Hi and welcome back to the thing about cotton. A podcast brought to you by the International Cotton Association's Women in Cotton Committee. We are your hosts. I am Kami Kuzel from Louis Dreyfus and today my co-host is Rebecca Owen, Director of Development at Better Cotton. Today's episode is one that we've been really keen to bring to life because it touches on something we talk about a lot in the industry but don't always fully unpack. Because the thing about cotton is when we talk about regenerative agriculture or sustainability, we often talk about it in terms of ambition, targets, commitments, framework, but making that transition actually happen on the ground is something else entirely. And Rebecca, that's exactly the space you're working at Better Cotton, isn't it? Yes, that's right. BCI works with millions of farmers around the world to produce cotton more sustainably and we have just revised our principles on criteria to version 3.2 to strengthen our approach to regenerative agriculture as we move towards becoming a regenerative standard system. And building on Better Cotton's expertise of marrying both policy and implementation, we know that a successful regenerative transition relies on the right type of investment which requires both positive market forces, underpinned by supportive agricultural policies. That's right. And in this episode, in order to bring a clear picture to our listeners, to what happens both on the policy framework and on the ground, we've designed an episode where we're going to first interview a guest that's going to tell us about some very important work at governmental level. And then we're going to have someone on the ground telling us about the realities behind it. So to start with the global perspective, we're delighted to be joined by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, who are leading the International Year of the Women Farmer, an initiative that aims to bring greater visibility and support to women across agricultural system worldwide. Takonday is the gender team leader at the rural transformation and gender equality division of the Food and Agricultural Organizations of the United Nations. She leads a multi-deplicit narrative team working across agri-food systems, rural development, natural resource management and climate change with a strong focus on gender equality and social inclusion. She's also closely involved in coordinating initiatives for the International Year of the Women Farmer. Takonday brings nearly 30 years of experience in integrating gender into policies, programs and investment strategies across the agri-food sector. Before joining FIO in 2014, she held senior roles at UN Women and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, where she contributed to the development of the African Gender and Development Index. So, Takonday, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me on the thing about cotton podcast. It's a pleasure for us to join this conversation, particularly in this very important 2026 International Year of the Women Farmer. A year that's been declared by the United Nations General Assembly and endorsed by over 120 countries worldwide. And that is coordinated by FIO in collaboration with other UN entities and with other partners across sectors. That's a very exciting campaign. Can you tell us a little bit about how it came about and what the core objectives of the campaigns are? Well, our focus this year is to really help ensure that this global designation of 2026 as the International Year of the Women Farmer translates into greater recognition, accountability, stronger partnerships and more sustained actions to address the challenges that women face across agri-food systems. We know that women make up 41% of the global agricultural labor force. We know that they present at every stage of agri-food systems, they grow, they process, they harvest, they distribute and they trade food and other agricultural commodities such as cotton. And we know that they also make great contributions to household food security and nutrition and that they perform the essential care work to sustain the entire communities including the agricultural labor force. So simply put, we know that agri-food systems would not function without women. However, despite these very important contributions, we know that women lack secure right to maintain that they face lower access to the markets, the finance, they don't always get a seat at the table where the decisions that shape their lives and work are made. And we believe that this International Year of the Women Farmer is really an important moment to take stock, to reflect, to learn and to take action. The International Year of the Women Farmer presents both an opportunity and an obligation. It's an opportunity not only to celebrate and elevate the contributions of women farmers in agri-food systems, but also to see what works, what the gaps are, what works and how do we leverage the actions. So it's a year of celebration and elevation, but also year of obligation. Obligations to really address inequalities, dismantle the barriers, repeal the discriminatory laws, shift the power and unlock the full potential of women farmers everywhere. And this is essential for the cotton sector as well, which really helps us illustrate both the essential contributions women make across valuations and supply chains, but also the structural inequalities that they continue to face. So in terms of objectives, we have six objectives you would uncover them in the concept mode for the International Year. And I think it's worth going through them quickly just to show you where the International Community goes to direct its attention and its energy in 2026. First, we want to increase public awareness on the multiple and crucial roles that women play in farming, bringing greater visibility to the good policies, success stories, and the evidence that underpin does. But we also want to attain greater awareness of land tenure issues, how they affect women farmers is a particular focus on eliminating the legal and customary barriers to women's land ownership, and also removing any barrier that deny women's secure right to land. And third, we also want to really understand women's farmers financial needs and constraints and strengthen their financial inclusion through access to savings, credits, insurance, and markets. Another important issue is to address the technical needs of women farmers in terms of not only improving their access to advisory services, but also the appropriate technologies and the education at every level from global policy to the farm itself. So those are the four objectives around awareness raising. However, as I said, beyond raising awareness, we really want lasting change in terms of supporting the development of policies, investments that are really conducive to women's empowerment in the system and curaging governments, but as the parliamentarians to legislate, but share an engaged women in participatory planning processes. And as we speak, we are also preparing the third global parliamentary summit against hunger and malnutrition, which is an additional opportunity in 2026 to shed light on women's farmers' needs and priorities. We also want to create synergies across the international activities that affect women farmers in terms of making progress that not only remain during the year, remain episodic, but is also carried forward into the broader international agenda. So taken together, we believe that those objectives really constitute a very comprehensive framework to increase the visibility, the rights, the finance, the technical capacity, the policies and the international coordination. And we know that we are going to be able to do that.
