FAO’s global event will celebrate cotton’s contribution to socio-economic development and champion its further advancement to support sustainable livelihoods.
An estimated 100 million family farmers across 80 countries directly depend on the cotton industry, and women play a key role in the value chain. It supports the economies of many and low-income and emerging countries. In 2021, world production of cotton was valued at about $50 billion, while global trade at $20 billion.
Cotton plays a significant role in social and economic development, international trade and poverty alleviation and thus contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the sector is facing numerous challenges because of climate change, pests and diseases, the COVID-19 pandemic and the unfolding global economic slowdown among other issues. Market price volatility has also hit the sector hard.
“The objective of this global celebration is to draw attention to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who earn their livelihoods through the cotton value chain, and to stress the sector’s contribution to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said Boubaker Ben Belhassen, Director of Markets and Trade Division at FAO.
On the occasion of World Cotton Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host on 7 October 2022 a hybrid global event to highlight the importance of the sector and make sure it is at the forefront of the international policy agenda.
QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General,will give the opening address. This will be followed by a keynote speech by the Minister for Trade and Industry of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Ali Djadda Kampard. Ministers from Asia, Africa and Latin America will also address the audience.
There will also be video statements by the heads of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) will be represented senior officials.
The theme of World Cotton Day 2022 will be on how innovation and technology can drive solutions to the challenges facing the sector, foster sustainability in the cotton value chain and create new market opportunities for cotton producers, in particular smallholders.
An estimated 100 million family farmers across 80 countries directly depend on the cotton industry, and women play a key role in the value chain. It supports the economies of many and low-income and emerging countries. In 2021, world production of cotton was valued at about $50 billion, while global trade at $20 billion.
Cotton plays a significant role in social and economic development, international trade and poverty alleviation and thus contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the sector is facing numerous challenges because of climate change, pests and diseases, the COVID-19 pandemic and the unfolding global economic slowdown among other issues. Market price volatility has also hit the sector hard.
“The objective of this global celebration is to draw attention to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who earn their livelihoods through the cotton value chain, and to stress the sector’s contribution to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said Boubaker Ben Belhassen, Director of Markets and Trade Division at FAO.
On the occasion of World Cotton Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host on 7 October 2022 a hybrid global event to highlight the importance of the sector and make sure it is at the forefront of the international policy agenda.
QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General,will give the opening address. This will be followed by a keynote speech by the Minister for Trade and Industry of the Republic of Chad, H.E. Ali Djadda Kampard. Ministers from Asia, Africa and Latin America will also address the audience.
There will also be video statements by the heads of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) will be represented senior officials.
The theme of World Cotton Day 2022 will be on how innovation and technology can drive solutions to the challenges facing the sector, foster sustainability in the cotton value chain and create new market opportunities for cotton producers, in particular smallholders.