Cotton, Cotton Everywhere so not a Drop to Drink…Part 1/3

Blood Thread:
A Snapshot Report on the 21st Century Cotton Industry

Louise Selisny
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow

1

Whether weary or unweary, O Man, do not rest
Do not cease your single-handed struggle.
Go on, and do not rest,

You will follow confused and tangled pathways,
And you will save only a few, sorrowful lives.

O Man, do not lose faith, do not rest.

Your own life will be exhausting and crippling,
And there will be growing dangers on the journey.

O Man, bear all these burdens, do not rest.

Leap over your troubles though they are high as mountains,
And though there are only dry and barren fields beyond.
O Man, till those fields, do not rest.

The world will be dark and you shall shed light on it,
And you shall dispel all the darkness around.
O Man, though life deserts you, do not rest.

O Man, take no rest for thyself,
O Man, give rest unto others.

This poem is attributed to the Gujarati Poet, Venibhai Purohit (1918-1981). I was lucky
enough to stumble across it at the National Gandhi Museum in Delhi on the Indian leg of
my Fellowship. The poem was a favourite of Gandhi’s and he reportedly had it read to
him every day in the latter years of his life. Gandhi researched and wrote a great deal
about the cotton industry and societal inequalities of his era – even visiting my home
town of Manchester. Many other eminent social commentators such as Amartya Sen and
Peter Singer have followed Gandhi’s lead and so initially it seemed impossible to write
even a sentence for this report as it felt like making playwright corrections on the works
of Shakespeare – brash, assuming and ultimately ridiculous. However, revisiting this
poem as I flicked frantically through my notes for a starting point brought a sense of
calm. I write this report as the final formal stage of my Fellowship, in recognition of the
generous support I have received from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. I write this
report as the research I undertook and the information I found is incredibly important to
me and I would like to share my results in the hope that they will perhaps make a small
difference somewhere, if only to me.

2

MY WCMT APPLICATION

The primary aim of the Fellowship was to develop a deeper understanding of the
international cotton industry and its effect upon the environment in the 21st Century by
following the journey of an average cotton T-Shirt. The cotton T-Shirt is a staple
common to most wardrobes, rich and poor. The average cotton T-shirt uses 2000 litres of
water in its production and although cotton cultivation only takes up under 2.5% of the
world’s agricultural land, it accounts for nearly 25% of the world’s insecticide use. 10%
of the chemical fertilizer used annually is utilised in cotton production. Less than 3% of
cotton grown is organic. Initiatives have been undertaken to ‘green’ the cotton industry
but most have failed. For example, a genetically modified plant called ‘BT’ cotton was
designed to reduce the need for pesticides. BT cotton is now used widely in the US, India
and China. Although the BT cotton requires less argro-chemicals it needs much more
water. This is causing devastating impacts in water scarce countries.

3

In order to ground the project I began by establishing a 21st Century, ‘Cotton Route’.
Here I took inspiration from the historical ‘Silk Road’, the ancient trade route that
stretched from China to the Mediterranean, transferring ideas and produce around the
globe. I selected a geographical and thematic group of countries that contribute to the
production of an average cotton T-Shirt: Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and India.

The first port of call was to be Russia in order to look at oil extraction and production.
Oil is used in the production of cotton at all stages: growing uses derivatives of oil
including fertilizer and pesticides; farming and textile manufacture uses diesel or
electricity (often produced using oil); oil is also needed for plastic packaging as well as in
the transport of finished garments. Oil extraction has devastated pristine wilderness and
has also forced the relocation of indigenous communities.

I then moved on to Kazakhstan, specifically Shymkent, an industrial town that uses oil to
produce chemical pesticides and fertilizer. These agro-chemicals are used to control
insect populations, increase growth yield and stimulate a coordinated harvest season.
Cotton agro-chemicals have polluted the air and rivers, groundwater basins and aquifers
wherever cotton has been grown inorganically. Cotton fertilizers and pesticides have
killed and injured millions of fish, birds, and other wildlife as well as countless numbers
of people.

Fertilizers and pesticides are used on the cotton fields in Uzbekistan and these agro-
chemical residues have ravaged much of the country. Uzbekistan is also home to one of
the world’s most tragic man made environmental disasters – the destruction of the Aral
Sea. The Aral Sea of Uzbekistan has lost 60% of its size and 80% of its volume since
1960 as a consequence of having its two main tributaries diverted by soviet engineers in

4

order to irrigate cotton crops. The sea is now broken into three hypersaline pools,
containing less than a tenth as much water as before. Such dramatic water loss is being
replicated across the world. Unlike China and India who use and manufacture most of the
cotton they use Uzbekistan has a limited domestic textile industrial capacity. As such
Uzbekistan exports about 75% of the cotton it produces. This means that many of the
cotton garments we consume are produced using Uzbek cotton.
I broke with the geographical route and hopped back on to the thematic one by travelling
to India to look at the cotton manufacturing process. India is a mix of ‘traditional’ and
‘fair-trade’ cotton manufacture. Average textile workers in India earn about 29p an hour.
Wages are kept low partly due to the fact that First World countries such as the USA
subsidise their cotton farmers. Due to these subsidies cotton farmers in the USA can sell
their cotton for about 40% of the cost of production. Also, as consumers we have
developed a thirst for cheap, disposable fashion that can only be satisfied by reducing
costs. On average less than 1% of the price of a cotton T-shirt goes to the farmer, indeed
the factory work that sews the T-shirt fares little better. The majority of the money made
by the cotton industry goes to multinational corporations with big brand names.

INTRODUCTION
It was my intention to travel geographically and thematically from Russia to look at oil,
then onto Kazakhstan to look at pesticides and fertilizers, move onto Uzbekistan to look
at cotton growing and picking and then finally to India to look at the production of
textiles. Various factors conspired to disrupt this initial intention and so Russia was
actually the last place I visited and I was unable to acquire the first hand information I

5

was hoping for. For this reason I have chosen report in the sequence I actually did travel,
thereby writing about Russia lastly.

Cotton cultivation is thought to have started about 8000 years ago, shortly after humans
entered the agricultural era. The archaeological evidence suggests that India was the
original epicentre of production that then branched out into Arabia and Egypt and by the
middle ages southern Europe. Archaeologists have also found cotton bolls and fibres in
Mexico that date back to at least 5500 BCE. 5000 year old examples of cloth production
have been savaged in the Indus Valley that straddled part of modern day Pakistan and
India, with evidence of earlier textile production in Arabia and Syria. It was these Arab
merchants that brought cotton to Europe in 800 CE.
Wild cotton was already widely established in the United States when Columbus
stumbled across America in 1492 and by 1500 cotton was a global product, grown,
processed and traded across empires. Wild cotton plants evolved in the tropics and sub-
tropics due to the need for large amounts of natural sunlight and moderate rainfall of
between 600 and 1200 millimetres. A sustained period of frost free weather is also
essential. As such, cotton cultivation now takes place in areas that have hot growing
seasons and low rainfall is mitigated with irrigation where necessary.
There are four main types of commercial cotton cultivated today. G hirsutum or ‘Upland
Cotton’ is the most widely used and constitutes 90% of global production. There is also G
barbadense or ‘American Pima’ which accounts for around 8% of production. On a much
smaller scale, accounting for about 2% of global production collectively are G
herbaceum or ‘Levant Cotton’ and G arboretum or ‘Tree Cotton’. The type of cotton

6

grown varies but in total cotton cultivation now covers 2.5% of the world’s agricultural
land.

KAZAKHSTAN

It made financial sense to fly into Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan and then travel
overland to the industrial city of Shymkent in Southern Kazakhstan. Shymkent’s
population is roughly 500,000 and it was a Silk Road caravan town that was razed to the
ground during the Mongol invasion. Shymkent was also the site of a Kokand Khanate
fort that was annexed by Tsarist Russia in 1864.

I travelled overland from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan. With a grasp of basic Russia this
should not have presented much of a problem. However, following some difficulties
acquiring the correct visa and supporting paperwork I inadvertently scheduled my border
crossing on September 11th. The crossing I had intended to use was closed for an
indefinite period due to some intelligence relating to potential extremist activity. So
instead I hired a vehicle to drive the five or so hours to next possible crossing point.

On my arrival I was thrilled to see that the crossing was open and waved goodbye to my
driver, having organised to meet him back there in several days. I then walked into the
border control room to be greeted by small spaniels sniffing around my heels.

I presented the border guard my passport with a smile and some Russian pleasantries. She
in turn asked for my exit papers. Exit papers. My heart skipped a beat and my stomach
clamped. My mind darted immediately to the large back-pack sitting in the storage room
of my Uzbek hotel – in the top pocket neatly and safely folded with my airplane tickets
home – my exit papers. I began to sweat and became very aware of the constant milling
around of the dogs, probably not the best look for a foreigner on September 11th amidst
terrorist concerns. I tried to act as casually as the heat and dogs would allow and
pretended to search my bag.

