Cotton Project.