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Textile Exchange has recently partnered with ethical clothing leaders Mantis World and Gossypium to produce its first limited edition T-shirt collection for men, women, and children. Funds raised from the purchase of this t-shirt will help provide funding for farmers to attend the 2011 Textile Exchange Global Conference in Barcelona this September. 

Textile Exchange works to improve the lives of cotton farmers by supporting the expansion of organic cotton production and markets. But the non-profit has to find the funds to finance farmers’ travel and accommodation, to enable farmers’ face-to-face participation in global networking and business-building opportunities.

The largest global meeting of textile brands and retailers with an increasing number of manufacturers, the Textile Exchange annual conference provides a fantastic opportunity for people within the Industry to meet, get to know each other, and transact business, as well as learn about more sustainable textile products and processes. This opportunity to connect has resulted in many long-term business relationships.

By making farmers a part of the stakeholder discussions and allowing them to see for them-selves where their organic fiber ends up, future trade relations are improved and mutual understanding and respect is built between growers and retailers.

The Support a Farmer fundraising T-shirt is the result of an innovative collaboration of the textile supply chain and friends in the industry.

The beautiful and original artwork was designed by Gossypium, the independent, ethical clothing brand based in Lewes, United Kingdom. The luxurious, Global Organic Textile Stan-dard-certified organic T-shirt was ethically produced by Mantis World in their award-winning Tanzania factory from locally grown organic cotton, ensuring that the local economy gets the most value.

Most of the world’s cotton producers live in developing countries and farm less than 2 hec-tares of land. The overuse and misuse of pesticides and fertilizers common in conventional agriculture has harmful effects on land, water, biodiversity and people’s health. Vulnerable farming communities and an unfair global market means the world’s poor small-scale cotton farmers tend to remain poor; trapped in debt or forced to migrate to (often) overcrowded cities.

Organic cotton helps farmers to invest in their own communities instead of abandoning them. Organic is not simply a question of getting rid of pesticides. For organic farmers to achieve the best results they need the knowledge, skills, and trade opportunities to run suc-cessful businesses and strong farming systems that benefit the land, their families, and their future.