Abrapa's ABR program is a sustainability highlight at an ILO seminar in Turin, Italy

The Responsible Brazilian Cotton Program (ABR), led by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), was highlighted today (8/06), in the program of the 40st International Seminar of the Brazil Cotton Chain Project – ILO, which aims to promote decent work in cotton-producing countries in Africa and Latin America. The event is being held in conjunction with the course “Global Supply Chains for Sustainable Development and Decent Work”, at the International Training Center of the International Labor Organization (ILO), in Turin, Italy, throughout the week, in a total of 32 hours. The ABR was presented to an audience of 12 people, from XNUMX countries, representatives of different production chains, inside and outside agribusiness.

The objective of the seminar, co-organized by the Government of Brazil, through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), is to strengthen knowledge about global supply chains, sustainable development and decent work, in addition to fostering interaction between audiences related to the Brazil Cotton Chain Project – ILO.

Abrapa's Sustainability manager, Fernando Rati, presented the success story of the ABR Program, national certification of sustainability in production, managed by Abrapa, which, since 2013, has operated in benchmarking with the international entity Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). In the 2015/16 harvest, 81% of Brazilian production obtained ABR certification, and 71% were licensed by BCI, which makes Brazil the largest supplier of BCI cotton in the world, with 25% of market share.

Positive reference

According to Rati, the emphasis of the seminar is labor relations in the value chain and cotton gained a prominent place, thanks to the large number of people involved in the work at all stages, from planting to the point of sale. ABR was seen as a positive global reference, which, when presented to members of other chains, could inspire similar programs. "The foundation of ABR are the pillars of sustainability; social, environmental and economic. With the best practices in each of these bases, we have a production chain with the capacity to prosper as a business and generate value along the way" , explains the manager.

For the president of Abrapa, Arlindo de Azevedo Moura, it is gratifying that the Association plays a leading role in forums like this. "We are talking about the global organization that guides work relationships. Being highlighted as an example of success is a great honor. Even more important is being able to learn from other examples and seek to improve relationships not only at work, but with suppliers, buyers, governments and society. It is part of the principle of continuous improvement, which guides our actions", concludes Moura.