 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   | 
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Feel-good fashion in AfricaBy Sylvia Smith for CNN  Katharine Hamnett with model James Harrup. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSPORTO NOVO, Benin (CNN) -- Although the ethical consumer has long campaigned against sweatshop labor dependent on young children working long hours for a pittance, the definition of a principled purchase has widened to include the fabrics themselves. What switched-on celebrities look for today are designers that find ways of eliminating environmental damage, encouraging sustainable development and at the same time offer aesthetic innovation. And the first target of this politicized fashion industry is cotton. A fairly innocuous fabric you might think, but for farmers in West African countries such as Mali, Niger, Togo and Benin spraying chemicals on each cotton crop, it's a different story. The pesticides are supplied by the company that will ultimately buy the cotton after harvesting. Lobi, a small-scale farmer in his 30s, who lives in southern Benin has been using pesticide sprays for three years and he blames his current eye problems on the chemical cocktails that he uses. "At the beginning we thought it was a good idea because our yields would be bigger," he explains. "But now we notice problems. My eyes are constantly running during the time when the spraying is going on. But we are tied in to the chemical company in order to sell our crop, so what can we do?" If British Designer Katharine Hamnett, whose been highlighting ethical issues for years, has her way all of West Africa's cotton farmers will be soon be producing pesticide-free cotton. There are 400 million people working in the cotton industry globally, " she explains. " And about a quarter of the world's pesticides are used on cotton. One African farmer put his cotton production on the roof of his house and the residues got into the family's water and killed four of his children." A long-term campaigner, Katharine is in the vanguard of the move towards organic cotton and has all the facts at her fingertips. On a visit to West Africa last year she discovered that low cotton prices are responsible for the deaths of countless children as a result of malnutrition The West's cotton industry is hugely subsidized, which inevitably undermines cotton farming in the developing world, she claims. But that's just the beginning of the story. "Although cotton absorbs about 25 percent of all pesticides, it only takes up three per cent of cultivated land", Katharine says. "It is the most polluting crop, responsible for up to 250,000 deaths a year from accidental poisoning." She adds that many of the farmers in developing countries can't read so they don't know the risks of the chemicals they're spraying on their fields. And to make matters worse the chemicals also poison water sources. She believes the solution lies in Mali's ethical cotton which is second to gold when it comes to exports. She hopes to see greater corporate responsibility across the sector with companies choosing to pay a little more to buy pesticide-free cotton for garment and household linen manufacture. But she says ultimately it is the consumer who will determine what happens. "The revolution is in people's pockets", is how she sums it up. But it is also down to the fashion designers to offer buyers the chance to look good and at the same time do their bit for the world. Impressive new technology has opened the door for more versatile fabric - silk blended with hemp, taffeta made from corn as well as bamboo, soy and chitin. An exploitation-free wardrobe seems just around the corner. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
