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Harvesting the Future – Cotton in India

Issues Child Labor Health Safety & Environment Responsible Recruitment

Transforming working conditions in the cotton sector through an area-based approach

The Harvesting the Future (HTF) — Cotton in India initiative, led by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), brings together 25 global apparel companies, two Indian garment and textile producers, and several local implementing partners to improve conditions for cotton producers, harvesters, and their families in over 30 villages in Madhya Pradesh, one of India’s largest cotton-producing states.

Between 2024 and 2027, the project will take an area-based approach to improve working and living conditions at the village level while enhancing human rights due diligence (HRDD) for various actors in the cotton value chain.

Harvesting the Future – Cotton in India builds on the six years of learnings that FLA has developed in executing similar award-winning programs in Türkiye and Egypt in several agricultural commodities, with three main goals:

  1. Strengthened HRDD: By mapping supply chains, conducting risk assessments, enhancing grievance mechanisms, and promoting responsible procurement, the project helps supply chain actors ensure respect for human rights in their upstream supply chain.
  2. Improved working and living conditions: Through awareness-building at the village level, field-level interventions, child protection efforts, responsible recruitment practices, and health and safety initiatives, the project seeks to improve the lives of cotton producers, workers, and their families.
  3. Stakeholder engagement: By establishing robust efforts to engage with local stakeholders, local government, industry associations, and civil society organizations, the project will amplify positive changes and lay the foundation for lasting, self-sustaining improvements at the local level.

Harvesting the Future – Cotton in India reflects the commitment of both FLA and the global garment and textiles sector to creating sustainable change by combining on-the-ground interventions with HRDD approaches.

Special thanks to the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) for their organizational support of this project.

Update: October 2024 – September 2025

Phase I: Set-up

The first year of HTF – Cotton in India focused on launching coalition activities, including mapping in-scope villages, establishing partnerships with local stakeholders and implementing partners, building capacity within supply chain actors, and convening a Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) to advise on field-level activities. FLA, the implementing partners, and the project’s two Indian suppliers achieved the following key milestones during Phase I.

Mapped and identified community members for educational programs:

  • Mapped 3,169 households in 32 project villages across the two districts in Madhya Pradesh to identify participants and raise awareness about child protection and other decent work issues.  
  • Identified:
    • 8,165 farmers in 32 villages for awareness-building programs;
    • 3,716 workers (including 998 hired workers and 2,718 family-based laborers) to raise awareness on wages, occupational health and safety (OHS), grievance mechanisms, recruitment practices, and more; and
    • 4,521 children for child protection and education activities, who are being serviced through Child Labor Free Zones (CLFZ).
  • Selected 36 schools in 16 villages as key locations for educational referral services.

Implemented programs for capacity building, awareness sessions, and case management:

  • Launched CLFZ in 16 villages with the M Venkatarangaiya Foundation (MVF), contributing to more than 100 children enrolling in schools.
  • Trained:
    • 387 farmers and workers on health and safety;
    • 567 farmers on good agricultural practices (GAP);
    • 60 field staff (from suppliers, implementing partners, and partner organizations) on decent work in agriculture, child labor prevention and case management, OHS, and farm-level monitoring processes; and
    • Four ginning mills on child labor, legal wages, and responsible recruitment practices through a webinar provided by Cotton Connect. 
  • Developed:
    • A toolkit for field staff, which includes a village mapping tool, a household survey, a farm monitoring tool, and training materials; and
    • A wage-related working white paper for coalition members. 
  • Distributed 2,361 codes of conduct to cotton farmers.
  • Informed:
    • 2,664 farmers and their families, community leaders, and workers about child labor through 161 sessions held across various villages; and
    • 2,540 workers in the project area about locally available grievance mechanisms.

Engaged governments, partners, and stakeholders:

  • Created:
    • A national, multi-stakeholder advisory group (including representatives from a multilateral agency, two civil society organizations, and two industry associations) to advise on project activities;   
    • A government compact (organized by IDH operating under the District Magistrate in Khargone) involving representatives from four government departments—Education, Women and Child Development, Agriculture, and Labor—along with implementation partners and suppliers; and
    • An Enhanced Earning Working Group to discuss a compensation-related study and next steps.
  • Hosted:
    • 24 separate advocacy meetings at three levels of government (panchayat, block, and district);
    • Monthly online general assembly meetings with coalition members to provide updates on progress; and
    • Bi-weekly field visits and regular communication with implementing partners. 
  • Engaged:
    • 13 villages (under a partnership with IDH on Regenerative Agriculture), as part of the RPL Collaborative, which provides training for farmers in targeted villages;
    • An additional dozen interested stakeholders; and
    • One additional company, which joined the coalition – bringing the total number of private sector coalition partners to 27 (25 companies and two suppliers).
  • Signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with three organizations involved in the cotton sector to exchange information, studies, tools, guidance documents, and lessons learned.

Next Steps- HTF Phase II: Scaling up

Phase I has demonstrated commitment from all stakeholders and gained momentum for on-the-ground activities. In Phase II: Scaling up, these activities will expand to include the mapped farmers, workers, and their families, with goals to:

  • Strengthen community programs to prevent child labor and improve access to education and essential services for children under the CLFZ;
  • Expand efforts to increase school enrollment among children and collaborate with local governments to enhance school infrastructure;  
  • Work with suppliers to confuct farm-level monitoring and worker profiling on 20% of farms during the 2025 harvest and take follow-up actions to ensure fair labor standards and safe working conditions;
  • Conduct independent data collection and farm-level monitoring with over 300 farmers and workers to collect worker information and wage payment data, helping to inform next steps and minimum wage implementation;
  • Expand efforts to connect farmers, workers, and their families to social security programs through the involvement of local government officials;
  • Train farmers and workers on OHS; and
  • Raise awareness of the HTF initiative at the industry level in Madhya Pradesh with support from the Madhya Pradesh Textiles and Mills Association.

For more information about this initiative, please contact Burcu Kugu, Vice President, Innovation at bkugu@fairlabor.org and Mohd Dilshad, Project Manager, India at mdilshad@fairlabor.org.