The border control officer was becoming impatient, reminding me that I could not exit
the country without them and that I would not be allowed back in from Kazakhstan
without the correct paperwork. Visa restrictions required precise reporting and
registration of all travel destinations. I tried to explain but my Russian failed me. The
heat and the dogs finally got to me and I began to cry. I was at a border in the middle of
nowhere with no means to contact transport back to Tashkent and the rest of my trip had
already been planned to the day. The border officer softened, fully conversant with the
international language of genuine tears. She sucked in her lips and looked around,
shaking her head slightly. “Fill in new papers here and make sure you fill in new entry
papers when you come back from Kazakhstan.” I stumbled through the Cyrillic type and
handed the new papers to the officer with exclamations of heartfelt thanks.

I took a deep breath and walked along the strip of ‘no man’s land’ towards the Kazakh
check-point. The chubby officer smiled and took my passport, his single spaniel was

7

preoccupied with and empty plastic water bottle and lolled around under the checking
table where I had to empty out all my belongings. After a bit of friendly chit-chat I
walked into Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan has been made (in)famous by Sacha Baron Cohen’s film, ‘Borat’ and
although I passed through sweeping plains with wild horses and makeshift homesteads
the city of Shymkent could have been any major city England. There were shopping
malls, cinemas, an ice rink (fully kitted out with the big plastic penguins children use
when they are learning to skate), as well as luxury flats and a swanky university.
However, Shymkent is also a centre of heavy industry; including the production of
fertilizer and pesticides.

In pesticide manufacturing, an active ingredient is first synthesized in a chemical factory.
Then, a formulator mixes the active ingredient with a carrier. So, a pesticide consists of
an active ingredient coupled with various inert ingredients. The active ingredient kills the
pests, while the inert ingredients facilitate spraying and coating the target plant. Today,
around 900 active chemical pesticides are used to manufacture 40,000 commercial
preparations.
Active ingredients were once distilled from natural substances but now they are generally
synthesized in a laboratory. Almost all of the ingredients used today are hydrocarbons
derived from oil (petroleum). Most pesticides contain other elements, the most common
being chlorine, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus, nitrogen, and bromine. Liquid pesticides have
traditionally used kerosene or some other petroleum distillate as a carrier.

8

Pesticides are toxic by design and some of the most potent pesticides are insecticides,
chemicals that target the nervous system of insects. The similarity of the insect and
mammal neural mechanism makes people vulnerable to effects of the poisonous agro-
chemicals. Two major classes of pesticides, organophosphates and carbamates,
effectively ‘jam’ information, preventing messages from being passed properly between
nerve cells. Large doses can be fatal and even small doses permanently damaging to
nerves.

Exposure to cholinesterase-inhibitors also prevents nerves from working correctly. This
can affect the nerves in the brain that are responsible for the release and control of
hormones. Hormones are very important in early stages of human development and in
reproduction, and as such exposure is particularly damaging to human embryos and
children.

Organochlorines and pyrethroids also attack the nervous system, with their main effect
being on individual nerve cells, interfering with the transmission of messages along their
length. Organochlorine insecticides are extremely resistant to degradation, making them
very persistent in the environment. They can also accumulate in animal fat tissue, thereby
concentrating at each level up the food chain. Exposure thus has a devastating effect of
animals at the top of local food chains, including people. Most industrialised countries
ban such chemicals, however illicit trade and use still remains.
‘KZ’ is the main pesticide produced by Pesticide Ltd, based in Shymkent. Foreign buyers
include Ufachemprom (Russia), Zeneka (United Kingdom), Uniroll Chemical (USA),
Novartis (Switzerland), Ronne Paulenic (France), Monsanto (USA). As well as
production, the accumulation of large quantities of banned, unwanted and obsolete
pesticides is a serious problem for agricultural sector in Kazakhstan. Pesticides as old as
thirty years are often stored in unadapted, decrepit premises that do not adequately
contain the chemicals from the outside surroundings. Leaks carry these pesticides into
underground water sources and rivers that contaminate and pollute the environment.

9

The Syr Darya is Central Asia’s longest river, and second-largest by volume. It passes
though Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan and by the time it has twisted
through these four countries, the Syr Darya has accumulated such high levels of
agricultural runoff from pesticides and fertilizers and other industrial waste that it is
recommended that crops irrigated by the river are burned rather than sold and consumed.
The Syr Darya’s path, which once led to the Aral Sea, also takes it through ancient Silk
Road cities, such as Namangan and Kokand in Uzbekistan, Khujand in Tajikistan, and
Turkestan in Kazakhstan. Shymkent is also located nearby. All these stops now add to its
degradation.

The Kazakh government has highlighted the problem and has warned that, “the Syr
Darya is so polluted that water from it should not be used for drinking or for irrigation.”
Certain areas are particularly affected; for example, rice harvested in province Kyzyl-
Orda, he said, is so loaded with cancer-causing agents that it should not be consumed.
Intestinal cancer rates of residents in Kyzyl-Orda are the highest in Kazakhstan, and 90%
of nursing mothers in the province inadvertently pass pesticides to their babies through
their breast milk. A recent report also showed that that the river’s water contained
concentrated levels of copper, cadmium, and zinc.

I had been advised by the contacts I made prior to visiting Shymkent to be careful of
asking questions and taking too much off an interest in the industrial area. I did heed this
warning to a degree but it is clear from the photograph below that the local area has been
contaminated by the factory’s effluent.

10

Winin Pereira and Jeremy Seabrook observed in their book, ‘Asking the Earth’, “the
maintenance of a dynamic equilibrium (in the ecosystem) demands that in a particular
region inputs and outputs balance. The inputs consist of energy from the sun, water from
rain, steam or underground sources, carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen from the
atmosphere, organic and inorganic chemicals from the soil and so on. Outputs are what is
harvested or extracted from the region. If the outputs exceed inputs, the region must
degenerate. Such equilibrium requires the use of renewable resources only…No society
can survive for long if its agriculture is not sustainable.”

With regards to cotton specifically, after the crop is harvested it would be possible to use
the leaves and other bio-mass by-products in preparing organic manure, thereby reducing
the need for chemical fertilizer. Dry branches and stems could be used for fuel, the ash of
which could be used as a field nutrient. Currently such ‘free’ energy is wasted as all but
the saleable cotton is often burnt. Utilising the whole crop in this way would also
generate a wider scale employment which would serve to further reduce poverty.
Furthermore, generating jobs in the rural cotton growing areas would go some way to
relieving the pressure on urban centres which generate slums, thus reinforcing cycles of
poverty and degradation.

Another issue, arising from the sea of economic reality is that companies or indeed
governments who produce and profit from a specific pesticide will lobby hard against a
ban or restrictions. Economic leverage usually wins out. For example, in March 2011
India’s Supreme Court issued a temporary ban on the production of a pesticide called
Endosulfan. India is the world’s largest producer of Endosulfan and earns about $210
million from its global sale. The Indian government protested against the ban, arguing

11

that the pesticide provides an affordable product for poorer farmers. China, who also
produces Endosulfan, also rallied against a ban.

Chandra Bhushan, deputy director of the New-Delhi based Centre for Science and
Environment stated that Endosulfan is “a very dangerous chemical, it causes birth
deformities, neurological problems, and has an impact on the reproductive system.”

This view was reinforced by the Kerala government who reported hundreds of recent
deaths caused by using the pesticide.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants committee continued to
negotiate with India and China and managed to broker a deal. In April 2011 a phased in
global ban took effect. In order to obtain India’s agreement the Convention committee
exempted 14 crops for a 5 year period and proposed a financial compensation package for
India. This demonstrates that with the relevant commitment and compromise positives
steps forward can be achieved.

UZBEKISTAN

“How long do you think we will have to drive before we get to see our first cotton field?”

“I think a better question for you is, how long will we drive before we can no longer see a
cotton field? This is all cotton, both sides for next 200 kilometres!”

And so began my first introduction to the cotton fields of Namangan, Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan was the heart of the Central Asian Silk Road, the main centres being
Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. The scale of cotton growing in Uzbekistan today is truly
staggering and an old saying states that, “Uzbekistan is two-thirds desert and one-third
cotton.” During the cotton growing season fields of ‘white gold’ traverse the county. It
was the United States Civil War in 1861-1865 that disrupted the supply of cotton from
the Americas to Imperial Russia thereby precipitating the need for an alternative and
reliable source. The Russian Empire duly encircled most of Central Asia within its
protectorate and established large-scale cotton production. Following the Russian
Revolution of 1917, Tashkent, the capital of modern day Uzbekistan, was brought under
direct Soviet control. The Soviet Regime drew up strict cotton production quotas as well
as bringing all cotton fields under collective state administered control. A decade on
Joseph Stalin spearheaded engineering plans to divert water from the mighty Aral Sea, at
that time the fourth largest body of water in the world, in order to irrigate cotton crops
across Uzbekistan. Today Uzbekistan remains the world’s second largest exporter of raw
cotton after the United States.

