Economy

Cotton plays a large role in the economy of many poor countries. The cotton industry in West Africa employs over 10 million people. However, these workers' aren't getting their fair wages, for the global price for cotton pays much less than their labor's worth. For example, Tahre Niampa from Burkina Faso has been farming cotton since boyhood, now the sixty-five year old says, "The price of cotton is too low. We don't know what to do." He made about $700 US in 2004 for his family, not counting debt deductions which gave his family little more than a few months' food money.

Cotton plays a large role in the economy of many poor countries. The cotton industry in West Africa employs over 10 million people. However, these workers' aren't getting their fair wages, for the global price for cotton pays much less than their labor's worth. For example, Tahre Niampa from Burkina Faso has been farming cotton since boyhood, now the sixty-five year old says, "The price of cotton is too low. We don't know what to do." He made about $700 US in 2004 for his family, not counting debt deductions which gave his family little more than a few months' food money.

~Edmond

The Environment

Cotton is one of the most common materials used to make clothes, and so there is a huge demand for cotton to be grown. Cotton is a natural fibre and is a valuable crop because only about 10% of its weight is lost in processing. Unfortunately, because of the high demand, cotton is the most pesticide intensive crop in the world, since farmers want to stop the cotton from getting destroyed by bugs. This makes cotton the world's most polluting crop, responsible for more than $2.6 billion worth of pesticides (about 10% of the world's pesticides and 25% of the world's insecticides). These chemicals usually remain in the fabric after finishing, and are released during the lifetime of the item. The pesticides used on cotton cause pesticide poisoning in people and many effects on the environment.

In 1995, pesticide-contaminated runoff from cotton fields killed at least 240,000 fish in Alabama. In Australia, beef and milk were found to be contaminated with the cotton insecticide called Helix due to the cows being fed contaminated cotton straw. The cotton pesticides have also affected birds and it has been estimated that the pesticides kill at least 67 million birds in the US alone. The environmental impacts are probably more severe than documented as many countries around the world do not keep an eye on the environment. Cotton is produced in many parts of the world. In 2002, cotton was grown on 330,000 km2 of farmland, worth about $20 billion US. ~Malcolm

Harming Humans

The huge amount of land use has caused many problems in countries, such as Uzbekistan. Intense use of pesticides and poor irrigation has left fields barren. The fields ate too contaminated with pesticides and salt to grow anything. To get water for cotton the people have taken water from the Aral Sea and now 11,00 square miles of water are dry. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth largest body of fresh water, but it is too polluted with pesticides to even support fish. This in turn is also polluting the drinking water in the area. The pesticides used on cotton are extremely dangerous as they can poison workers, drift into surrounding areas, contaminate water, and kill beneficial insects and organisms in the soil. Cotton growers use the most hazardous pesticides, including some from the same group that were originally developed as toxic nerve gas during WWII. Organic cotton is a more sustainable product where pesticides are greatly reduced or eliminated. This is the direction farmers need to aim for to protect themselves, their land, and the environment from the effects of using pesticides on cotton.

~Malcolm

Child Labor

In Egypt, children are often found working on cotton farms. Many of these children are under the age of twelve, forced to work long hours well below minimal wage. In the dehydrating heat, requests for water may not be granted, and the children must toil in removing leaf worms in the cotton by hand. As Lois Whitman, executive director of the Children's Rights division of the Human Rights Watch put it, "The way children are treated in the cotton fields is deplorable."1

On the health side, these children are often put back to work within 48 hours of spraying pesticides, which is too soon to be safe from the harmful effects of pesticide exposure.

~Edmond