Social Enterprise - One Cotton Picking Minute

As part of its social enterprise commitment C&A, the fashion brand, has created a social media campaign for Christmas—it is giving its Facebook fans and users the power to decide how to distribute €500,000 to three not-for-profit organisations. The three charities being supported are "Terre des Hommes," "Mercy Corps" and "Cotton made in Africa". Since this October C&A has been part of the Cotton made in Africa's (CmiA) international project, "Demand Alliance." Next year C&A plans to take up to 1,000 tonnes of sustainably produced African cotton for its textile products.

C&A Europe will support these three named organisations between 1 December 2011 and early January 2012 where they can earn up to €500,000. However, the fashion company will not decide the amount each organisation will get. Instead, they are letting their Facebook users and fans of country-specific C&A Facebook pages across Europe make that call! This social enterprise campaign aims to raise awareness of the three charitable projects through the power of social media networks. It is part of a much wider annual donation campaign that C&A Europe invests heavily in on a European, national and local level.

CimA is the first initiative by the Aid by Trade Foundation. The Foundation was started in 2005 and is an independent organisation which supports African smallholder cotton farmers. It helps these farmers trade, safeguarding the conservation of natural resources and the viability of future generations in Africa. Currently, smallholder farmers from Burkina Faso, Benin, Zambia, Côte d'Ivoire and Malawi participate in the program. At the core of this initiative is a "Demand Alliance" of global textile companies that buy sustainably produced African cotton specifically for the world market. Over twenty major textile companies are already a part of the Alliance. The Social Accountability International is the official U.S.-based representative for CmiA. It introduces this social enterprise to American companies, helping them to start using the initiative's socially responsible cotton.

Sustainability and social enterprise are underlying principles behind C&A's business model; it looks beyond the short-term thoughts of risks, opportunities and results. A family company that has been around since 1841, it takes its responsibilities towards its employees, customers and everyone who is part of its supply chain seriously. It ensures its partners are involved in key matters concerning the environment, product safety and employment conditions.

Also, in Europe big brands like IKEA, H&M, Levi Strauss, Marks & Spencers and Adidas have formed a consortium to make cotton production sustainable and a social enterprise. It's called the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and if proved right, BCI would have a marked impact not only because cotton is used in 40% of all global textiles, but also that 30 million farmers in 80 countries rely on it for their livelihoods. The farmers benefit from the scheme as they are trained how to significantly reduce the use of pesticides and increase profits, as chemicals can account for up to 60% of farming costs and cotton covers 2.4% of the world's farmland.

Photo Credit: Robbo-Man