An important mission of the Organic & Fairtrade Cotton Coalition is to strengthen local value creation and to promote transparency and resilience in our global supply chains. One key driver for this mission is the Traceable TreeShirt project. It is a crowdfunding project, carried out by multiple partners (ecos, gebana, NIKIN, Haelixa, FILSAH, Xoomba, MK2T, Cotexa) to promote 100% traceable and fair trade organic cotton T-shirts produced with 100% Burkina Faso Organic Cotton in Burkina Faso. This project facilitates the exchange between European and local actors in Burkina Faso and aims to establish fertile ground for future partnerships.
After a long waiting process, our Traceable TreeShirts are finally getting closer to being delivered. Follow along and gain some insights into the development stages of the TreeShirts:
- Initially, many questions regarding the feasibility of production and DNA marking for full traceability had to be discussed.
- After many intensive exchanges with all the involved stakeholders a decision was made: to carry the project forward and start sampling.
- As soon as the first TreeShirt samples were ready, they were sent to NIKIN in Switzerland for quality checks. The shirts had a great look and also withstood the washing tests. However, the fabric was still a little heavy and stiff due to the spinning process and thus a second round of sampling began.
- Now, the new and improved samples are getting to their final stages. The yarn has been prepared and processed into fabric, which is now being dyed. As soon as the dyeing process is finished, the shirts will be tailored into their final shape.
Up to these important steps, a lot has happened. The organic cotton was transported from the ginning plant in Koudougou to the spinning mill in Bobo Dioulasso and processed locally (see photo). Before the spinning process, the organic cotton was marked with Haelixa’s natural DNA markers. This invisible marking allows the cotton to be traced back to its origins, providing an end-to-end supply chain transparency. By applying the marker, it is possible to trace every single TreeShirt to the source and even check where exactly it was processed. You can see this process, where the liquid marking is sprayed onto the cotton, in the short film documentary.
The TreeShirts are thus in the final stages before the samples are sent to NIKIN for final approval. We feel confident that we will soon be able to wear our first traceable TreeShirts and with that, support a 100% traceable Organic & Fairtrade value chain from Burkina Faso to the world.
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