12

The time span from cotton seed planting to harvest is about 22 weeks. In order to prepare
fields for planting farmers will remove grasses and weeds that would otherwise complete
with the cotton shoots for resources. When the cotton seed is ready for planting
conventional farmers will plough the land into rows that create seed-beds. Planting can be
done with machines or by hand. Some of the larger machines can plant up to 24 rows at a
time. In order to plant a seed a small trench is dug and seeds then deposited and covered
with soil. Cotton seeds are planted 2–3 centimetres deep depending on climate, the cooler
the climate the shallower the seed needs to be planted.

After germination it only takes 5 to 10 days for the fist seedlings to sprout. This little
seedling will grow with two main leaves called ‘cotyledons’. These leaves absorb
sunlight that feeds the plant through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis
enables plants to use energy from sunlight to absorb water and carbon dioxide to produce
sugar and oxygen. The plant cells convert the sugar into Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
which is the “food” it uses to grow. Oxygen is then released into the atmosphere as a
waste product. For those interested in the chemical reaction, it can be written as:

6H2O + 6CO2 ----------> C6H12O6+ 6O2

After about 2 to 4 weeks ‘true leaves’ begin to grow that will enable the cotton plant to
feed itself throughout its growth cycle. The plant then continues to grow by adding height
and leaves.

It takes about 8 weeks for the first buds or ‘squares’ to appear. At about week 11 these
buds blossom into flowers with white petals. After blossoming the flower will then
pollinate. Pollination is the way cotton plants, like most plants, reproduce. Cotton plants
contain both male and female reproductive organs. Cotton plants can therefore pollinate

13

themselves or each other. The male gametes (sperm cells) are contained in the pollen.
The female reproductive organs are in the ‘carpel’. The carpel is made up of the ‘stigma’,
the ‘style’ and the ‘ovary’. During pollination pollen is transferred to the stigma, which is
sticky and feathery so as to maximise reception. This pollen is then transferred by insects
down to the ovary. The ovary contains ovules that will be fertilized to produce new seeds.
After pollination the colours of the petals then develop through yellow, pink and dark red.
This colour sequence takes about 3 days. After the petals mature with their dark red
colour they wither and fall away leaving a tight green pod or ‘cotton boll’. The cotton
boll is actually the developing ovary of the plant. This boll constitutes a segmented pod
that contains 32 immature seeds that will grow the cotton fibre. The cotton fibre
continues to grow from the seeds in this way until mature. At maturity the cotton fibres
are about 6.5 centimetres long. The fibres also get thicker as layers of cellulose build up
on the cell walls. The cotton fibres are highly absorbent, with one third of the cellulose
being available just to store water. It is this particular property that makes cotton such a
good textile for human skin as is readily absorbs sweat. When I was given a cotton boll as
a souvenir I was too curious to keep it in tact and peeled away the waxy green outer layer
to reveal the moist little balls of cotton fibres inside – it was just like damp cotton wool.
These little balls of cotton are called ‘locks’.

If my souvenir boll would have been left on its stalk, at about 10 weeks old, it would
have ripened and turned brown. The cotton fibres would then begin to dry and expand
with the heat and then breach their outer layer, the carpel, along the boll segments
without my excited encouragement. The dried carpels are referred to as bur. The bur
holds the cotton bolls in place on the stem. At this stage conventional farmers will spray
the cotton plant with a chemical defoliant that will cause the leaves to drop off. Leaves

14

are removed to reduce moisture in the cotton fibre and also to make mechanical and hand
picking easier.

What is left is now bolls of fluffy white cotton fibre that looks and feels like white candy-
floss. An average boll contains about 500,000 fibres with an average plant producing
around 100 bolls.

To get to this stage the cotton plants have been very demanding with resources. Cotton
has a long growing season and has required lots of heat. As mentioned earlier, cotton
covers about 2.5% of all agricultural land - this is a large figure when we take into
account that this covers all food grown and reared and all forms other of agriculture. This
figure is further compounded by the startling statistics that show that cotton cultivation
consumes 25% of the world’s insecticide and 10% of the world’s chemical fertilizer.

Initiatives have been undertaken to ‘green’ the cotton industry but many have failed. For
example, a genetically modified plant called ‘BT’ cotton was designed to reduce the need
for pesticides. The plant was genetically modified to contain the gene of the soil bacteria
Bacillus Thuringiensis, which is a natural pesticide. This makes the cotton plant
poisonous to insects such as beetles, flies and butterflies and the larvae they produce.
However, some insects such as Aphids and Tarnished Plant Bugs are immune to BT
cotton. These insects have multiplied exponentially in the absence of their natural
predators that are poisoned. Aphids feed on cotton plants causing leaves to curl and
pucker. Infestation can also cause seedlings to wither and die. Tarnished Plant Bugs
extract sap from squares, flowers and bolls causing the plant to shed. Infestation can also
cause cotton bolls to open prematurely, dramatically reducing cotton quality.
Consequently many farmers are forced to use just as much pesticide and insecticide as for
non-BT cotton. This becomes a double environmental burden as although BT cotton can
in some cases requires less argro-chemicals it always needs much more water. It also
takes 800 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of cotton. To put this in perspective, 2000
litres of water is used to produce an average cotton T-Shirt.

The picking stage is where the biggest difference between industrialised and developing
countries takes place. In the former, machines are used to pick cotton, in the latter cotton
is picked by hand. In America, for example, where all cotton is picked by machine the
farmer has several choices as to what picking method to employ. Some farmers will use
cotton pickers that twist the cotton bolls from the stem into a collection bin. Some
farmers will use cotton strippers that cut the entire plant from its base followed by
passing the plant towards alternating rollers, bats and brushes to separate the bolls from
the stem.

In developing countries cotton is generally picked by hand. Picking the cotton by hand
involves stooping to the level of the bolls which is anything between ground level and
about 3 feet. You then have to pull and twist the cotton fibre of the bur. Care has to be
taken to remove as much of the cotton fibre as possible. In Uzbekistan cotton picking
takes place in temperatures that are extremely high, making the job a particularly difficult

15

one. Whilst in Namangan I picked cotton by hand and after the first few novel handfuls I
soon became hot and uncomfortable with the necessary stooping.

I saw women and children working in fields. Many reports, including, ‘the children
behind our cotton’ produced by the Environmental Justice Foundation show that children
as young as five are made to pick cotton during the government sanctioned picking
season. I spoke to two people, who have to remain anonymous, who told me that they had
a series of three seasons whereby their formal education was put on hold whilst they were
relocated to cotton fields to pick cotton all day for virtually no financial remuneration.
They were only given plain pasta or rice to eat whilst they were there. Officially children
are banned from picking cotton and the elderly are excused, however I was told that
many elderly people feel pressured into assisting the picking season and that children are
required to help families to make their quota.

“Many children in the cotton fields are exposed to what is termed hazardous child labour,
which can result in them being killed, injured or made ill as a result of their work
(agriculture is one of the three most dangerous sectors in which to work, along with
mining and construction). In some regions, children regularly work in the cotton fields
during, or following, the spraying season when levels of pesticide residues are high. The
effects of pesticide exposure in adults are extensive and often fatal, ranging from
temporary loss of sight to respiratory problems. Young bodies are particularly susceptible
to chemicals, given that their internal organs are still developing. Many of the health
problems resulting from working in the cotton fields may not show up until the child is an
adult…The Uzbek regime – sustained by its multi-million-dollar cotton industry – forces
children to hand-pick the crop during the harvest season, for which they receive little or
no pay, working to exacting and unreasonable quotas, at the expense of their education.
The use of child labour also has a debilitating economic impact on adults. If children do
get paid, their wages are lower than adults, whose bargaining power is consequently
undermined. Depriving future generations of education, and exposing them to potential
major health problems, thereby creating a long-term socio-economic burden, further
belies the notion of ‘cheap’ labour” (the children behind our cotton, Environmental
Justice Foundation).

There are no private or commercial cotton fields in Uzbekistan as all cotton is bought by
the government – farmers are not allowed to sell to anyone else. The government decides
upon and delivers the prices the farmers receive. The government then exports the
majority of the cotton for a profit which is officially reintroduced into the Uzbek
economy; however there are widespread reports of corruption and theft from the public
purse.

