CmiA news and archive

Aid by Trade Foundation completes 2.8 million euro project for climate-resilient agriculture in Africa

Coinciding with today's International Day for Biological Diversity, the Aid by Trade Foundation announced the successful completion of a 2.8 million euro project focused on climate-resilient agriculture in Africa. Healthy soil, responsible water management and biodiversity conservation play key roles in this initiative. The CAR-iSMa project (“...

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Aid by Trade Foundation introduces new transparency standard for cotton

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), known for cotton standards like Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Cotton made in Africa Organic, announced today the introduction of its new transparency standard in the first quarter of 2025. Only in November last year, the foundation joined the transparency initiative Make the Label Count to ensure that...

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Cotton made in Africa supports women's rights and independence

Just in time for today's International Women's Day, Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) explains how the initiative promotes the rights and independence of women. For example, gender equality is firmly anchored in the CmiA standard of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), requiring that women and men receive equal pay for equal work as well as equal...

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New partners, continued growth for Cotton made in Africa

International demand for Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) cotton continues to grow. German fashion brand Brax, Jolo Fashion Group from the Netherlands and fashion and lifestyle brand Shinsegae International from South Korea have recently joined the CmiA initiative to promote sustainable cotton cultivation, protect the environment and improve the...

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Cotton made in Africa cooperates with African Cotton Foundation

The Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative will join forces with the African Cotton Foundation (ACF) to promote socially and ecologically sustainable cotton cultivation. This includes training and other implementation measures conducted by cotton companies in the CmiA project countries, which will be coordinated by the AFC. They can now apply...

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Aid by Trade’s CmiA cotton and The Good Cashmere Standard director on providing sustainable solutions

Without a doubt, much has changed when it comes to the fashion industry's acceptance of certified raw materials such as sustainable cotton and cashmere. While initially considered ‘nice to have’, sustainable materials are now a must for many fashion companies. At the end of January, the Aid by Trade Foundation introduced the first worldwide...

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Cotton made in Africa benefits more than one million farmers

For the first time since its inception in 2005, the sustainable cotton initiative Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) cooperates with more than one million cotton farmers, 17 percent of whom are women. In 2017, a record sum of 90 million textiles bore the CmiA quality label. This was announced by the initiative in a press release on Thursday. “Africa...

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Laura Chaplin is new CmiA ambassador

Laura Chaplin, granddaughter of world-famous actor Charlie Chaplin, is the new ambassador of Cotton made in Africa (CmiA). The young fashion designer wants to support the initiative for sustainable cotton farming through her label 'Smile by Laura Chaplin'. “I really wanted to be ambassador for Cotton made in Africa, because we share the same...

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Hakro joins CmiA initiative

The German Hakro GmbH, supplier of clothing for corporate fashion, work, leisure and sport, has recently signed a partnership agreement with Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and will be buying CmiA-certified cotton in the future. About 30 retailers and brands are currently part of the Demand Alliance. The sourced cotton is produced in accordance...

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Cotton made in Africa celebrates tenth anniversary

In 2005, businessman Michael Otto of the German Otto Group launched the Cotton made in Africa initiative as well as the supporting organisation Aid by Trade Foundation (then called Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, which was renamed in 2007). Together with state sector partners like DEG and GIZ, NGOs like the WWF and Welthungerhilfe and two...

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CmiA Stakeholder Conference focuses on entire textile value chain

This year's 9th Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Competitive African Cotton Initiative COMPACI Stakeholder Conference, which took place on 20th October in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, put the development of the entire textile value chain on top of its agenda. Case in point was Ethiopia itself, which joined the initiative only this year....