Better Cotton convenes Brazil’s agricultural and textile sectors for unique collaborative action

The inaugural Multistakeholder Dialogue, held in Brasília on 26 March, brought together representatives from cotton producers and exporters, textile associations, retailers, brands, civil society, researchers, government agencies, financial institutions, and NGOs. 

Together, participants identified climate resilience, traceability, and greater collaboration as priority areas to shape future actions, help define best practices and tackle systemic agricultural challenges. 

Lena Staafgård, COO at Better Cotton, said: “Brazil’s agricultural industry is vast and is not only a leading producer and exporter of cotton, but of many other commodities. By bringing together key stakeholders across Brazil, we create a platform to overcome mutual challenges and champion best practices. Together, I’m confident we can accelerate change, and I look forward to future meetings.” 

Better Cotton has worked in Brazil’s cotton sector for more than a decade in collaboration with its Strategic Partner ABRAPA, the country’s association of cotton producers. Márcio Antonio Portocarrero, Executive Director at ABRAPA, said: “I see dialogue as a way for us to build a coalition of ideas and solutions together with diverse sectors that often tend to isolate themselves and think differently. This can only lead to progress and improvement.” 

As cotton is grown in rotation with other crops, closer collaboration across sectors is essential to addressing shared challenges and driving best practice adoption. 

This initiative offers Brazilian cotton growers a platform for stronger engagement with industry stakeholders, to gain insights into their work and perceived risks, and for increased innovations to address sector-wide challenges.

Kamila Garantizado, Sustainability Specialist at Brazilian clothing department store Lojas Renner, noted: “This was a highly educational environment, with very active listening. It became very clear that the needs [of others] are relatively similar to ours—like improving communication.” 

Participants committed to continuing their collaboration and will reconvene in the coming months to drive further progress towards a more sustainable cotton production in Brazil.