On my way to India for the first time, my gut feeling is that this will be a business trip out of the ordinary. For the first time I will be visiting some of the farmers who grow and harvest organic cotton for the textile industry. I am in daily contact with our suppliers, and know them personally after several years of cooperation. But I have never met any of the farmers who deliver the cotton to our products. FRANCK & FISCHER has decided to increase focus on organic and FAIR TRADE production. We want to support the organic production of cotton, and ensure the farmers to get a fair price for their work, in order for them make a decent living of the land.
Our trip is arranged by the FAIR TRADE Foundation in Denmark, and some of the participants, like myself, have our production made by these Indian suppliers. We are going to Madhya Pradesh in the middle of India, to visit three different groups of farmers who manufacture and sell organic and FAIR TRADE certified cotton.

Annemarie picking cotton		The cotton is carried home from the fields		A farmer with his new Fair Trade plough

Our first meeting with the farmers takes place in a village under the organisation Mahima. We are welcomed with drum music, flower necklaces and blessings in Indian tradition with a red dot on the forehead to honour Gods and guests. The gathering takes place in one of the clay huts in the village. As guests we are seated in probably the only chairs in the village, all others, the farmers and all the very curious children are standing close to follow this event. One of the representatives from the FAIR TRADE Foundation tells us about the work of the organisation and how they try to promote the use of organic and FAIR TRADE produced products. I tell them about my work as designer, and I show them some of the clothes we have produced from the FAIR TRADE certified cotton. The farmers are very excited to see their own cotton made up in our jumpsuits and pyjamas with elephant print.

Back to ancient times		The only toy the children have		Shy children in our pyjamas

Each village that works in the Mahima organisation elects representatives for the Mahima Council. The council decides what the bonus from the FAIR TRADE production will be used for. The bonus is calculated on the basis of the cotton sold under fair-trade conditions. The first project that the council had decided on was to use the extra bonus to establish a hostel with mattresses, food and guards so that their children would have a safe place to stay, when they attend the school far away from the villages. Other projects planned are troughs for water so that the cows and goats can help themselves to drinking water, and more wells in the village. We are told that water reserves in this village will be used up within the following two weeks, hereafter clean drinking water will have to be fetched on foot quite a long walk away. A biogas facility to transform cow pats and urine into electricity for the houses is also on the list of wishes, but this is a big investment. Hopefully sometime in the future it can become reality.

The Fair Trade Council is gathering		Rules for fairtrade production in rhyme		I am teaching the children to play Memory

The next organisation we visit, Pratibha - Vasudha, had decided to use the FAIR TRADE bonus to build a large barn, to allow the farmers to store their cotton after the harvest. The price of the cotton is often lower just after harvest because all farmers harvest and sell their cotton at the same time. If the farmers can store the cotton a few months after harvest, they might get a better price. The Pratibha - Vasudha was established in 1999 and a local company has educated the farmers in organic and FAIR TRADE production. The support and cooperation really shows in their buildings and living standard. Houses are built of bricks, not clay, the animals have a large trough for drinking water and the farmers are also able to pay for teachers and books for the nearby school.
The last FAIR TRADE organised village we visit is part of the Shiv Sanstha organisation. It is a very moving experience for me. It takes a very exiting drive over steppes and dried out riverbeds to get to this village of clay houses and sacred cows. When we approach the village a large group of people dancing and playing music comes out of a dusty cloud. I forget all about travel sickness and diarrhea when we get out of the car. We are received as if we were royalty, our hosts are dressed for the occasion, and after the welcome ceremony we are lead to a large tent made for the occasion from brightly coloured scarves. Again we present ourselves, this time not for a group of elected farmers but for the whole village, about 300 people. It is overwhelming for us to be met with such warmth and interest, and the farmers are exited to see that many of us have tears in our eyes – we are told that they do not expect westerners to have these emotions!
This season Shiv Sanstha has not been able to sell any cotton under FAIR TRADE conditions. They will try to keep the harvest a little longer, but if no buyer is willing to pay the little extra, they will have to sell the harvest on the conventional market. Earlier it was not unusual that some children in the village would die from starvation, but the last couple of years with certified FAIR TRADE production conditions have improved, and it has given the village a lot of hope for a better life. But the market for cotton has become more reserved with respect to buying organic and FAIR TRADE products, maybe due to the economic situation in the West. As the president of the organisation Mr. Ashok Rawal explains, “Without FAIR TRADE we will have to go back to lending sharks charging 15% interest for seeds and equipment.”

Driving in India is an exiting experience		Welcome ceremony with dancing		Good attendance for our presentation

Organic farming has a strong connection to religious beliefs in India. Most Hindus are vegetarians because the religion tells them that you are not allowed to kill living creatures, human beings or animals. Twenty years ago organic production had almost disappeared because of heavy marketing of chemical pesticides. This lead after some years to exhausted fields, and also the farmers’ health was badly affected because they were not aware how carefully one has to deal with these poisonous products. Today the trend is to go back to organic production, as the outcome is about the same, even if it takes more work in the fields.
My trip to India is soon over. It has been eight very intense days, visiting three different FAIR TRADE certified farmers’ organisations in mid India. Two of the organisations had never been visited by brands producing FAIR TRADE certified products, so I am very proud that FRANCK & FISCHER has taken part in this very special first meeting between farmer and brand. I have no doubt that producing cotton organically is of tremendous importance for the environment. FAIR TRADE production is a long lasting and efficient way to help an agricultural population out of poverty. If we are willing to just spend a little more paying for cotton products, this would make an enormous difference for the farmer.

Cotton is carried to the spinning mill		Manufacturing the cotton		Your guarantee for an organic/Fair Trade product