Organic Cotton

Why organic cotton?

Conventional cotton (“regular” cotton) as used in the world today, is the second-most pesticide-laden crop!  [The first is conventional coffee.  The third is tobacco.]  When we look around us at everything that's made from conventional cotton, including our own clothing, we are looking at items whose production is causing huge damage to our environment.  For more information on this problem, see  http://www.maggiesorganics.com/theenvironment.php

Nicaragua’s cotton production history

Cotton, historically one of Nicaragua’s main exports, has almost disappeared from agricultural production in the country.  Once farmed in giant tracts of land, the uninterrupted expanse of cotton made the crop easy pickings for the boll weevil.  To combat the boll weevil, farmers used more pesticides which were expensive, and made it risky to plant cotton, all of which contributed to the decline of cotton in Nicaragua.  The production of organic cotton, however, focuses on cultivating small parcels of land, regular crop rotation and close monitoring by hand during the cultivation process; all of which make organic cotton less susceptible to many of the difficulties found in conventional cotton production.  In addition, the international market for organic cotton is experiencing unprecedented growth: in 2007, demand exceeded supply, and prices increased by more than fifty percent.
organic cotton boll

The CDCA’s Organic Cotton project

For all of these reasons, the CDCA is promoting an integrated project to reintroduce organic cotton production in Nicaragua and provide a market to purchase this raw cotton. Small organic farmers working with the agricultural cooperative (COPROEXNIC) of the CDCA are beginning to to incorporate organic cotton into their current crop rotations. In 2007, 43 farmers grew cotton that produced 43,100 pounds of processed fiber. In 2008 excessive rain prevented many farmers from planting, but those who did produced 14,700 pounds of processed fiber. In 2009 drought meant that only 11 farmers could plant, but those produced 33,500 pounds of fiber. In 2010 the program really took off with 42 participating famers - including two women's cooperatives producing 400,000 pounds of seed cotton. Growing cotton as part of their coop rotation has allowed participating farmers to increase their families' annual income by an average of 43%.  .
organic cotton field
Our agronomist provides training and oversite.
Agronomist Raul training Genesis
assembling organic cotton gin and baler
In 2008 we set up a ginning operation to gin and bale the organic cotton.The gin has been installed next to the spinning plant to process the organic cotton grown by COPROEXNIC farmers and employs 18 people seasonally.

Maggie's Organics released a video in September, 2010 which you can watch below. The video depicts the role of Nicaragua in the organic, fair trade cotton chain.


Maggie's Organics - The Fabric of Humanity from Copper Curl on Vimeo.


We are also working with a spinning cooperative, “Genesis", that will purchase the organic cotton and spin it into organic yarn. 
Genesis unloading organic cotton Genesis unloading container of organic cotton Genesis setting first building columns.
Genesis setting first building columns


One market for the yarn is the Fair Trade Zone women’s sewing cooperative that produces organic cotton clothing for export and is the first worker-owned free trade zone in the world. Another is Maggie's Organics, a long time supporter of Nicaraguan worker-owned co-ops.

In 2009 the Nicaraguan organic cotton production chain became the world's first organic cotton production chain to be certified as fair trade from crop to consumer when it received certification in Fair Labor Practices and community Benefits from third-party certifier Scientific Certification Systems, http://www.scscertified.com/. The following groups were certified:

The organic cotton project is working to develop a production chain to produce clothing garments that are organic and fair trade certified from crop all the way to the consumer!

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