I was truly surprised at the expansive range of the cotton fields of Uzbekistan. Perhaps
the only thing to mirror the scale of cotton production is the scale of the environmental
damage it causes. Cotton is one of agriculture’s most demanding crops in terms of the
resources it requires with cotton production consuming a hugely disproportionate amount
of pesticides, fertilizer and water. But whilst the profit of cotton production is distributed

16

around the world, the costs are concentrated and borne by communities in the developing
world. I flew into Nukus from Tashkent and moved overland to Karakalpakstan.

Karakalpakstan is an autonomous region in the west of Uzbekistan and is home to the
Aral Sea. The Aral Sea was once heralded as the ‘fish basket of Central Asia’ and could
reliably account for 20% of the annual catch of the Soviet Union. The now dusty little
town of Muynak was formerly the proud focal point of this great epicentre. As well as
being a strategically important launching post for Soviet Union Allied Forces in the
Second World War, Muynak was also once a thriving fishing port. It harboured an active
fleet of 300 fishing vessels and supported the employment of around 10,000 workers in
one fish canning factory alone. What’s more, the inspirational beauty of Muynak
constituted a mecca for many significant Soviet Union artists and writers, including the
exiled Ukrainian rebel poet Taras Shevchenko who crafted some of his most important
works whilst overlooking its bountiful shore.

17

Now, whilst many fishing centres across the world have witnessed a decline or loss in
fish, Muynak has witnessed a loss of its sea. The Aral Sea has quite literally fled its shore
and has left a sad twisted row of metal giants slowly rusting in a ships graveyard. To get
a glimpse of the Aral now you have to use a ‘good strong Russian’ jeep and drive nearly
160km over sun scorched sea-bed. The only signs to evidence the once mighty waves are
tiny sea-shells that now lie scattered and stranded across the yawning desert gulf. This
pained earth belches forward over 43 million tonnes of dust each year and is responsible
for a raft of respiratory related illnesses in the region including drug resistant
Tuberculosis.

18

Perhaps one of the most poignant facets to this crisis is that it was man-made. Unlike
most countries which have rivers that lead to the sea, Uzbekistan has rivers that flow
towards and drain into the interior. The Syr Dar’ya and Amu Dar’ya Rivers fed into the
Aral Sea - which is not in fact a sea but a freshwater lake. In the 1960s Soviet Planners
began to divert these watercourses in order to irrigate cotton crops. The Environmental
Justice Foundation estimates that on average 20,000 litres of water is extracted to produce
1 kilogram of cotton – or 14,000m3 per harvested hectare. The effect of the diversions has
been catastrophic, causing the once world’s forth largest body of water to haemorrhage
90% of its volume and nearly 75% of its surface area. The Aral Sea now covers fewer
than 18,000 square kilometres - less than a tenth of its original size. The water that does
remain is both hyper-saline and heavily polluted by toxic agricultural chemicals used in
cotton cultivation. The World Bank also highlighted the bitter irony which sees almost
60% of the diverted water lost in the maze of inefficient, decrepit and broken irrigation
systems – neither reaching its intended destination or the thirsty plains of the Aral desert.

19

After a near five hour drive from Muynak we parked up the jeep and my driver asked if I
wanted to eat first. I could see the waters of the Aral and was just too close to take a
break then. I trudged over the muddy hinterland, passing dead sea birds and all manner of
litter. I could smell the water from twenty metres away and as I approached further I
could see how the chemical residues foamed against the shoreline. I could see the limits
of the water in all directions and could scarcely believe that this was the same lake I had
looked at on 30 year old satellite photos that spanned two countries.

Due to the massive reduction in the Aral Sea the local climate has been dramatically
altered. Today the crop growing season has reduced by two whole months, the winters
are much colder and the summers much hotter and drier. This has created a negative feed-
back cycle. This is a localized example of climate change.

Hotter summers create more heat that evaporates more of the remaining water. What’s
more, the waters have begun to stagnate, with deeper saltier water being unable to mix
the less salty top water. Consequently, the top water is bearing the brunt of the sun’s heat
and thus being evaporated even more quickly. So the climate gets even hotter and
growing seasons further reduce.

This has led to an increase in the number of cattle in the region as local farmers attempt
to mitigate the situation they find themselves in. This is increasing soil erosion as the
already sparse vegetation is being overgrazed and consumed. This both reduces soil
productivity and increases the amount of toxic dust that is blown over the region as there
is less vegetation left to bind the fragile earth. People get sicker and the land more
degraded. And, lest we forget, this is all a man-made problem – the rivers upstream are
still being diverted to irrigate thirsty cotton. Cotton that is then sold cheaply to make low-
cost products for sale in countries like the UK.

20

As well as the dust from the sea-bed, toxic chemicals make their way to Muynak via
what’s left of the incoming waterways. Leached agrochemicals, including those banned
in most other countries, washes into Muynak every day. The World Health Organisation
(WHO) has found significant levels of organochlorines, including PCBs, dioxins and
DDT in everyday samples of beef, fish, eggs, milk, potato and rice. The NATO Science
Programme found that this toxicity has led Karakalpaks to have DNA mutations 3.5 times
the average as well as the highest rate of oesophagus cancer in the world. The people of
Muynak have a life expectancy over ten years lower than the national average. The
Secretariat for the Complex Social Protection of Family, Mothers and Children states that
the region has the highest rate of infant mortality in the country and a Médecins sans
Frontières (MSF) report highlighted direct links with the environmental pollution and
escalating cases of people suffering with hypertension, heart disease, anaemia, various
cancers and kidney disease. It can be seen that both internal and external independent
bodies concur that pollution caused by the cotton industry is literally killing Karakalpaks.

However, although there is much destruction and disease in the region there is also much
hope. The little town of Muynak is not dead and nor have its inhabitants given up, quite
the contrary in fact. I was lucky enough to be invited to the annual Independence Day
celebration. My day began with an offering of peace and a handshake from a three year
boy who was intrigued by my fair skin and western clothes. The whole community was
congregated in the banner bedecked town square. Women dressed in their finest attire
with golden thread that glistened in the sun chattered in groups as children flew kites and
ate ice-cream. Everyone took their turn to dance in splendid traditional costume –
particularly striking were the little girls who stole the show with their charming
choreography and outfits fashioned from the Uzbek flag. Children teemed around me in
order to practise the English they were learning in school as well as laugh at my flailing
Uzbek.

21

It was a wonderful day completed with a visit to the Nukus Museum of Art, a veritable
treasure trove, containing a spectacular assortment of 1920s and 1930s avant-garde
Russian and Uzbek art. Wondrous antidotes to the Communist inspired School of
Socialist Realism grace every inch of space and reflect a people of passion, vibrancy and
expressionism.

It was clear to me that the people of Muynak share the fighting spirit of the Karakalpak
region and with assistance from the international community they are taking steps to
address the environmental problems that have been thrust upon them. One of the most
exciting projects is that funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development. They sponsor the German Society for Technical
Cooperation to work in conjunction with Uzbek scientists to strategically plant bushes
and fodder plants, including the Black Saxaul, Salsola Richteri and Calligonum Caput-
Medusae. This dedicated coalition has so far covered 27000 hectares with vegetation.
Zinovy Novitsky is the project’s scientific adviser and he explained how, “forests create
oxygen, kill microbes, and improve climate and landscape.” The main improvement in
the case of the Aral Sea bed is that the roots of the shrubs grow parallel to the ground,
thereby binding the mass of sand, dust and salt. The body of the shrub growing above
ground helps to prevent erosion and also operates as windbreaker, decreasing wind
velocity on the surface by up to 70%. Put simply, these shrubs and trees act as a barrier
line of defence against the toxic dust storms and the debilitating diseases they bring with
them.

This initiative also brings vital jobs to the area and workers assisting with the planting
earn about $80 US dollars a month. It is estimated that to make a lasting difference the
team will need to cover about 600,000 hectares – with limited funds the team are

22

currently working at a rate of about 30,000 hectares a year. It is hoped that within 5 years
or so the shrubs with produce seeds that will be spread by the wind thereby making the
task much easier as man and Mother Nature work together. The project is costing about
$150-200 per hectare in monetary terms but will doubtless pay immeasurable dividends
on completion.

So it can be seen that the little town of Muynak is not so hopeless, but hoping. Hoping
that the international community will follow the German vanguard and pledge assistance
where it can before all is consumed by and lost to the desert forever. Its hope is shared by
other towns and villages in the Karakalpak region of Uzbekistan. There is so much that
can be done to help such as assisting the government to create a national strategy to repair
and replace outmoded irrigation systems. We could also work with the government to
encourage the production of organic and fair trade standard cotton thereby reducing the
use of agrochemicals and improving labour standards – but this includes all of us playing
our part by voting with our wallet and purchasing cotton products that are organic and
fair-trade where we can and demanding our shops supply us where we can’t. It is a
simple case of being part of the problem or part of the solution – it really is that black and
white – there is just some dirt that even Daz can’t clean.

