Responsible Supply Chain

Sustainable Cotton

The Challenge

As a natural fiber, cotton has significant sustainability advantages over synthetic alternatives such as polyester. Cotton supply chains, however, are not without challenges, which must be addressed through collaboration across the value chain.

Our Approach

We strive to influence production methods by:

Empowering Farming Communities

Sourcing Cotton Responsibly

Advancing Regenerative Agriculture

Purchasing from sustainable sources

Empowering Farming Communities

Over the years, LDC has supported various field projects to empower farming communities through capacity building and training on responsible agriculture practices, and to address some of the social, economic and climatic challenges associated with cotton production, such as dependence on credit, unpredictable weather, lack of technical information and market access, as well as gender inequality.

Project Jagruthi, India

In 2022, in response to a pink bollworm outbreak, we launched Project Jagruthi to train and support Indian farmers in adopting more sustainable farming practices, while increasing their capacity to mitigate pest threats to cotton crops.

After expansion in 2023, the project scope grew again in 2024, with an 8% year-on-year increase in the number of farmers supported. By the end of 2024, the project reached over 26,000 farmers across more than 85 locations in India, distributed more than 125,000 pheromone traps and provided detailed educational materials on managing pink bollworm and other pests.

Participating farmers’ average yields are between one and two quintals higher per acre than those of non-participants.

Sourcing Cotton Responsibly

LDC continually leverages its expertise, knowledge and network to create a positive impact for farming communities connected with our activities.

Working directly with farmers, ginners and other partners, we strive for supply chain transparency and traceability by delivering robust data to assess the impacts of farm practices and the provenance of the cotton.

Advancing Regenerative Agriculture

Across our cotton supply chains, we increasingly support farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices that aim to deliver positive soil, water, nature and climate benefits, while enhancing on-farm resilience and profitability.

We run cotton regenerative agriculture projects in the US and India, taking an approach that focuses on improving and restoring nature, while seeking to sustain farm productivity and profitability over the long term.

Farmers enrich the soil through practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, minimal or zero till and nutrient management.

Regenerative cotton,  India

Our two-year joint project in Maharashtra, India with Action for Food Production and Better Cotton began in 2023 and has supported over 7,000 farmers in adopting regenerative agriculture practices.

Participating farmers were selected with Better Cotton and have been regenagri®-certified by Control Union so that they can supply regenagri® cotton over the course of the project.

Farmers are trained in a range of regenerative agriculture practices, including irrigation structures and water storage, with a focus on managing changing rainfall patterns. The project also seeks to advance the farmers’ financial literacy and improve their access to financial services, including credit, through the formation of farmer group structures.

To ensure the benefits of this initiative extend beyond the 2023-24 season, the project is following a train-the-trainer model, with a specific focus on empowering women that represent 35% of group members.

Purchasing from sustainable sources

LDC purchases a large proportion of its cotton supply from certified sources, such as Better Cotton, regenagri®, and Cotton Made in Africa.

Better Cotton is the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton. Over the years, LDC has consistently promoted Better Cotton’s comprehensive sustainability standards in our cotton supply chains and prioritized Better Cotton purchases.

We are proud to contribute to shaping a global strategy to help cotton communities thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.

Through our membership of, and active involvement with, Better Cotton, we have been elected to hold a seat on the Better Cotton Council, which drives cotton toward a more sustainable future, pioneering among others the development of a regenerative agriculture framework for cotton.

From the Fields of West Texas

As part of its efforts to support sustainable cotton farming, LDC is advancing the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices in West Texas, US. LDC is working to build climate smart, regenerative and traceable cotton supply chains, in order to capture and deliver value both up- and downstream, including to farming communities whose production we all rely on.

LDC Cotton Regenerative Agriculture in West Texas, US