Q1 2018 Quarterly Report

BCI aims to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in, and better for the sector's future. The organization develops Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. BCI provided training on more sustainable agricultural practices to close to 1.6 million farmers from 23 countries and mobilized €8.9 million in field-level investment last year. The initiative is a global effort, encompassing organizations from farms to fashion and textile brands, driving the cotton sector towards sustainability. In the first quarter of 2018, BCI received a €250,000 grant from the Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation to develop a new Better Cotton Training Academy. The Academy will provide a scalable and sustainable solution to ensure that Implementing Partners and BCI Farmers have access to high-quality learning opportunities as they adopt more sustainable farming practices and commit to continuous improvement. The Better Cotton Training Academy includes two key elements to facilitate learning: new training modules and a Qualification Management System (QMS). The modules will help Implementing Partners' staff better understand the core Principles and Criteria that BCI Farmers are required to follow. The QMS will ensure that all BCI Staff, Implementing Partners, and Third-Party Verifiers carrying out assurance and field-based training activities are fully qualified and competent. During the first quarter of 2018, retailer and brand declarations on the Better Cotton Platform (formerly Better Cotton Tracer) were 205,212 metric tonnes, showing a 44% increase against the same period in 2017. The Membership Team will continue to foster supply chain uptake through recruitment, on-boarding, engagement, and supporting companies within the textile industry to adopt Better Cotton sourcing at an increasing rate. BCI hosted various engagement events and supplier training workshops with Members, including a supplier and manufacturer event in Portugal in collaboration with BCI Retailer and Brand Members. The event provided an opportunity for the brands to come together to introduce their supply chain partners to BCI and explore how they, together, can increase uptake of Better Cotton. The organization has a diverse membership, with 89 Retailers and Brands, 31 Producer Organizations, 32 Civil Society organizations, 13 Associate Members, and Suppliers and Manufacturers. BCI aims to reach a 1.1 million metric tonne uptake target, a 50% increase on the 2017 result.