Global cotton sustainability initiative Better Cotton, has initiated an extensive research project in India with the goal of identifying best practices to empower women and increase their presence in the cotton industry at the farm level.
In addition to identifying real-life success stories that might provide inspiration for focused interventions, the project, which is financed by the sustainability standards body ISEAL, will produce learnings that can assist cotton-growing nations all over the world.
“Women form the foundation of cotton farming communities across India, but too often their contributions go unrecognised and unrewarded,” stated Jyoti Narain Kapoor, Director of Better Cotton’s India Program. “This research project will examine what works and what doesn’t in order to support the nation’s efforts to empower women.”
Better Cotton will collaborate closely with Cotton Connect India and WWF India, two in-country program partners that serve over 125,000 Better Cotton licensed farmers in Maharashtra and Telangana, throughout the course of the upcoming year.
Gaining understanding of their hiring practices and keeping more women in leadership positions within the company are the goals. Community-facing positions, such Producer Unit Managers and Field Facilitators, have been recognised as areas in need of support and development as part of the process.
The findings will assist Better Cotton in creating and streamlining systems to assist women in the cotton industry as it strives to meet its 2030 Impact Target2 on women’s empowerment.
Nini Mehrotra, Senior Manager for Gender Equality at Better Cotton, said, “We want to strengthen the women in community-facing organisational roles because that’s one of the best pathways to empower women in farming roles.”
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
