Pesticide-Free Cotton in Ethiopia

Tadesse Amera, Director of PAN Ethiopia, reports that since 2013 they have been working to support cotton farmers in Southern Ethiopia to adopt safer and more sustainable methods of growing pesticide-free cotton. They now have 2000 smallholder farmers achieving average yields over 100% higher than before. An organic cotton producers’ cooperative is selling Grade A organic cotton at a premium price and, with their technical support, it has just started supplying organic seed to farmers in the area. So much can be achieved and they are grateful to TRAID and the JJ Charitable Trust for financing this initiative.

Tadesse Amera has just returned to Ethiopia from the recent Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Convention Conferences of Parties held in Geneva in April/May 2017. A major focus was the phasing out of Highly Hazardous Pesticides. Tadesse says he hopes that work like theirs will help to convince decision-makers that an agro-ecological approach works for farmers and helps to remove hazardous pesticides from the environment.

Find out more about our work in cotton.