At the beginning of the new millennium the South African textile and clothing sectors faced serious challenges. Following China’s inclusion in the World Trade Organisation in 2001, local textile and clothing manufacturers suffered because of the cheaper imports of Chinese fabrics and finished products. Employment in these sectors slumped dramatically and more than 100,000 textile and clothing jobs were lost.

Realising the opportunity for growth, OrganiMark played an instrumental role in the forming of the Southern African Sustainable Textile and Apparel Cluster, later changed to the Sustainable Cotton Cluster in 2014. The Sustainable Cotton Cluster provides a coordinated platform to all like-minded cotton industry value chain stakeholders, including the farmers, ginners, spinners, manufacturers and retailers, to ensure growth and sustainability of the cotton sector in Southern Africa. This creates a unique integrated value chain programme (IVCP) that is managed by OrganiMark and is driven by retail demand. This IVCP is built on virtual partnerships amongst the value chain stakeholders and supports ‘near sourcing’ and ‘quick response’ whilst providing value chain transparency, price surety and stakeholder trust.

The programme is funded by the Department of Trade and Industry’s Competitiveness Improvement Programme (CIP), and is managed by the IDC and the CTCP Desk. This fund is structured to drive competitiveness and increase productivity and employment opportunities in the South African textile and clothing sectors. The success of this demand-driven initiative lies in the fact that this is not only a virtual integrated programme, but a programme where retailers, such as the Mr Price Group, Edcon Group and Woolworths, can set their competitive goals aside and all meet face to face.

For us, sustainability means creating a balance between profitability, protecting the environment and being socially responsible. It is imperative for the future of the cotton industry to be accountable, by continuously improving sustainability and adhering to international standards.

For more info visit the Sustainable Cotton Cluster website.