Malkha India spearheads a movement to give more control to cotton farmers, providing them the means of production. The initiative started in 2003, strives to bring control of spinning and weaving. And its founder Uzramma, says there are Malkha centers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The primary drive for her movement stems from the link between cotton farmer suicides and power looms, which function best with American cotton. The only cotton suitable for the power loom is American cotton, which won’t grow in India. So farmers need fertilizers and pesticides, which they buy with their own money until they can’t, and then they are forced to take loans.

India is the second largest producer of cotton in the world, and yet its major cotton export is American cotton, which doesn’t grow here naturally. While power looms are faster and can process more cotton, some native cottons are damaged and torn and are labeled inferior. In addition, weavers are paid very little.

The issue finds its roots in mass farming overseas. In the US, huge fields of cotton are harvested with large cotton picker machines that compact the cotton into bales but this is said to damage the cotton. Also, the cotton that is run through the power loom produces only one color of fabric and uses large amounts of electricity to run. Handweaving cotton allows a more flexible and cost-efficient production.