INDIA

India was a country I always wanted to travel too since I was a little girl. It is also
perhaps the first country people think about when they imagine sweat shop factories
brimming with undernourished child labourers. I wanted to use this leg of my Fellowship
visits to fulfil a life long wish as well as find first hand information about India’s part in
the textile industry. I was not disappointed.

The Indian author Yovesh Chandra Sharma suggests that hand-spinning and weaving
were amongst the earliest creative activities of humans, most likely originating with the
interlacing of grass and leaves. Early man would have used his thumb and fingers to twist
and elongate cotton fibres, joining them with others to make thread. Man’s ingenuity will
have led to an ongoing technological process that perhaps began by rotating a piece of
wood with one hand whilst holding a mass of fibres in the other. This journey eventually
led to the ‘Takli’ or spindle in its crudest incarnation, the oldest ever found being dated to
around 4000 years. This fledgling textile industry grew in the Indus Valley where the pre-
Christian Mauryan Empire dressed the known world with its cotton and silk cloth.

23

Alexander the Great was so impressed that he saw printed cotton cloth as a worthy
souvenir from his travels in India. It is even reported by ancient historians that such was
the love of Indian muslin by Roman noble ladies that the Senate was forced to declare an
import embargo lest Rome’s moral values be endangered. Moving forward to the British
Industrial Revolution, the advent of the steam engine and spinning jenny along with the
power loom and the fly-shuttle changed the face of the low-impact, hand woven textile
industry forever. It is beyond the realms of this report to fully expound upon the effects
of the British based East India Company and the British import duties upon the early
Indian textile economy but it is widely accepted that these factors combined to have a
devastating effect that created much of India’s acute poverty as well as the destruction of
established cottage industries.

In modern day Delhi the poverty hits you immediately along with the heat as you exit the
airport. On the taxi drive to my hotel I passed encampments of makeshift tents filled with
homeless families. Every spare inch of land seemed to be filled with ragged people –
even the small stretches between the lanes of the roads and under bridges. However,
juxtaposed with this were exceptional visions of towering, multi coloured statues of
Indian gods and goddesses alongside sky-scaping centres of sheet glassed IT and
financial institutions. India truly was a place of sweeping contrasts.

India has the highest GDP growth rate after China and many predict that it will be the
third economic super-power by 2025. In fact, by 2020 one half of the world’s under 25
year olds will live in India. The potential for positive change and the sense of hope was
palpable and is the most enduring feeling that I took from my visit. Along with the
inevitable examples of bad practice and human tragedy I would like to share my
experiences of incredible organisations that are helping to ensure that the economic
advantages India will be accruing will benefit all members of society.

24

To say that down town Delhi is an assault on the senses is an understatement! I was
unlucky enough to time my visit during a mini heat wave. The heat, the noise and the
traffic as I stumbled towards Delhi train station escape my powers of description. I was
meeting Suhir, a 22 year old worker for the Salaam Baalak Trust.
The Salaam Balaak Trust was founded in 1989 in order to provide support for street and
working children. The Trust began working out of an open air balcony at the Railway
Police Station in New Delhi with 25 children and 3 staff. Suhir was one of the lucky
children that were supported by the trust after fleeing an abusive home at the age of seven
– he had already been forced to undertake factory work. Suhir was now a qualified Karate
instructor and studying for a Masters in social work; when I met him he even had a visit
with Prince Charles lined up in England!
Along with the successful Suhir, the Trust now assists 5000 children a year through its
ten residential centres and outreach programmes that are run by 97 permanent staff. The
children in the residential centres are educated up to Grade 10 and have their academic
curriculum supplemented with organised sport, creative activities and vocational training.
Most of the children cared for by the trust have suffered extreme physical or mental
traumas and are tenderly rehabilitated trough structured programmes that include dance
and singing. There is a welfare committee in each centre that tries to place children with
families if possible. Otherwise the Trust care for children until they are 18 years old
before introducing them to a half-way houses where they can begin to find their place in
society.

The Trust has several major patrons including US AID. I visited the Apna Shelter for
Boys, based in New Delhi. The conditions were basic and there were sick children lying
on blankets outside the main classroom but otherwise the boys were clearly very happy.

25

Rashal was 13 years old and had run away from a life that saw him start factory work
sewing clothes when he was 9 years old. He had been at the centre for 5 months, having
been brought to a contact point at the train station by a policeman. He had been working
for sweat shop wages from 7am until 11pm. He had received no formal education until he
came to the Trust. Manish was 12 years old and been at the centre for 6 weeks, he told
me that he was having a hard time adjusting to the structure but that it was much better
than the life he had working in a sweat shop in his local village where he made clothes
for a widespread British high street clothes store renown for its extremely low prices. All
the boys had there own heartbreaking story – 12 year old Karan who had worked
stitching shoes, 11 year old Saleem who had worked selling juice, 8 year old Rohit who
was just so happy to be at the centre. These children were the faces that should be on the
‘cheap’ price tag of the low-cost, disreputable clothes stores – reminding customers that
the true cost of what they are taking to the till has been borne by some of the world’s
most vulnerable children.

Alongside their work at the residential centres the Trust also has various ‘contact points’
around the city where social workers host outreach posts in areas frequented by
vulnerable street children. One of the main contact points is at the New Delhi Train
station as the station is flooded with new orphans and run-aways on a daily basis. The
Trust and other organisations like it aim to be the first point of contact for children before
they are preyed upon by organised criminal gangs who gain the trust of the children
before exploiting them further through the sex trade of structured begging.

26

I learned that it was also important to get to children before they, “get used to the
freedom of the streets”. This had never occurred to me before – children choosing to
remain on the streets rather than in a residential centre. Essentially some traumatised
children adapt to their hand to mouth existence and are unwilling to follow the formal
regime set down by the trained staff. Some children find the structure of school hours and
homework difficult to maintain after being able to move around freely with no
constraints. As young, small children they find it relatively easier to make money from

27

begging and thereby survive without an education. However, regret and anger sets in as
the children get older and less successful with pitiful tourists and passers-by. Adolescents
are then left without an education or support structure with no chance of a decent job and
are inevitably forced into crime or sweat shops in order to survive.
It would be easy to ignore these children who seem ungrateful and profligate but one has
to remember that they are children who have often been brutalised and damaged and who
are unable to make the rational choices of an educated and centred adult. Many of the
children that have spent time on the streets are also addicted to various substances that
further cloud their judgement and make meaningful interaction more difficult. The Trust
aims to ease such children into its fold through the outreach programmes, treating them
with the necessary compassion and humanity.
The Trust also provides basic medical treatment for children who would otherwise go
untreated – this unit was like a drop in centre, although supplies were very limited. The
Trust has seen a big drop in its financial support. The government cut its funding to
channel money to the recent Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. There has also been a
large drop in international aid.

It was an overwhelming experience meeting the children who had been lucky enough to
be plucked from the grime and chaos of the city streets. But there was one small boy in
particular that touched me so deeply and profoundly I’ll remember his piercing eyes and
the weight of his tiny frame forever. Anon was a small child with learning difficulties
who was found by social workers wandering the streets alone. Anon was unable to
communicate his history and is unable to learn in the same way as the other boys but the
social workers just couldn’t leave him to his otherwise unspeakable fate. After interviews
with some of the other boys I sat on the floor with Anon on my lap as he doodled

28

scribbles into my notebook. I sent up a little prayer of thanks that this vulnerable little
child was blessed enough to have crossed the path of the incredible organisation that is
the Salaam Balaak Trust. I was thankful too for the fact that I had crossed his path as
without words he reminded me that the smallest of positive change in a sea of negative
turmoil was both possible and worthwhile.

29

30

It was also my great pleasure to spend some time with the Global March Against Child
Labour Organisation as it has been built up from a real grass roots movement. The
organisation was born out of a worldwide march that saw thousands of people come
together to stand against child labour. The march started on January 17, 1998, touching
every corner of the globe, and culminating at the International Labour Organisation
Conference in Geneva. The voice of the marchers was heard and reflected in the draft of
the ILO Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour. The following year, the
Convention was unanimously adopted at the ILO Conference in Geneva. Today, with 172
countries having ratified the convention so far, it has become the fastest ratified
convention in the history of ILO. This is a convention that I have drawn upon numerous
times in my role as an Educational Speaker for Amnesty International. It is almost
unbelievable that prior to this convention no formal legislation existed to specifically stop
child labour.

