The Issues

Cotton and Child Labour

250 million children globally are compelled to work, of which over 70% are employed in agriculture, where they are at risk from exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, machinery and arduous labour. The cotton industry is no exception, where children are employed in a variety of tasks from cottonseed production to pesticide spraying and the annual cotton harvest.

Cotton and Water

Cotton is one of the thirstiest crops in the world taking about 2,720 litres of water to produce one cotton T-shirt, equivalent to what an average person might drink over three years.

Cotton and Pesticides

Cotton grows on 2.4% of the world’s arable land, yet it is responsible for the release of over US$2 billion of chemical pesticides each year. Nearly half of these are considered toxic enough to be classified as hazardous by the World Health Organisation.