"Our Programme Partner Meeting is always an incredibly valuable occasion, allowing us to interact with our global community, define priorities for the future, and support one another. Better Cotton’s success is testament to the expertise, hard-work and dedication of our farmer-focused collaborators who make this initiative what it is", said Lena Staafgard, Chief Operating Officer at Better Cotton.

Alongside sessions that explored social and environmental impact areas from biodiversity to livelihoods, an Innovations Marketplace was held to create space for organisations to showcase their latest solutions and best practices.

Better Cotton also presented the Producer Unit Manager (PUM) of the Year Award to individuals that demonstrated outstanding performance in the field, working alongside farmers and workers to enable them to adopt more sustainable cotton farming practices. 

Mariam Ashraf, Producer Unit Manager at REEDS Pakistan, and a recipient of the award, commented: "It’s been a great opportunity for me to hear from different cultures and countries about the practices they are using, and think about what I can use in my farming community to make livelihoods better."

Other recipients included: Özlem Öz Ergün (Agrita, Turkiye), Li Zhi Zhen (Konglong, China), Mamadou B. Dembele (CMDT, Mali), Catija Jamal (SAN-JFS, Mozambique) and Varna Sindhu (WWF TL, India). 

Over the three days, Better Cotton staff presented a number of key updates to ensure continued alignment with the organisation’s partner network. Topics included Better Cotton Certification, the Principles & Criteria Version 3.0, the use of impact data, safeguarding, and grievance mechanisms to ensure decent work.