Global March is a charitable organisation and is funded by various foundations including
Oxfam. It seeks to raise awareness and develop new practices through lobbying,

31

mobilising groups, promoting education about child rights as well working with partners
on specific campaigns such as child trafficking and forced labour. In India it has also
supported trade union initiatives. Global March was also the major driver behind India’s
momentous, ‘Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE)’ which
came into force in 2009 and provides all Indian children aged between 6 and 14 the
constitutional and practical right to free education. It is now mandatory that children in
this age group attend school.

However, although this was a great step in the right direction my host at Global March
expressed concerns that the necessary governmental funding to enforce the legislation
had stalled. She described a, “double bind” whereby there was a shortfall of schools and
teachers which meant that children were unable to access their right. Children from poor
families were also slipping through the net as they and their parents were unaware of
their entitlement and it was suggested that the government do more to advertise the new
legislation.

As with so many other problems, poverty was at the root of much child absenteeism from
school. Poor families sent their children to work and even if schooling was available it
clashed with earning money to help to support the family. It is obvious that children need
to be focused and refreshed in order to gain the maximum benefits from school and this is
made difficult, if not impossible if they are also required to partake in paid employment.
It is clearly a vicious cycle whereby poor children are denied their access to a proper
education and are forced into sweat shops and menial labour, themselves raising poor
children who are forced to work to supplement the family income.

My host at Global March also pointed out that the tragic situation is compounded by the
fact that many children never actually receive hard currency – but always the promise of
money in the future. In short, the child never actually earns enough to help to support the
family and gives up their chance for an education for nothing. It is also illegal to promote
something that is against the law and so many organisations are having difficulty
responding practically to child workers as technically they should not exist and should be
in school. This is making exploitation all the more difficult to tackle.

It was also difficult to juggle local level issues such as rural families requiring children to
assist with farming chores during school hours. Here my host took a firm stance and
reiterated that in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty and child labour, children
should be in school. Initiatives to encourage poor parents include providing free lunches
for children so as to reduce the family food bill. School hours could also be augmented
such that there were adequate daylight hours for children to assist with household chores,
albeit in a way that does not interfere with their education.

As with other developing countries there is a need for a particular focus on the education
and emancipation of female children. A cultural trend dictates that where resources are
limited boys are favoured for education and girls are expected to tend to younger siblings
and become a ‘mother’s helper’. There is a general undervaluing and devaluing of the
female gender that is passed on through the generations.

32

The general consensus was that sensitisation was the key variable in the fight against
child labour. Three years or so before my visit child domestics were common place in
Delhi and elsewhere – it took strict legislation and a mass awareness campaign to buck
that trend. However, all laws, grand and mundane, require enforcement mechanisms and
real risks of prosecution for transgression. The government should also focus on social
protection that provides robust measures to deliver health and education services.

What is uniquely interesting is that India contains the whole textile supply chain within
its borders and so is capable enacting and enforcing legislation that cleans up the
industry. From growing raw cotton to exporting finished goods, India has the
wherewithal to make a big impact.

I was quite overwhelmed by the poverty and heartbreaking stories in Delhi. It seemed
that it was impossible to envisage a fair and ethical way to produce cotton clothing. Sree
Santhosh Garments immediately reaffirmed my faith in the future of sustainable and
ethical production. Sree Santhosh is a factory based in Coimbatore, well-known as the
Manchester of Southern India. I was lucky enough to be hosted by the Company Director
and British educated Vinoth Kumar and his Assistant Hema as I spent some time in and
around the factory.

The outside of the factory was a surprise – the inside was breathtaking. I feel quite
ashamed that I expected to see some old fashioned, run down factory when what I
actually saw couldn’t have been further from my expectations. The place was
immaculately clean and the machines looked more like something from Charlie and the
Chocolate factory or a Space Rocket that something from Victorian Britain. I was truly
blown away. The cutting edge technology and obvious efficiency was impressive to say
the least.

There were specific areas that covered every stage required to process raw cotton into
packaged T-Shirts. The spinning mill covers about 20 acres with a production capacity of
18 tonnes of yarn per day. The yarn is then woven into cloth. There was even a special
machine that produced cloth in tubes so as to negate the need for seam stitching along the
sides - have a look at the T-Shirt you’re wearing now and you’ll be able see what I mean.
Clever isn’t it? The petite Indian machine operative pulled out a huge tube to show me
and explained, with a smile, that this was for XXL European sports wear. I thought back
to hanging out to dry my 6’ 4” husband’s Rugby Shirt and knowingly returned the
operatives amused grin.

33

The dyeing unit was comprised of the most modern and environmentally friendly Scalvos
machines from Greece and this has a capacity of 12 tonnes of dyed fabric a day. A low
water use footprint is achieved by harnessing the region’s monsoon rain thereby reducing
the need for large scale irrigation projects normally associated with textile production.
This is important as it reduces the impact on water scare local villages and prevents the
environmental and social problems highlighted in Uzbekistan. The processing of the dye
effluent takes place in a closed loop purification system that uses treatment ponds, sand
filtration, solar pan treatment and reverse osmosis to convert waste water into clean
water. The board have also installed salt and water recycling units in order to achieve
zero liquid effluent discharge. The unit is capable of treating 600,000 litres of water per
day.

There are also units that can print patterns and finish the fabric before it is cut and sewn. I
spent some time with the machinists on the sewing floor and witnessed all manner of
safety equipment to reduce the risk of personal injury. The floor was also well ventilated
and clean. I also took a sneak peak at the mechanised embroidery floor where the
‘designer logos’ are emblazoned across the front of finished T-Shirts. It literally took
seconds to embroider dozens of shirts at a time and when one order was finished the
machine was recalibrated to embroider the next batch of designer wear. This really did
make me think twice about the premium paid for a designer T-Shirt. I saw how the same
raw cotton was spun and woven by the same machines and then branded in seconds
alongside countless otherwise identical products. I’m willing to concede that this grossly
fails to take into account design and style, and that some of the T-Shirts had stripes and
collars and such like – but in essence there truly was not much difference at all between
the high end designer wear and the low end supermarket produce before the logos were
embroidered.

34

The factory is a shining example of what is possible. The certifications that have been
awarded include ISO 9001 (the Quality Management Systems certified by UKAS);
SA800 (the Social Accountability System for Factory); GOTS/EKO (organic products are
produced in accordance with the Global Organic Textile Standard that ensures that
farming, production and distribution has full traceability of every product); Oekotex 100
Standard, Class 1 – Products Tested for Harmful Substances (guarantees the safety of
textiles and dyestuff to human health and to the environment); and Fair Trade FLO-
CERT (promotes stringent socio-ethical practices with total traceability and bans the use
of harmful chemicals).

35

The factory was founded in 1986 with 15 workers and soon grew into a world class
backward integrated garment manufacturing company. The factory now employs in
excess of 3000 workers and produces around 25,000 units per day. The annual turnover is
$30,000,000 dollars and the board ensure that 5% of gross profits are channelled into
distinct environmental projects such as local wind turbines and clean water initiatives. All
3000 workers also get free lunch every day – a free lunch that was extended to me and
was quite possibly some of the best food I had tasted in India. The food cooked in the
canteen is all grown locally in organic farms. All the ovens are also solar powered.
The highest skilled workers, the single needle sewers who attach collars, cuffs and labels
receive $200 a month for 26 days work at 7 hours a day. They also receive holiday and
sick pay. The machine sewers receive $165 and the checkers $135. These wages may
seem small but they are nearly 300% of the national average.

36

Unlike the raw cotton cultivated with agro-chemicals and picked with slave labour, the
board ensure that the cotton processed by the factory is ethical and sustainable. Its
organic cotton comes from Gujarat and its standard cotton comes from West Africa. The
factory is working towards 100% organic cotton production but this depends on access to
a reliable supply.
Currently 28% of produce is exported to the UK and clients include the football clubs,
Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal as well Marks and Spencer and
Asda.
I spent some time in the vast raw cotton storage units that held the cotton-wool like bales
until they were ready to be processed into yarn. My worker host was very
accommodating and informative and showed me the differences between the various
cottons, in doing so extolling the virtues of the superior Indian cotton. In truth I struggled
to discern any difference that could be highlighted by a layman like myself. However, on
very close inspection the organic cotton did feel softer and more ‘fluffy’ – but I’m willing
to concede that this may have been purely psychological.

37

The factory has a carbon foot that is 11% the size of a standard factory with the same
output and this figure incorporates all travel of workers. The board invested in rain
harvesting water recycling initiatives that includes 90% of water from the dyeing
processing being recycled. 10% of the electricity used is derived from solar panels. The
board also engage in regular process reengineering in order to continually examine the
production processes and reduce hazardous secretions. The factory is so energy efficient
that it only requires 70% of the renewable power produced and so 30% is sold to the
government. The technology was learned from the director’s interaction with Swedish
and Danish companies.

