UK chancellor George Osborne declared his plans for a new national living wage in this month’s budget. Fairtrade focuses on working with the most vulnerable countries in developing world. It tries to secure market access and better terms of trade for farmers and workers. About 100 million smallholder farmers are dependant on cotton for their earnings and most of them are struggling for decent wages. Where textile industry is concerned, companies’ information, earlier, only dealt with who their importer was, but now, companies are taking an interest in the supply chain and have better awareness of the factories used to produce what they sell. There has been a focus on improving the conditions of textile factory workers.

Fairtrade’s vision is that ethics and sustainability can be joined together as one and together everyone can ensure that all sections of the workforce are prioritised. Fairtrade brings in a safety net—the promise of a minimum price that works in spite of the competition from subsidised production in the US and EU, and the insecurities of global cotton pricing. The farmers decide collectively how the Fairtrade Premium is spent—on training to improve soil and productivity and on the most important ways for their communities to benefit. This is seen in Pratibha-Vasudha, India, a Fairtrade cooperative in Madhya Pradesh.

Fairtrade enables businesses to have traceability and more transparency in their supply chains. This helps secure the future of cotton farmers, their families and communities.