Defining Better: BCI Principles and Criteria

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Achieving the vision of a world where BCI Cotton is the norm and cotton farmers and their communities thrive takes a holistic approach and a rigorous standard to match. A critical component of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) Standard System is its Principles and Criteria (P&C), which lay out the global definition of BCI Cotton through six guiding principles and two Cross-cutting Priorities.

Principles

  • Management: Cotton farming households have strong integrated farm management systems in place to ensure field-level sustainability impacts.
  • Natural Resources: Cotton farming communities promote regenerative practices, enhance biodiversity and use land and water responsibly.
  • Crop Protection: Cotton farming communities minimize the harmful impact of crop protection practices, by introducing more sustainable options to deal with pests in a local context. 
  • Fiber Quality: Cotton farming communities care for and preserve fiber quality.
  • Decent Work: Cotton farming communities promote decent work, so that all farmers and workers have the right to a productive work that offers fair income and wages, security, social protection, equal opportunities, freedom to organize, express concerns, participate in decision-making and negotiate dignified conditions of employment.
  • Sustainable Livelihoods: Cotton farming communities have more sustainable livelihoods and resilience, by increasing land productivity to secure the net income of smallholders and workers worldwide.

Cross-Cutting Priorities

  • Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Cotton farming communities build resilience to effects of climate change and support mitigating impacts of farming to the climate.
  • Gender Equality: Cotton farming communities work toward greater gender equality through women’s empowerment, because a more sustainable future can only be achieved when all genders have equal rights and opportunities.

By following these principles and priorities, BCI Farmers produce cotton in a way that is better for themselves, their communities and the environment.

その他のリソース

  • See the BCI Principles and Criteria v3.1 here.
  • See the BCI Principles and Criteria Monitoring and Certification Requirements here.
  • See the BCI Field Level Results and Impact here.
  • For questions about the application process, contact the office based on your location here.

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