that each one of this has a direct relevance for a commodity like cotton, where we know that we mean important presence and contributions in the sector does not always equate the benefits that they get from the sector. Thanks, Tako. This is very interesting and very ambitious campaign. I'm glad to learn all the details about them and indeed cotton is a very relevant crop when it comes to all these objectives that you're naming. Could we ask you for our listeners who are somewhat involved in the cotton value chain globally, whether they are consumers of final products or whether there are stakeholders in the industry, from spinners, growers, merchants? If you had one advise to give our listeners in how they can get involved in supporting this campaign, what would be your advice please? Well, first it's important to note that the year really belongs to everyone. It's the year about collective action, collective action that involves governments, the produce organizations, the private sectors, the society, the value chain actors, we mean growers of cotton. And for those in the cotton sector, this could mean integrating gender responsive approaches into the programs, the supply chains, supporting women's access to the resources and the services, investing in women-led initiatives in the sector, amplifying the voices and experiences of women farmers and therefore we really encourage everybody to use the year as a platform to build something concrete. And as FAU, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we really look forward to working with partners across the cotton sector and beyond to help translate this momentum into lasting change. And I would really like to thank the thing about cotton for helping us bring this important conversation to the wider audience. Thank you. Thank you so much, Tekko, for your time today. And we are trying to achieve part of the first goals that are about awareness through this podcast. But we will be speaking to a farmer later in this conversation about more concrete actions taking on the ground when it comes to cotton. So thank you so much for your insights and we will put in the notes of the show a link to the FAU information about the year of the Women's Farmer campaign. Thank you very much. Welcome back everybody. It's been great to hear about the Food and Agriculture Organizations Global Campaign for the Year of the International Women Farmer with high level overarching objectives. And now connecting it to practice on the ground, we are delighted to hear first-hand experiences from an inspirational women BCI cotton farmer from Maharashtra in India. Ms. Vijayanti Parag Gokhale grew up on a cotton farm and has been managing her own cotton farm for the last six years in Karpurur, Maharashtra in India. She's a BCI farmer who has been pioneering regenerative cotton farming and she has a diploma in textile manufacturing as well as having completed her BA and MA. So Ms. Gokhale what made you decide to move towards regenerative and what does that actually mean on your farm? During chemical farming the perical cost became very high. I felt that we needed to change the method. I could not convert the entire farm at once so I started gradually. The challenge was how to prepare natural fertilizers and medicines. Under a government scheme compost beds were prepared. Since I had enough cattle I prepared beds using cow dung but I needed earthworms and I could not find them easily. At that time Mr. Shantaram Jambulkar from Ammujah Foundation used to visit me and encourage me to gradually shift to natural farming. I agreed with him but needed time because adopting something new requires confidence. When he arranged earthworms for me I felt supported. The other team members of Ammujah Foundation and the better cotton team visited and explained regenerative farming that it improves soil fertility, soil health and protects soil air and water. They explained that as we take crops from the soil we must also return nutrients to it. I understood that chemical fertilizers may give yield but they do not improve soil health so I decided to shift my full focus to regenerative farming. Thank you very much for that. We'd love to hear that before adopting regenerative farming practices what were the biggest challenges that you faced as a cotton farmer? When I started chemical farming I required a lot of capital. The prices of fertilizers, sprays, pesticides and labor costs had increased drastically. My per acre expenditure and per acre income had almost become equal. Along with that climate change was a big issue. rainfall became irregular, sometimes excessive and sometimes very little. Because of this water did not get absorbed properly into the soil and would flow away reducing soil fertility. I was facing all these challenges but I managed to sustain because I knew some technical details but a normal farmer may not be able to sustain under such pressure. Climate change is a major issue troubling farmers today. Well thank you for reminding us of some of the real challenges that exist within the farming community. And if people within the cotton industry or indeed outside of the cotton industry were to be listening to you right now what would you want them to understand most? You know earlier cotton was called wild gold, wild gold was known as yellow gold. Today yellow gold has increased 10 to 15 times in price but cotton remains at the same level. Because cotton does not get a fair price farmers are moving away from it. My request is that cotton farmers should receive a fair price. If farmers get proper value for adopting new and sustainable practices they will definitely move forward and stand with dignity and self-respect. Thank you so much for joining us Ms Gorkali and thank you for sharing your perspectives on regenerative cotton farming. Thank you very much. So we hear a regenerative call to action from both the policy and farm implementation level. It feels like the time is ripe to do something tangible this year of the women farmer to support regenerative agriculture by creating stronger connectivity of policy and practice. I agreed because from the FAO we heard about the scale of the challenge right the need to recognise, support and invest in women across ecosystems. And then from the farm we heard what that actually looks like in practice so the decisions, the risks and the realities behind adopting more sustainable methods. And in the end both conversations point to the same thing right a transition to regen cotton and more broadly speaking to any sustainable form of cotton can only happen if it actually works for the people at the heart of it. Yes indeed and perhaps the most powerful reminder came from the field that the thing about cotton is it was once known as white gold. And a quick reminder to our listeners after the success of last year's cotton looks special feature on women in the cotton industry we have a follow-up this year which is available to download. That's right thanks for the reminder of Rebecca. It's been a year and we're back with a new edition many articles for different women of the industry. We're going to communicate about it but be on the lookout for it. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Thing About Cotton. If you want to learn more about today's episode or have any questions about the cotton value chain feel free to email us at
[email protected]. Don't forget to like and subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Google and follow the Women in Cotton group on LinkedIn and Facebook to stay up to date with our latest episodes, events and ways to engage with others across the industry. A special thank you to the International Cotton Association for providing us with this platform. [BLANK_AUDIO]
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