38

The Sree Santhosh factory also extends free health care to workers that include biannual
health checks. The associated charitable trust also provides a small orphanage that cares
for twenty children. This Trust has recently set up a free water supply that has provided a
life line and renewed vigour for remote rural areas. The Educational Programme also
imparts valuable vocational skills relating to the textile industry such as tailoring and
computer skills as well as a mobile library for semi-rural children.

The success of the factory is mainly testament to its board as government initiatives have
been slow to provide support. The application process for ‘eco friendly factories’ is long
and laborious. Factories also need permission and a licence to use energy generated by
their own wind turbines or solar panels. It was clear that this application process also
needed to be improved.

The lack of subsidies to encourage greener industry was also highlighted. It is effectively
impossible for new businesses without income and capital investment from the
government to invest in greener processes. The general consensus of the business leaders
was that in lieu of government financial support they would welcome foreign investment
to encourage spending on sustainable indicatives. This is all the more essential as most
companies in India use child labour at some stage of the textile process – and many have
become adept at absenting these children during scheduled audit checks. This situation
could be easily remedied with surprise, unsheduled visits.

There have been laudable strides forward in India with a big reduction in the use of
fertilizers and pesticides, with those still being used under tighter government control.
There are now limits for chemical use and the regulatory need to record all usage.

39

As cotton is a natural fibre it is possible to use a DNA tracking system in order to trace its
origin. Currently the price of raw organic, fair trade cotton is about 50% more expensive
than standard cotton. 1KG of organic, fair trade yarn is also about 50% more expensive.
Inevitably this cost is currently passed on to the customer. However, these costs could be
dramatically reduced if the scale was increased. Also, as was pointed out by my hosts, the
unit price becomes increasingly cheaper if renewable energy is used as the initial outlay
for wind turbines is a one off cost. Further, extra revenue can be gained by reducing
energy consumption and selling excess power to the government.

It should also be noted that although fair trade produce may currently seem ‘more
expensive’ it is in fact a lot cheaper if we look a little closer. With standard produce the
final cost is partly externalised – ultimately paid for by the environment and often child
labourers. The cheap price tag should also highlight the costs borne by the physical
environment that is left further polluted by extra chemicals and parched by increased
water consumption. It should also include the social costs of a child’s lost education and
formative enjoyment and her ability to raise herself out of grinding poverty. In buying
standard produce of dubious origin we unwittingly allow others to subsidise the cost of
our ‘bargain’. Ultimately we may even pay some of the extra costs indirectly through
taxes that are spent by the government on cleaning up environmental damage or
contributing to Third World development initiatives. Unquestionably an illogical
situation. Arguably it would make more sense to pay a little extra to prevent the
environmental and social destruction in the first instance and have tax money freed up for
investments in greener, fairer technology that will ultimately make life cheaper and more
sustainable.

RUSSIA

The amount of oil consumed in the production of your average T-Shirt is larger than you
may think. Oil is required to make the pesticides and fertilizers that are sprayed onto the
cotton fields. Oil is then used to power the vast majority of standard textile factories.
Then there is the oil that goes into packaging that may be wrapped around our new
purchase. That’s all before we even get to the transport itself, where vast amounts of oil
are used in flying, shipping and driving our T-Shirts to the clothes rails we peruse. All
this oil increases carbon dioxide emissions and causes other extraneous environmental
effects.

40

Due to our increasing demand for oil there is a constant search for new reserves and new
methods to fully exhaust existing reserves. Once a new reserve has been found an oil
company will survey the area and conduct an environmental impact study. Then the legal
requirements of leases and titles are fulfilled.

In order to prepare a reserve for extraction the land must first be cleared and levelled,
with access roads being built to transport machinery to the site and manpower to and
from the site. The average T-Shirt absorbs yet more water at this stage as oil extraction
requires vast amounts of water in the drilling process. Local water resources are exploited
for this. Usually a large pit will be excavated in order to contain the waste rock and mud
from the preparation and drilling process. This initial process is often located in
previously pristine wilderness and consequently has a dramatic negative effect on the
local environment. In Siberia and elsewhere such clearance has also impacted upon
indigenous communities who may be forcibly relocated or subject to a protracted attack
caused by the introduction of new germs and dangers. At the very least local economies
are disrupted and a cultural decline and decay inevitably follows.

After the land has been prepared several holes are dug to support the oil rig. A large
rectangular pit called a cellar houses the actual drilling mechanism.

41

Anatomy of an oil rig

The oil rig is powered by large diesel engines (that themselves burn oil to produce power)
or by electrical generators (which are powered by diesel engines, again consuming vast
amounts of oil to produce power).

The mechanical system is driven by electric motors. The hoisting system is used for
lifting heavy loads and the turntable constitutes part of the drilling apparatus.

The rotating equipment is used for rotary drilling. The swivel is a large handle that
supports the weight of the drill stilling, allowing the string to rotate and make a pressure-

42

tight seal on the hole. The kelly is a pipe that transfers rotary motion to the turntable and
drill string. The turntable is powered by the electric motors and drives the rotating
motion. The drill string is made up of a drill pipe and drill collars and supports the drill
bit which cuts into the rock. Drill bits can be made from various materials including
tungsten carbide steel or diamond depending on what rock formations are being accessed.
The casting is a large concrete pipe that prevents the drill hole from collapsing.

In order to extract the oil after a hole of sufficient depth has been drilled the rig is
removed and replaced with pump on the well head. The pump system is driven by an
electric motor that drives a gear box and moves a lever. This lever pushes and pulls
a polishing rod up and down. The polishing rod is attached to a sucker rod, which is
attached to a pump. This system forces the pump up and down, creating a suction that
draws oil up through the well.

There are many points at which this clever engineering can fail. Underwater rigs are at
particular risk. The recent, ‘Deepwater Horizon’ oil spill from a rig operated by BP
highlights this danger. The spill and explosion surrounding it killed 11 men and injured
17 others. It also released nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the marine ecosystem of the
Gulf of Mexico. The spill created an 80 mile ‘kill zone’ and damaged nearly 500 miles of
American coastline. On water an oil slick travels the length of a football pitch every 2
seconds. The toxicity of the initial spill was exacerbated by the dispersal chemicals that
had to be added to break up the oil. Theses chemicals will cause untold rates of genetic
mutations and cancers within the marine population. The oil from the initial spill itself
claimed the lives of tens of thousands of animals, including newborn dolphins who were
subject a stillbirth rate 10 times the normal rate.

Extracted oil is then moved via pipeline, road or tanker to a refinery. This process has the
potential to cause further environmental impact as more wilderness is damaged in the
laying of pipelines or the building of roads. Oil carried in tankers has the potential to
spilled into marine ecosystems as was the case with the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.
Laymen may observe that the Prince William area that was affected looks ‘normal’,
however wildlife is still affected and only beginning to return to the area in small
numbers.

Obviously huge amounts of oil is transported by various methods everyday and so on the
whole is ‘within safe limits’ – however in an average year there are between 300-500 a
year, it’s just that the media doesn’t pick up on ‘smaller’ events. Some things barely get
reported at all. For example, ‘PAH’ is the acronym for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
or ‘produced water’. This liquid is contains environmental toxics and is a by-product of
oil excavation. It is usually tossed overboard on sea rigs and in high concentrations is
toxic to marine life and even at low levels it can cause birth defects.

The oil that is extracted is then refined into its various components including petrol,
diesel and kerosene using the method of fractional distillation. Chemical fertilizers and
pesticides have active ingredients derived from various hydrocarbons refined from crude
oil (petroleum).

43

I had planned to visit a working oil field in Siberia as part of my Fellowship. Due to the
extreme geographical location travel was only possible, or at least advisable, during the
relatively warmer months. When the weather and lack of work commitments finally did
coincide to make a visit possible I was actually pregnant with my first baby and so could
not in good conscience travel to one of the world’s remotest regions to a dangerous
working environment. For the sake of comprehensive coverage I have included some first
hand data from a recent PhD thesis written by Oxford University doctoral student, Karg
Kama.

“In the late 1950s, first flares were lit among the vast wetlands of the West Siberian
Plain, launching the industrial exploration of its hydrocarbon reserves. In the 1960s, an
oil boom began. Large oil-fields were set into production and people from all over the
former Soviet Union were invited to work for the promising industry. Since then, West
Siberia has performed as the most intense oil-producing area in Northern Eurasia. The
region currently supplies about 70% of Russia’s crude oil. Over 80% of it originates from
the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra (KMAO). Although KMAO’s larger
reserves are gradually depleted, the petroleum industry is expected to sustain its
production flow for several decades to come by expanding the existing oil-fields and
making use of undeveloped smaller fields.

