Cotton Conversations is a new approach to help actors in a commodity chain work together more effectively. It seeks to ensure that shared values are incorporated in how business is done throughout the chain. The approach brings together data and dialogue around the shared values.

With financial support from Hivos, a start-up workshop was held in Auroville (India), from December 1-3, 2011. This pilot workshop was the first step in a Cotton Conversation Cycle, with participants currently involved in multiple supply chains.

This workshop sought to clarify shared values and to formulate which of these need closer scrutiny in the cotton sector. These will be used in the second phase of the cycle - the harvesting of micro-narratives, which in turn will feed into the Action Clinic. (See Appendix 1 for a summary of the Cotton Conversation Cycle )

As Cotton Conversations is a new concept, the workshop also served to subject the idea to review by intended users - business partners in the cotton supply chain.

Content

IntroductionParticipants

Workshop day 1 Workshop day 2

Next steps Appendix:

Cot Con summary

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Cotton ConversationsWorkshop Report, Auroville, India1-3 December 2011

CottonConversations.com

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Together workshop participants represented most steps in a typical cotton supply chain: farmer, spinner, weaver, dyer, CMT, brands (with only a ginner missing). The workshop was facilitated by the Cotton Conversations team. They also played an active role, contributing their experience with farmers and brands.

Nestor  Dasandavid Decathlon  /  Oxylane

Balaji  Ramasamy,  MD Crea1ve  Texture

Roger  Reuver  * Reuver.Com

Mr  Nagarai BCI/Solidaridad

Gijs  Spoor  * Auroville

Narayanswami  /  Vivek Armstrong  KniAng  Mills

Mr  Ishwar,  MD Suminter

Joost  Guijt  * Outdoor  Organic

Simon  Ferrigno  * Sustainable  and  Organic  Farm  Systems

Irene  Guijt  * Learning  by  Design

Sneha  Kapur Crea1ve  Art  of  Souls

Anjali  Schiavina Crea1ve  Art  of  Souls

Participants

The objectives of the workshop were for participants to:

• get to know each other and how they relate in their chains

• discuss core positive and negative aspects of their chains

• identify shared values• formulate critical areas requiring more

scrutiny.

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left to right

* CotCon team

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Workshop day 1

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Getting to know each other and our chainsEach player in the chain introduced him/herself and their work related to cotton. All participants have a strong track in implementing more social and environmental values in their work. All were involved in one or more 3rd party and/or internal certification scheme.Participants located themselves in a product flow, adding in missing actors. The surrounding domain of service providers was then talked through together, creating a typical ‘value-chain’ as can be seen in the framing picture on this page.

Key points•  The  incredible  complexity  of  the  co3on  sector.  While  a  general  supply  

and  value  chain  could  be  drawn,  in  reality  nobody  works  in  exclusively  ver>cally  integrated  chains.  

•  Nobody  knows  the  en>re  chain.  At  most  2-­‐3  players  will  work  together  on  a  par>cular  order  and/or  on  a  regular  basis,  and  collabora>on  is  con>nuously  shiEing.  

•  There  is  very  li3le  opportunity  for  geFng  together  to  see  where  and  how  to  take  joint  ac>on.  Everyone  focuses  on  what  they  can  do  within  their  own  company/organisa>on.

Defining ‘Value’

The word value was used in two ways that are very different. When talking about ‘value chains’, we referred to economic/financial value. When talking about the ‘values’ in a chain or a ‘value-drive chain’, it referred to personal, social and environmental values. We were not able to find a different term; we agreed to keep the distinction in mind.

Workshop day 1

Untangling key issues in the chainSplitting into groups, participants tried an important information gathering principle of Cotton Conversations: using stories to find out what matters, what hurts and what can be celebrated. First we shared several stories that really touched us in working within the cotton sector. Then we analysed them to identify key positive and negative aspects of cotton and textile supply chains that the specific stories illustrated. Over 60 issues were then clustered and were connected to particular steps in the supply chain.

Key points • Stories quickly lead to grounded and deep exchanges• Positive aspects (yellow cards) were strongly outnumbered

by negative aspects (pink cards). • Many issues recurred at different steps in a chain.• Designers are critical players but often missed. Their

requirements strongly shape business practice: they set the quality standards that others must meet.

Its all about money

The topic of price, in particular who is seen to be a price maker and who a price taker, kept coming back. Positions shifted: one link in the chain can sometimes be a maker, sometimes a taker.

Points that kept recurring:• Brands are (considered to

be) the ultimate price makers

• Prices do not cover the real cost of production, at all levels

• Brands demand compliance with all kinds of certification, but are unwilling to pay the extra cost of certified goods

• If you don’t talk about price, then all other talk is pointless

We agreed that space is needed to discuss this topic, openly and safely, while avoiding repetition and getting stuck in old positions. 4

Common valuesUsing the 60+ issues from the previous step, the facilitators summarised these into topics/values/concerns that underlie the specific issues. No less than 23 topics were considered to be important.

A joint ranking exercise reduced this to the following ten priorities:• Price: transparency in setting, covering real cost• Clarity of standards and possibility to trace• Honouring contracts, reliability• Willingness to work on long-term commitments• The relationship between actors: is it extractive, regenerative,

constructive, listening/ignoring, respectful, with room for negotiation?

• Learning/training: development of skills, awareness, insights• Future prospects: hopeful versus reason for despair• Fair distribution of rewards• Resource use: efficiency, waste, pollution, carbon footprint• Scale of operations: is this compatible within a conversation?

These ten are the common values that participants felt are priorities for action. They represent opportunities to make the chain fairer and more sustainable for all those involved.

