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What Is the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)? India’s Programme, Explained

Nov 10 2026

Quick answer: The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) — now known simply as Better Cotton — is the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme, accounting for about 23.87% of global cotton. It trains farmers to grow cotton more sustainably against a field-level standard, and lets brands source and claim ‘Better Cotton’. India is its biggest farmer base, with 786,072 licensed farmers in 2024-25. This guide explains what Better Cotton is, how the programme works on the ground, and how it is run in India.
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What is the Better Cotton Initiative?

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is a global non-profit, founded in 2005, that runs the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. Its mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting the environment, and its standard — the Principles & Criteria (P&C) — sets out what a farmer must do to grow and sell cotton as ‘Better Cotton’. In the 2024-25 season Better Cotton accounted for roughly a quarter of all cotton grown worldwide, across 1.40 million licensed farmers, with around 2,600 member companies — brands, retailers, mills, suppliers and civil-society organisations.

How the Better Cotton programme works

  • A field-level standard. The Principles & Criteria cover soil health, water, crop protection, decent work, livelihoods and — from v3.2 (April 2026) — regenerative-agriculture targets in each farmer’s continuous-improvement plan.
  • Training through field facilitators. Programme Partners and their field facilitators organise farmers into producer units, train them, run support visits and collect farm-level data, season after season.
  • Assurance. Farmers are checked through a mix of third-party certification (the certification decision is always independent), monitoring visits by Better Cotton country teams, Programme Partner support visits and producer self-assessments.
  • Chain of custody & traceability. Once certified, cotton moves through the supply chain under a chain-of-custody standard; the newer Traceable Better Cotton model uses physical segregation so brands can trace it to its country of origin.

Better Cotton in India

India is the heart of the programme. In the 2024-25 season, 786,072 licensed farmers produced 944,330 metric tonnes of Better Cotton — the largest farmer base of any country — all of them smallholders farming under two hectares. The programme runs across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan, through fifteen Programme Partners: Ambuja Cement Foundation, AFPRO, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Development Support Centre, Arvind Ltd., BASIL Commodities, Centre for People’s Forestry, Cotton Connect, Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation, MARI, Spectrum International, Vardhman Textiles, the Samunnati Foundation, the Welspun Foundation and WWF India.

The regenerative transition

In 2025 Better Cotton committed to becoming a regenerative standard system. Its updated standard asks farmers to set at least three regenerative-agriculture targets — across soil, biodiversity, water and inputs — in their continuous-improvement plans, and it is running projects such as the five-year Gujarat Regenerative Agriculture Project (with Ambuja Foundation and a major retailer) to drive adoption and collect reliable outcome data. In practice this means more farm-level training, measurement and verification — more on-ground work, every season.

Is Better Cotton credible? The assurance question

Mass-market sustainability programmes attract a fair question: is the label matched by what happens in the field? Better Cotton’s answer is its assurance system — independent third-party certification plus monitoring and support visits plus farm-level data. The honest reality is that a claim is only ever as strong as the evidence behind it on the ground. That is why independent, verifiable field data matters so much — and it is where a neutral field partner earns its place: see cotton supply-chain verification.

How the field work gets done — and where Anaxee fits

The reach, training and data behind Better Cotton are delivered on the ground, farmer by farmer, by field facilitators and Programme Partners — every season. Anaxee is the independent, tech-enabled field-execution and verification partner that organisations running cotton programmes can plug into: 40,000+ Digital Runners across India’s cotton belt who map and organise farmers, deliver and record training, collect farm-level data and verify it on a live dashboard. See the full picture on the Better Cotton field partner page.

AnaxeeProof on the ground
1,00,000farmers · 35 FPOsSamunnatiRead case study →2,42,672farmers · 3,667 villagesDeHaatRead case study →1,60,000+verified · 2,500+ assetsCSR & Relief VerificationRead case study →

Anaxee runs the kind of large-scale farmer field work — mapping, training, data and verification — that cotton sustainability programmes depend on, across India. See all case studies →

Frequently asked questions

What is the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)?
Better Cotton (formerly the Better Cotton Initiative) is the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme, founded in 2005. It trains farmers to grow cotton more sustainably against a field-level standard and lets member brands source and claim Better Cotton. It accounts for roughly 23.87% of global cotton.
Is Better Cotton greenwashing?
Better Cotton is a mainstream improvement programme, not an organic or chemical-free label — it aims to make large-scale cotton more sustainable. Its credibility rests on its assurance system (independent third-party certification, monitoring visits and farm-level data). As with any sustainability claim, it is only as strong as the on-ground evidence — which is why independent field verification matters.
What is the difference between Better Cotton and organic cotton?
Organic cotton is a strict, certified standard prohibiting synthetic inputs and GMOs on a relatively small volume. Better Cotton is a mainstream improvement programme covering a far larger share of global cotton, focused on continuous improvement in water, soil, inputs, decent work and (now) regenerative practices — not a ban on synthetic inputs.
How big is Better Cotton in India?
India is the largest Better Cotton farmer base in the world: 786,072 licensed smallholder farmers produced 944,330 metric tonnes in the 2024-25 season, across seven states and fifteen Programme Partners.
Who runs Better Cotton on the ground in India?
Fifteen Programme Partners — including WWF India, Cotton Connect, Arvind, Vardhman, the Samunnati Foundation and the Welspun Foundation — and their field facilitators train, support and collect data from farmers each season. Independent field partners like Anaxee provide tech-enabled field execution and verification at scale.
Is Anaxee part of Better Cotton?
No — Anaxee is not a Better Cotton member or certifier. It is an independent field-execution and verification partner that cotton programmes, mills and brands can use to run and prove their farmer work. See the Better Cotton field partner page.

The bottom line

Better Cotton is how most of the world’s cotton is being made more sustainable — and India, with 786,072 licensed farmers, is its centre of gravity. Behind the label is a vast, recurring field operation of training, data and verification, and the part that is hardest to scale is the on-ground work. That is where an independent, tech-enabled field partner comes in.

AnaxeeWorking on Better Cotton or sustainable cotton in India?

Whether you are a Programme Partner, a mill or a brand, Anaxee runs the field execution and verification behind it. Tell us the belt and the season.

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See also: Better Cotton field partner · Cotton supply-chain verification · Farmer network & sourcing

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Written by the founder

Govind Agrawal is the Founder & CEO of Anaxee Digital Runners — India’s Reach Engine. He writes on last-mile reach across Bharat, go-to-market, field data and climate-tech execution.

More from Govind Agrawal → govindagrawal.com