Conventional cotton culture is one of the most polluting crops in the world and often involves an overexploitation of the workforce, serious diseases due to an intensive use of chemical products, and in particular exploiting small farmers:

▪ Cotton crops represent 2.4% of the world cultivation area, but account for 24% of worldwide pesticides. (from WHO - World Health Organisation)

▪ Many pesticides used on cotton are classified as dangerous substances and are even prohibited by the WHO. According to WHO, every year 1 million people are poisoned and 22,000 people die from the cultivation of this crop.

▪ Artificial irrigation of conventional cotton uses more than 2/3 of worldwide resources of drinking water. About 5,263 litres of water are needed to produce 1kg of cotton. (from CNRS)

▪ Use of pesticides and fertilizers represents 40% of the production costs of conventional cotton. (from the International Cotton Advisory Committee)

▪ Around the Aral Sea (Central Asia), cotton cultivation has irretrievably polluted the ecosystems of immense areas. The Aral Sea now is too much polluted and saline to have an aquatic life, and it is no longer possible to grow crops on the surrounding land. (from UNESCO)