Avon and Cotton made in Africa Announce Partnership

Hamburg, 2023-02-12. Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) is thrilled to announce its first partnership in the cosmetics sector, with Avon. Avon is part of Brazil-based Natura &Co, one of the world’s largest cosmetics groups. As part of Avon’s ambitious sustainability commitments, it has pledged to use more renewable materials in its supply chains and improve the impact of its products on people and planet.  This collaboration with CmiA marks a major step in terms of cotton sustainability for Avon. “In addition to using sustainably produced raw materials, we aim to achieve certification and traceability and to address both environmental and social aspects for our products containing cotton,” states Natalie Deacon, Avon’s global sustainability head, continuing, “For instance, we have set ourselves the target of using only cotton that is traceable, by 2025, and certified, by 2030. CmiA is the ideal partner to support us in pursuit of this goal, which also contributes to a better world for women, as women play a vital part in CmiA’s work in Africa.” The CmiA standards set out clear criteria regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment, encouraging the non-discriminatory provision of resources, services, and opportunities. This includes pay and benefits, terms and conditions of employment, complaint mechanisms, and flexibility regarding work, training, and other opportunities available to women at the farm and ginnery levels. “We are happy to welcome Avon as our first partner from the cosmetics sector,” says Tina Stridde, the managing director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, adding, “This partnership helps us to expand training and projects for climate resilience and to further extend the social and environmental advantages of sustainable cotton cultivation for small-scale farmers in Africa and their families.” As a new purchaser of CmiA-certified cotton for products including women’s nightwear, Avon can rely on CmiA’s Hard Identity Preserved (HIP) system, which ensures full transparency and traceability for raw materials all throughout the textile value chain, from the field to the final product. Avon also benefits from this partnership in that CmiA cotton has been proven to have a smaller environmental footprint than other cotton; it is produced without irrigation or genetically modified seeds. Revenue generated by selling licences for sustainably produced CmiA cotton flows back to small-scale farmers, including women, in keeping with AbTF’s social business approach. This involves reinvesting the revenue as funding for training in regenerative cultivation methods and in business fundamentals and for improving biodiversity. In addition to reducing the environmental footprint of cotton production, CmiA promotes human rights and non-discrimination for women and fosters equal access and control over resources for men and women. CmiA thus improves the overall living circumstances of the small-scale farming families.[1] There are currently around 900,000 small-scale farmers cultivating CmiA-certified cotton in ten countries in Africa South of the Sahara. Consumers can identify these products through their Cotton made in Africa labels. The first products will become available in the second quarter of 2024.

About Cotton made in Africa:

The Cotton made in Africa initiative (CmiA) was founded in 2005 under the umbrella of the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF). CmiA is an internationally recognised standard for sustainably produced cotton from Africa, connecting African small-scale farmers with trading companies and fashion brands throughout the global textile value chain. The initiative’s objective is to employ trade, rather than donations, to protect the environment and to improve the living conditions of small-scale farmers and their families. Apart from the farming families, people working in ginneries also benefit from improved working conditions. Additional projects addressing schooling, health, environmental protection, and women’s empowerment contribute to better living conditions in farming communities as well. Learn more at: cottonmadeinafrica.org/en

About the Aid by Trade Foundation:

Founded in 2005, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is an internationally renowned non-profit organisation that works throughout the world to promote sustainable raw materials. Its activities make a decisive and measurable contribution to improving the living conditions of people and animals while protecting the environment. AbTF takes a practical approach by creating and maintaining a variety of standards to certify raw materials: Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic), Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS), and The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS). A global alliance of textile companies and brands purchases the certified raw materials, paying a licensing fee to AbTF’s marketing company, ATAKORA Fördergesellschaft GmbH. The payment of this fee entitles partners to sell their goods under the standards’ labels. As the challenges facing textile companies and small-scale farmers grow, the standards have a major role to play in ensuring their resilience and future viability. AbTF collaborates closely with industry experts and with specialists in animal and nature protection. Learn more at: www.aidbytrade.org

About Avon

At Avon, we believe a better world for women is a better world for all. We are the beauty brand for women embracing their power, inspiring their confidence and providing opportunities to realise their potential. Millions of independent sales representatives across the world sell iconic Avon brands through their social networks, and more than 20% of every sale helps to create better futures for women*. We stand for progress for women: we believe in listening to women’s needs, speaking out about issues that matter and creating positive change. Through Avon and the Avon Foundation, we’ve donated over $1.1 billion, with a focus on tackling gender violence and breast cancer. Social and environmental sustainability are increasingly embedded throughout everything Avon do through their ambitious people and planet agenda. Avon is part of the Natura &Co Group, partners with many NGO’s across the world an active member of multiple sectoral, thematic or commodity-based associations.

*Learn more at www.avonworldwide.com

Press Contact

Holger Diedrich Email: holger.diedrich@abt-foundation.org | www.aidbytrade.org

[1] For more information about CmiA’s environmental footprint, see: Sphera (2021). CmiA Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)‚ https://cottonmadeinafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/CmiA_LCA-Study_2021.pdf [online resource]. Global averages are drawn from The life cycle inventory & life cycle assessment of cotton fiber & fabric (Cotton Inc, 2017). For more information about improvements in the living conditions of small-scale farming families, see: Syspons Impact Study (2021)‚ https://cottonmadeinafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/CmiA-Impact-Study-2021.pdf (CmiA, 2021).