Not only are Russian oil companies expanding their operations to new fields, but the
former Soviet North has also become a popular destination for global oil corporations.
However, the Russian crude is definitely not ‘easy oil’ for the Western multinationals, in
the sense that very few of them have succeeded in meeting the geo-technical challenges
of extracting oil in the sub-arctic environment. In addition, the re-emerging ‘state-
capitalism’ resource politics of the Russian Federation is further complicating the
possibilities of gaining access to the Siberian reserves, engaging in PSAs (Product
Sharing Agreement) with the Russian government, and establishing profitable and
sustainable international business operations in the North.”

The cotton industry is not the sole or indeed immediately obvious market for oil and it is
often underrepresented in terms of oil usage. Oil is used to make inorganic fertilizer and
pesticides, the powering of field and production machinery, the irrigation process,
transportation and packaging. Reducing cotton, and specifically inorganic cotton, usage
would reduce oil consumption and have an immediate positive environmental impact.

CONCLUSION

Presently it is standard practice to put an origin label on a garment that correlates to
where it is stitched and packaged for export even if everything else, growing, spinning,
and weaving has been done elsewhere, perhaps in a different country using unfair and
environmentally damaging processes. This industry standard is clearly flawed and in need
of an overhaul. At the very least, the origin of the raw cotton should be clearly labelled as
should the country where the cloth was woven. It would also be a straightforward process
to have a colour coded symbol that highlights whether the cotton used to make the

44

garment is organic or in line with fair trade standards, or both. This would give customers
an informed choice about what they buy. It would also give them the opportunity to
request that their local stores provide organic and fair trade produce or indeed a summary
of the current processes their store accepts in order to get garments onto the shelves.

It is clear that it is the ‘brand’ that makes the biggest profits as most aim to buy as
cheaply as possible thereby squeezing wages and the ability of producers to employ
sustainable and fair processes. Arguably, strict guidelines that ensure fair wages and
environmental sustainability should not be limited to ‘fair trade shops’ on the high-street
peripheries. There needs to be a robust system that applies to all produce. Such changes
would not even necessitate an increase in the prices consumers pay, but rather a reduction
in mark up brand names make. If organic, fairly traded textiles were to become the new
‘standard’ their large scale would further reduce prices. Investment in mass production
would see prices fall further. Fair trade produce would no longer be the reserve of the
affluent middle classes whilst poorer families are forced to continue to increase the
hardship of the lives of other poor families in Third World sweat shops.

Fair trade produce is generally more expensive and often relegated to small specialist
outlets that are forced to charge higher prices in order to meet their overheads. There are
several things that could be done to bring fair trade to the forefront of the cotton industry.

First, there should be a conscious application of modern technology in the producing and
marketing of fair trade. There should be a close relationship between research and
training as this will allow the fair trade industry to keep pace with the latest technological
developments. Research and Development subsidies and grants are currently delivered to
numerous institutions, including large profit driven pharmaceutical companies who are
then able to charge the government high prices for drugs. A similar R&D initiative
should be employed to organisations focused on creating new methods to make the textile
industry cleaner, greener and more socially responsible. This would amplify the ability of
producers as it would lower the cost of production and increase productivity.

Second, standard produce has been luxuriating in a developed and organised make-up
that has professional marketing structure. This situation does not currently apply to fair
trade. ‘Eco-marketing’, like all marketing aims to condition the consumer – changing
expectations about what they consume and then fixing the new expectations. Marketing
fair trade could involve encouraging consumers to take environmental concerns into
account when making their purchase decisions. The main aim of marketing here would be
to show customers that the production of standard garments is environmentally
unfriendly, socially unjust, and ultimately unsustainable.

Third, there needs to be focused and deliberate plan to make fair trade production more
market orientated. At present there is the approach of selling whatever happens to be
produced by the limited organic and fair trade producers, as was the reported case in
Coimbatore. The relevant market research that today surrounds all other standard produce
from new chocolate bars to washing-up liquid needs to be applied to fair trade produce.
Organised studies in consumer preferences and needs as well as market trends over time

45

are just as important for fair trade as standard produce. Such research would help to
inform the creation of an ‘effective demand’ that is reinforced with purchasing power.

Fourth, more needs to be done in the area of product development, particularly in ‘sales
promotion’ in new areas and amongst newly emerging groups of customers.

Fifth, fair trade produce has become too dependant on the ‘special premium’ by way of a
marketing tool. Consumers of fair trade are made to feel that they are justified in paying
more as they are being environmentally and socially responsible. Producers and providers
are too narrowly focused on this special premium and the inevitable small niche it
produces. More efforts should be made to promote sales more widely, bringing fair trade
to the forefront with the view of making it the new standard rather than a luxury product.

Sixth, and perhaps most controversial, is the lack of imagination and sympathy that some
providers and organisations are guilty of. People who choose to shop in stores such as
Primark are often vilified and treated like pariahs for not automatically choosing fair
trade over sweat shop produce. In today’s climate whereby many families are struggling
to make ends meet it is important to understand that their immediate need to clothe their
families as cheaply as possible will trump any commitment to global social justice. A
staggering statistic highlights that around 20% of the British public live below the official
poverty line. This may not be the ‘absolute poverty’ threshold found in Indian slums but
it is an important internal factor that needs to be addressed. These poor families are just
as much the victim of the global economic system as the cotton pickers of Namangan or
the sweat shop workers of Mumbai. It is essential that all such vulnerable members of
society, regardless of geographical position should be united, not divided – the
globalisation of the working class if you will. More should be done to expand fair trade
produce into existing markets that are accessible to lower income families as was the case
with ranges such as ‘George at Asda’ being partially produced at Sree Santhosh.

Seventh, in a converse vein to the former point, fair trade needs to be incorporated into
the levels of high fashion and higher end garments. Fair trade and organic cotton
essentially produces the same ‘blank canvas’ for designers. It is possible to make the final
garment indistinguishable to that of standard produce. The mainstay of fair trade is still
seen to be ‘hippy’ smocks and tie-dye festival wear. There is absolutely no reason, other
than lack of economic will, to produce fair trade and organic textiles that are used to
make city-slicked suits and shirts or designer evening wear. Crucially here the issue is not
one of added cost to the consumer as these products elicit a premium price anyway. The
issue here is big designer brands profiteering from damaging work and environmental
practices. Unlike with the necessity of poor families, this practice is inexcusable and clear
legislation backed up with robust enforcement mechanisms should be introduced to
ensure that such companies are not making a profit from sweat shop labour.

Dr J.C. Kumarappa, the eminent Gandhian economist, implored us to work towards
sustainable programmes in order to ensure lasting benefits. Mankind can only thrive after
establishing the ‘economy of permanence’ rather than on a system based on rampant
natural resource depletion. This could be achieved today by reducing the non-renewable

46

resources we consume and increasing the use of renewable resources, including
renewable energy. It is a simple fact that the earth could simply not sustain the present
day developing countries increasing non-renewable consumption to the levels of present
day developed countries. By necessity new economic growth must be less energy
intensive than in the past. Organic cotton uses on average 70-80% less oil to produce a T-
Shirt of comparable quality. The revival of natural dyes would further reduce the need for
oil that is used to produce artificial chemical dyes. ‘Waste’ textiles and off cuts cut be
recycled and made into useful products such as paper, again further reducing the energy
required in those sectors and indeed reducing the impact on landfill sites.
There is much that needs to be done to clean up the 21st century cotton industry.
Ultimately, however, I was heartened to see the great work of so many dedicated
organisations focused on workers’ rights and social justice. It was also encouraging to see
that fair trade does not have to be achieved at the expense of commercial success and
indeed profit. Sree Santhosh demonstrated that with a combination of cutting edge
technology and ethical ethos it was possible not only to grow a business but to grow a
very successful business that generates healthy profits for its shareholders, long term
benefits for the locale in which it is situated, as well contributing to the fight against
human and environmental sacrifice.
Writing in ‘Young India’ 85 years ago, Gandhi suggested that, “you cannot distribute
wealth equally after producing it. You won’t succeed in getting men to agree to it. But
you can produce wealth as to secure equable distribution before producing it. That is
Khadi…Every time that we take our khadi garment early in the morning to wear for
going out, we should remember that we are doing so in the name of ‘Draridranarayan’
(the downtrodden)…Khadi economics are based on sentiments and humanity…when one
is wearing Khadi, one is wearing freedom” If it’s not too presumptuous and akin to
suggesting playwright corrections for Shakespeare I would like to end my report with this
quote, simply updating Gandhi’s 20th Century ‘Khadi’ with our own 21st Century ‘Fair
Trade’.

47