Cotton

Where is cotton produced with forced labor?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2010), cotton is one of the goods most commonly produced using forced and/or child labor, with the greatest concentration of producer countries occurring in Central Asia. Countries producing cotton with forced labor, represented on the map in red, are: Benin, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, India (cottonseed), Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Forced labor may also be used following cotton harvesting; for example, in the manufacturing of garments, such as in Argentina, China, India, Jordan, Malaysia, and Thailand.

How does cotton produced with forced labor enter products I buy?

Reinhart, Cotton Chain

After harvesting by machine or hand, raw cotton is transported to gins where it is processed. Cotton yarn is then woven into textiles, which is made into garments and home goods. Alternatively, cotton seed is processed, separating the meal and the oil, the former to be used in animal feed and the latter to be used as cooking oil.

These production stages may occur across multiple countries, particularly for garments and textiles. The exceptions to this rule are India and China, which produce both cotton and cotton products.

China is also a major cotton importer. The map below (UNCTAD 2004) represents global trade flows, with orange bars representing consumption and green bars representing production. The chart does not include finished products such as garments.

Case Study

Uzbekistan: Forced Child Labor

Forced child labor is epidemic in Uzbek cotton. For years, the national government of Uzbekistan has required children to leave school and participate in the cotton harvest. Refusal to participate means potential punishment for students and their families, including corporal punishment and withdrawal of crucial services (EJF 2005: ILRF 2008).

Global attention, including a boycott by major corporations such as Wal-Mart, increased pressure on the government, resulting in a formal prohibition of forced and child labor. However, as of the 2010 harvest, reports indicated that though forced child labor had become more covert, its use continued.

The government is the sole buyer and exporter of cotton (EJF 2005), accounting “for about 10 percent of world trade" (USDA) and 12 percent of all EU imports (UNCTAD 2004). However, tracking goods made with Uzbek cotton is difficult because most cotton is exported to countries such as China and Bangladesh before reaching the U.S.

How does forced labor in cotton affect me?

Cotton produced using forced and/or child labor ends up in the clothes we wear, the textiles in our houses, and, through cottonseed oil, the food we eat.

What does forced labor in cotton look like?

The nature of forced labor in cotton varies strongly from region to region. For example, in Pakistan, hereditary debt leads to families and communities being bonded to the land they work on. In other countries, such as Uzbekistan and China, forced labor is seasonal due to mandatory labor requirements organized by the national or regional governments. In still other cases, such as Benin, forced labor results from trafficking in persons.

What are governments, corporations, and others doing?

The Better Cotton Initiative, a multi-stakeholder group, aims to improve cotton-growing conditions through cotton certification. Currently, certification covers the harvest to gin stages. Recently, Adidas pledged to transfer to BCI certified ‘better cotton’ by 2018.

NGO advocates include the Environmental Justice Foundation and the International Labor Rights Forum.

In 2008 Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond and others drew attention to the issue through a boycott of Uzbek cotton. However, as companies typically required their suppliers to ensure that Uzbek cotton was not used, it is not known how significant this was in practice. Other countries producing cotton with forced labor were not included in the boycott.

Where can I learn more?

Watch a video by the Environmental Justice Foundation.
Read a case study by the UN Global Compact on forced labor in cotton.
Join the Better Cotton Initiative (NGOs and corporations).