Workshop day 2

Building on other work

The group suggested drawing in information from existing assessment and certification processes:

• Farmer Self Assessment (Textile Exchange): many topics addressed, but limited to farm level

• GOTS/FLO: price transparency issues

• BCI and Farmer Field Schools: considers four of the common values

Other sources of information include commercial catalogues, company audits, donor reports, SA8000, CO2tracking, HR reports, and Fair Wear Foundation.

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Workshop day 2

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Sharing informationCotton Conversations is based on the vision that evidence related to the upholding of shared values in combination with a safe and open discussion can shift relationships.

However, open conversations with other actors are not necessarily straightforward. Participants identified several fears, alongside the potential value of sharing more information more openly.

FEAR POTENTIAL• the dishonor of mistakes• losing clients to others• suppliers fixing prices/cartels• price variation per client• chance of spreading lies and

ruining reputations• fear of sanctions if non-

compliance emerges• consumers are not interested

and not patient with ‘faults’

• sharing mistakes allows the sector to learn

• vulnerability makes you accessible

• brands need to know real cost of goods

• legal obligations revealed• help understand overall

process and own role

Workshop day 2

Making the next gathering worthwhileCotton Conversations will only work if data and dialogue come together for improvements in the chain. So at a next gathering, participants will use the information being gathered in the field (see Next Steps) in a so-called Action Clinic. Participants stressed that such a clinic must meet certain criteria for them to attend:

• Get the right people attend: people who have the power to make decisions that will shape the way business is done.

• Brands, certifiers, designers, marketing must join the current group

• By invitation-only: to enhance trust and openness

• There must be explicit intention to find common solutions/go beyond minimum compliance.

• Make it specific: follow typical order flows, allow for real business decisions to be made

• Initial agreement on kinds of topics on the table, and some first exchanges

• Match operational scale: small with small, big who can work with big

• Ensure there is scope for follow-up

• Clear communication to all invitees

• Minimise time/costs: combine with other events, where possible.

Why Cotton Conversations

Three core features are the foundations of the CC process – and need testing and refining. • The entire chain can be

drawn into the conversation. Increasing engagement increases complexity but also ensures broader understanding of how actions and decisions in one area influence the others.

• Value-focused priorities and topics go beyond those normally captured in criteria-based standards and certification.

• Focusing on people’s experiences reduces biases embedded in other information processes.

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Workshop participantsNext steps do not always require extra information, nor do they always require more parties to join in. Participants agreed to take a look at what could and could not be done, using the distinction in the table below.

What can I do myself

What can I do now, in a subchain

Where do I need a brand to get involved

I have the information I need to identify room for change

I need extra information and understanding

Gathering and analysing storiesEveryone wants to see what emerges from the process of gathering many micro-stories from individuals involved in diverse steps along the chain, and their collective analysis. Therefore, next steps for the Cotton Conversations team are:

• Develop a tested question framework around the value priorities identified (Jan/Feb 2012)

• Use this to gather stories at farmer and CMT level. Suminter and CAOS have offered to have story collection done in their organizations and with their farmers/workers (Feb/Mar 2012)

• Carry out initial analysis. Provide written feedback to participants (Mar/Apr 2012). Where opportunity arises at low cost, do this in a group process.

• Design, organize and seek funding for an Action Clinic, based on the outcome of the analysis, to be attended by those involved in this CC plus other invited actors.involved in this CC plus other invited actors.

The Cotton Conversations Workshop has already led to a collaboration between several actors around a new order that was finalised just after the workshop. The collaborators will see what they can do to realise some of the ten priorities identified for this textile order. The brand involved will be informed of workshop results, and future expansion of this CC to include the brand will be explored.

Next Steps

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Appendix: Cotton Conversations Summary

Cotton Conversations is intended to help partners in cotton textile value chains identify common values and use them to strengthen innovation and business practice. Chain-wide learning events with an innovative story-collection and analysis process are the basis for joint Action Clinics. These clinics seek agreements on shared core values and action priorities.

Cotton Conversations is one effort in the agro-food sector to ensure greater social equality and environmental sustainability. Such efforts are needed to ensure stable, secure supplies and relationships in the face of mounting agricultural and food systems pressures – and to respect the crucial contribution of all those involved in production and processing. Dealing with complexity of the cotton and textile sector means using dedicated learning trajectories to support the steep innovation and learning curves needed.

Four key characteristics of Cotton Conversations make sure it is reliable, rapid, flexible and draws in a wide group of relevant actors:

A  Focus  on  ….   Leads  to...

1. A chain-wide adaptation process, acknowledging complexity and bridging differences across stakeholders

Chain actors with better understanding of all players, roles and room for change of each player in their (sub)chain

2. Debated, shared understanding of needs and possibilities

Coordinated agreements on roles and investments

3. Robust, rapid value-oriented monitoring without distortion by external intermediaries.

Input for real time decision-making that reveals unexpected opportunities and threats

4. An appropriately iterative process Recurring formulation of best-chance options for improvements

These features tackle weaknesses inherent in many value-driven chain developments, namely:

• Slow learning processes, despite the need for quick adaptation

• Limited participation of critical voices, despite the promise of improvement for all

• Insufficient consideration of diverse paradigms, interests held by actors in a value chain, despite focus on ‘fair’ and ‘shared’

• Occasional, 2-3-parties-in-the-room discussions, despite need for continual, inclusive improvement

• Static top-down criteria-focused monitoring, despite need for coherence and convergence around values that allows space for surprise to emerge.

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Appendix: Cotton Conversations Summary

The Cotton Conversation process is a combination of facilitated chain-wide learning combined with the innovative SenseMaker software2 in data gathering and analysis. A cyclical learning process is set up that matches the decision-making processes of farmers and business, as in the figure below.

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Find out more on CottonConversations.com