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Primark depends on effective agricultural practices and natural commodities to make its products.
A cotton farmer from the Primark Cotton Project, India
Primark depends on the agricultural sector for its raw materials, such as cotton, which is the main fibre used in its products. Globally, cotton is the most widely grown non-food crop, providing income for more than 250 million1 people. Climate change and extreme weather events pose significant risks to this sector, threatening both the supply chain and the livelihoods of farmers.
Primark set up the Primark Cotton Project (PCP) in India in 2013. The PCP trains farmers, predominantly smallholder farmers, to reduce water use and dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides. It also teaches skills such as seed selection, land preparation, sowing and harvesting. You can read more about the PCP in the case study below.
Soil health and biodiversity loss pose potentially significant challenges to the global agricultural system. Conventional farming methods, which can depend on chemical inputs, may contribute to soil degradation, reduced agricultural productivity and a decline in biodiversity.
Primark has partnered with Biodiversify since 2021 to develop a biodiversity monitoring framework for the PCP. This is aligned with leading standards and guidelines, including the Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN), the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This framework aims to enable the business to identify and mitigate biodiversity-related risks within the supply chain.
Primark is also working with its partners Biodiversify and the Srushti Conservation Foundation to develop a methodology for assessing biodiversity levels on farms participating in the PCP to achieve consistency, repeatability and scientific rigour. Since 2024, this methodology has been piloted and implemented on 14 farms in Gujarat, India.
Primark uses man-made cellulosic fibres derived from wood-pulp, such as viscose, to make some of its products. It also uses paper in its packaging and wood in some of its products. Primark has its own Wood and Wood-Derived Fibre Policy, which sets out its approach to sourcing these materials responsibly. This Policy applies to all Primark-branded products, product packaging (primary and secondary) and transit packaging (tertiary).
Primark is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. This includes the reduction and reuse of materials as a priority for the protection of the world’s limited forest resources.
Primark has been a partner of the not-for-profit environmental organisation, Canopy, since 2022. Primark continues to work alongside other fashion brands through the CanopyStyle initiative, which aims to transition fashion supply chains away from using ancient and endangered forest material and bring lower-impact fabric alternatives to customers. Primark is part of Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative, which is working to ensure companies move away from forests to use low-impact paper packaging options and reduce dependency on virgin wood-derived packaging.
All Primark suppliers are required to source only from man-made cellulosic fibre producers that are green rated by Canopy’s Hot Button ranking. Regular due diligence is carried out to check compliance with this requirement.
In preparation for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Primark is working with external bodies and suppliers to address the requirements.
As Primark increases the use of more sustainably sourced materials across its product range, it continues to ensure that animal welfare is part of its selection criteria.
Animal-derived materials such as leather, wool, cashmere, mohair and alpaca make up around 1% of the materials used in Primark products. The business is committed to responsibly sourcing any materials, even if used in small quantities. Primark supports the development of animal welfare standards and certifications, having an Animal-Derived Material Policy that requires suppliers to comply with industry standards.
Primark does not support the use of animal testing that is not required by law. Its own-brand cosmetics have been approved by the Leaping Bunny Program, an internationally recognised gold standard for cruelty-free products, since 2021.
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The Primark Cotton Project provides farmers with three years of agronomic training in more regenerative agricultural practices. This includes best practice in areas including seed selection and pesticide use. These practices are intended to reduce the environmental impacts of growing cotton, lower input costs by replacing chemical pesticides with biological alternatives, which results in increased yields and improved farmer profits.
In 2025, the programme extended its work to farmers who had already completed the three-year foundational training, offering targeted guidance to further embed more regenerative practices. It also identified a diversified set of regenerative methods tailored to smallholder farmers in different geographical regions, for example, intercropping with legumes in Pakistan, and using mulch to improve soil health in India.
Primark’s approach to promoting more regenerative agricultural practices was reviewed by agronomic experts at Harper Adams University to ensure it reflects global best practice and the latest scientific insight.
As of March 2025, the majority of farmers in the Primark Cotton Project have adopted at least two agricultural practices that are considered ‘more regenerative’. These include:
•reduced or no-tillage, minimising soil disturbance to preserve structure and sequester carbon;
•cover cropping and intercropping, e.g., planting crops like sorghum between cotton plants or along borders to enhance nutrients and attract beneficial insects and birds;
•rotation, alternating cotton with other crop species sequentially to break pest cycles, improve soil fertility, optimise nutrients in the soil, and diversify outputs;
•natural fertilisers, using farmyard manure, bio-compost or vermicompost to enrich soil organic matter, reduce the use of synthetic alternatives and improve microbial life;
•integrated pest management, using biological and ecological control methods that preserve beneficial insects, such as pheromone traps and bird perches; and
•incorporation of cotton stalks into the soil, instead of burning, to maintain soil organic matter. This can reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and prevent nitrogen-driven algae blooms that harm river ecosystems.
Primark has implemented measures to help strengthen the resilience of farmers participating in the programme.
It has partnered with Haqdarshak, an Indian social enterprise, to support the farmers in the programme with accessing government-funded benefits.
Primark also assessed the availability and uptake of insurance products that protect farmers against risks such as extreme heat, working with the International Institute for Environment and Development to research barriers to access. The research outlined potential solutions to these challenges, and drawing on these insights, Primark is considering how it can support new approaches to facilitate farmers’ access to suitable insurance.
Primark employs the traceability system of its partner, Cotton Connect, which tracks the cotton grown by farmers trained in the Primark Cotton Project as it passes through some of the supply chain. Primark uses a digital platform called TraceBale to track the cotton from farmer to ginner to spinner. To give further assurance, Primark uses forensic analysis undertaken by Oritain, a specialist scientific verification firm, which helps verify the origin of cotton in the programme.
The Primark Cotton Project has been operating for over 12 years in India, seven years in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and two years in Türkiye. As of July 2025, the programme has supported 309,394 smallholder farmers.
In 2025, 57% of the cotton clothing units sold contained cotton that was organic, recycled or sourced from the Primark Cotton Project.
A cotton farmer from the Primark Cotton Project, India
