TOOLS

In order for BCI to deliver on the majority of its goals, the Better Cotton System needs to be supported by the sharing of knowledge and best practices across the supply chain and beyond. Existing and new knowledge about how to work with cotton farmers, the cotton supply chain, and the Better Cotton System needs to be accessible and understandable to encourage involvement in the BCI and uptake of Better Cotton.

 

Better management practices on how to grow Better Cotton in different farming contexts, and best practices on ways to implement enabling mechanisms will be crucial to avoid duplication of effort and maximise opportunities for collaboration with other organisations to achieve scale.

 

To facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices the BCI will:
- Form and facilitate national level stakeholder councils in BCI focus regions to play a supportive and advisory role on implementation of the Better Cotton System, and facilitate dissemination of the Better Cotton System in the country/region;
- Collaborate with existing and complementary initiatives such as Cotton Made in Africa, Organic Exchange and the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation to support mutual learning and realisation of common objectives;
- Maintain a publicly accessible on-line library about growing cotton more sustainably;
- Provide access to tried and tested national level guidance materials and tools for working with cotton farmers;
- Identify and fill gaps in research (as resources permit) in relation to the BCI Production Principles & Criteria and Enabling Mechanisms. 
 
More specifically, BCI intends to provide to implementing partners with a number of tools:
- A Step by Step Guide for implementation
- Farm Assessment Guidelines
- Workshops on different topics
- Information sharing on best practices
- Supply chain facilitation
- Global Partnerships to support the growth of Better Cotton worldwide



last update: 13 Dec. 09