For World Cotton Day 2026, the International Cotton Advisory Committee has prepared a special video presentation highlighting how cotton contributes to livelihoods, economic development, innovation, and opportunity in very different parts of the world.
Created by ICAC Economist Lorena Ruiz, the video focuses on India, Chad, Peru, Ghana, and Mali, demonstrating that the opportunities surrounding cotton vary significantly from country to country.
In India, the focus includes improving productivity, increasing value addition, and developing lower-carbon approaches to cotton production. In Chad, regenerative agriculture and improved farming practices can help strengthen rural livelihoods and protect the land on which future harvests depend.
Peru demonstrates how centuries of cotton heritage can coexist with modern research and innovation, including efforts to preserve distinctive native cotton varieties. In Ghana, cotton offers opportunities to connect agricultural production with domestic processing, manufacturing, and employment. In Mali, where cotton plays an important role in livelihoods and exports, greater local processing could help the country capture more value before its cotton leaves the country.
Together, the five examples illustrate the permanent theme of World Cotton Day: “Cotton for Good.”
Cotton’s importance cannot be measured by production alone. Its full value is found in the farmers and communities it supports, the jobs and industries it creates, the trade it enables, and the opportunities it provides for countries to build stronger and more prosperous cotton and textile value chains.
Watch the video to see how Cotton for Good is taking shape around the world: https://youtu.be/Pn3YnYf7AmE
