BCI’s Large Farm Symposium: Driving farm-level impact through collaboration and knowledge sharing

While growing cotton at scale, the impacts of growing cotton more sustainably are amplified, especially around climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration. As BCI aims to transform the cotton sector, including all key players in the cotton sector is important. Learn more about how BCI is exploring the landscape approach to strengthen impact.

What is the difference between smallholders, medium farms and large farms?

Smallholders: Farmers who are not structurally dependent on permanent hired labour, and whose farm size does not exceed 20 ha of cotton.

Medium Farms: Farmers who are structurally dependent on permanent hired labour, and whose farm size is between 20 to 200 ha of cotton.

Large Farms: Farmers who have a farm size above 200 ha of cotton, and either have mechanised production, or are structurally dependent on permanent hired labour.

BCI also recognises that due to the scale of production and resources, large farms can be a nest of technological innovation in areas such as reducing water consumption. One example is the use of soil moisture probes that indicate when irrigation is required and can be monitored and managed through mobile apps. Remote monitoring of vast field conditions is worthwhile for farmlands that can spread across 200 hectares of land, but these best practices on large farms also create the opportunity for replication in other contexts and countries. BCI provides a framework to assess the sustainability of large farms to adopt more sustainable practices and the platform to collaborate across farming communities to catalyse change.

On 11 August 2021, BCI hosted the first BCI Large Farm Symposium to drive impact through collaboration. The online event gathered around 100 participants from 11 cotton growing countries and organisations—Australia, Brazil, Greece, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, the United States, GIZ, IFC and BCI. The symposium brought large farms together to promote knowledge sharing on common best practices that are specific to large scale cotton production. In spite of technical difficulties, virtual interactions enabled partners from Israel, Australia, Brazil, the US and Turkey to share on pest management and biodiversity practices, followed by small group discussions.

Photo credit: Cotton Australia

The Symposium created momentum for strengthening BCI’s community of practice on large scale cotton production. The presentations and final report will be soon available to participants and relevant partners.

Engaging with all our partners is crucial for BCI to strengthen its position within the sector and to be increasingly recognised as a reliable actor to transform the way in which cotton is produced worldwide. Learn more about BCI Partnerships.

*Source: https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/sectors/cotton/:I