Page 16 - April-May 2021

16 17
Cameroon to witness a new

record of cotton production

Preferring plastic over natural fibers is

no option: Natural Fiber Alliance

British fashion designers have recently called the the move could be seen as a 'cynical attempt' by
United Kingdom to ban the sale of natural fur. businesses to use the government to harm their
Following lobbying efforts from a small group of competition.
activists, several British designers, including Stella
McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, and Erdem Moralio- The Natural Fibers Alliance is a coalition of producers
glu, recently requested British Prime Minister Boris and associations that support natural, sustainable
Johnson to ban the sale of natural fur in the materials in clothing, accessories, and other goods.
United Kingdom. Synthetic materials and the "fast fashion" industry put
plastic pollution in our oceans and dump non-biode-
The Natural fiber Alliance (NFA) criticized their gradable clothes into landfills. At the same time,
statement and said that plastic is no choice due to misguided activist groups seek to curtail the use of Cameroon, the Central African country, is expected to the merger, Sodecoton organized the production and
enhanced environmental concerns. NFA noted that sustainable, natural materials. witness a new record of cotton production aiming at marketing of cotton in Cameroon, while Cicam
350,000 tons, according to the country's cotton specialized in manufacturing 100 percent cotton
development corporation Sodecoton. Cameroon's loincloths and towels.
cotton production was 328,000 tons in the previous
season, mainly exported to various countries, In 2019, 18.4 percent of Cameroon's cotton produc-
including Asian countries, with China being the leading tion was exported to China (compared to 22 percent
destination. Other Asian countries importing Cameroon
in 2018), followed by 12.2 percent to Italy and 11
CertainT® for Cotton Traceability cotton are Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia. percent to India. Sodecoton is planning to increase
the country's annual cotton production to 600,000
Last year, as part of its 2020-30 National Develop-
ment Strategy, the Cameroon government merged tons by 2025. Sodecoton plans to develop high-yield-
ing seed varieties to reach the ambitious target,
CertainT® for Cotton Traceability is an approach to authenticate goods within large and complex supply Sodecoton and Cotonnière Industrielle du Cameroun instead of the earlier planned introduction of geneti-
chains offered by Applied DNA Sciences. With this technique, materials such as cotton and leather, home (Cicam) to boost its cotton textiles industry. Before cally modified (GM) crops.
textiles and apparel, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, personal care, cannabis, and other products.

CertainT® has ensured the authenticity of approximately 300 million pounds of North American Pima and
Upland cotton and has been deployed to secure Egyptian and Australian cotton. The testing begins by H&M introduces an e-commerce system
authenticating the fiber content in cotton to confirm its origin. The platform then employs a unique molecular
identifier produced by the Company's LinearDNA™ platform to mark cotton fibers in bulk.
H&M is the second biggest clothing retailer in the world. Now the brand has eyes on South Asian countries,
The cotton fiber travels throughout a global supply chain and is converted into yarn, fabric, and finished including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The brand, in collaboration with Zalora, has
goods. The identifier's detection confirms origin and authenticity; its absence can signal to blend with illicit launched on the e-commerce platform in these countries. The tie-up debuted in Indonesia in mid-March,
cotton, including cotton potentially produced using forced labor. The CertainT® logo signifies to consumers April 1, 2021, in Malaysia, and on April 14, 2021, in Singapore.
of cotton products that they can trust the products they buy with said trust grounded in forensic,
science-based authentication. The announcement has been made following the success of the e-commerce system in the Philippines
during the past months. H&M is trying to strengthen its partnership with Zalora by further extending the
footprint across Southeast Asia. Backed by its substantial presence in crucial markets, Zalora complements
the extensive physical store portfolio and the digital stores at hm.com. H&M sees excellent potential for
significant future growth, and Zalora will be an important part of catering to customers' evolving needs and
demands. Zalora brand also showed tremendous excitement to continue working with a globally renowned
fashion brand like H&M.

April/May 2021 April/May 2021