Onagono is a Fairtrade Licensee from June 2007.

Cotton has become a symbol of the inequalities of global agricultural trade – an important cash crop for many developing countries; as many as 100 million rural households are globally involved in cotton production with small scale cotton farmers increasingly at the mercy of falling and volatile world market prices. Compounded by the increasing support for domestic cotton sectors in countries such as the US (estimated $3-4 billion in 2002 – nearly twice the total US foreign aid given to Sub-Saharan Africa that year) disadvantaged cotton farmers in the developing world are facing immense hardship.

The FAIRTRADE Mark aims to make more visible in consumer's minds the importance of seed cotton, the many livelihoods dependent on them and the origins of the final products that they buy. The FAIRTRADE Mark not only assures consumers that the products meet Fairtrade standards but also protects companies who invest in meeting these standards from being “undercut” by less rigorous schemes and those that are not independently monitored.

By choosing products with the FAIRTRADE Mark, small-scale farmers are given the power to improve their livelihoods.

Reference: Fairtrade Foundation