The Corona Crisis from a Fibre to Fashion perspective
First published on 1 April 2020 on biore.ch
If nature continues to show itself to be unaffected by Covid-19, then bioRe® farmers will be able to harvest the new bioRe® organic cotton on Tanzanian fields in about 3-4 months as planned.
“Here in Tanzania the situation is not yet so critical and has hardly influenced the project activities so far. We are getting down to work and the field activities are underway. However, all large gatherings are prohibited and therefore the farmer training courses are not feasible,” says Marco Paul, Co-CEO bioRe Tanzania.
“Indian bioRe farmers are not yet affected except by the curfew measures. The new sowing will take place in May, i.e. depending on the development, the farmers will be able to sow as usual. However, the situation is very complex and dynamic and not really predictable”, says Vivek Rawal, CEO bioRe India Ltd. about the situation in India.
The measures in India, which have been intensified by the corona virus, are very strict. The Prime Minister has issued a decree requiring a lockdown throughout the country as a preventive containment measure for a period of 21 days effective March 25. All passenger traffic has been restricted, including interstate travel. India is seriously threatened by the Covid-19 virus, not only because of the sheer size of the country, but also because the health system is in a very poor state.
The compulsory physical distancing in India also affects the activities of bioRe Association India, the bioRe schools have been closed for more than a week. The farmers’ training courses have to be postponed. We have distributed masks made of organic cotton to all members of the bioRe team”, says Aashish Joshi, from bioRe Association India.
Effects for our bioRe® production partners in industrial production
The stricter measures in India do not only affect the farming, but especially the production chains, i.e. the ginning plants, spinning mills, dye works and garment makers who process the bioRe® organic cotton for retailers and brands in India into bioRe® textile collections and yarns for retail partners in Europe and the USA. All plants are affected by the lockdown and have currently stopped production until April 14, 2020. Together with our long-standing production partners, we are monitoring the effects of this extraordinary situation on site for the workers and the companies in direct and close contact.
Production in Lithuania has not yet been affected by a standstill, a positive sign in this global crisis.
Remei, the exclusive licensee of bioRe®, as network manager controls the entire production from the purchase guarantee for the bioRe® farmers, the development of the production chains to the finished textile as well as the currently strongly changed market situation of the B2B trading partners. In this spectrum – Fibre to Fashion – this global crisis, which is changing dynamically from day to day, needs to be reflected and overcome together.
