"After all protecting nature and enabling people to live dignified lives is not only a matter of principle; it is a matter of survival."
The Aid by Trade Foundation’s revenue amounted to EUR 7.8 million in 2025. Thanks to the strong market position of AbTF’s sustainability standards, EUR 6.7 million was generated through the private-sector market activities of Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), Cotton made in Africa Organic, the Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS), and The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS). GCS was particularly successful, seeing a 19 percent increase in revenue. Expenditure on programmes implementing the sustainability standards and on cooperation projects amounted to EUR 4.2 million.
| INCOME |
2025 EUR K |
2025 IN % |
2024 EUR K |
2024 IN % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing income | 4,884 | 62 | 5,096 | 59 |
| Partnership contributions | 1,850 | 24 | 2,020 | 24 |
| Donations | 802 | 10 | 699 | 8 |
| Grants | 0 | 0 | 360 | 4 |
| Other income | 298 | 4 | 424 | 5 |
| TOTAL INCOME |
7,834 | 100 % | 8,599 | 100 % |
| EXPENDITURE |
2025 EUR K |
2025 IN % |
2024 EUR K |
2024 IN % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management and administration | 744 | 13 | 704 | 13 |
| Programme implementation | 3,607 | 65 | 3,638 | 68 |
| Cooperation projects | 613 | 11 | 528 | 10 |
| Marketing, sales, and communications | 603 | 11 | 485 | 9 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE |
5,567 | 100 % | 5,355 | 100 % |
Driving Impact Beyond Cotton.
In 2025, figures in EUR K
Founded two decades ago by Prof. Dr Michael Otto, the Aid by Trade Foundation is making a decisive and measurable contribution towards achieving ecologically and socially sound fibre production, improving the working and living conditions of producers and their communities, securing animal welfare, and protecting nature by activating market uptake and transparency. Over the past 20 years, key successes have included the following:
AbTF now maintains four sustainability standards that are recognised, implemented, and in demand globally: Cotton made in Africa, Cotton made in Africa Organic, The Good Cashmere Standard, and the Regenerative Cotton Standard.
Every year, millions of textiles are sold bearing a label of one of AbTF’s standards; the standards provide significant support to brands and retailers in meeting their ESG requirements. To strengthen the integrity of traceable cotton products, the Aid by Trade Foundation developed the AbTF Transparency Standard in 2025, which introduces an additional layer of third-party verification and supply chain assurance based on its established chain of custody model and tracking system.
Launched in 2006, CmiA has since become a leading standard for verified sustainable cotton, growing from 100,000 small-scale farmers in three African countries to more than 700,000 small-scale farmers in ten countries in 2025. Almost 40 percent of all cotton produced in Africa is verified under CmiA or CmiA Organic. This involves partnerships with 20 cotton companies and 50 textile production markets worldwide.
Introduced in 2014, CmiA Organic has become a standard in high demand by producers and retailers alike because it supplements regular organic certification with social and economic support for African farmers and communities. More than 40,000 small-scale farmers in four African production countries are now verified under CmiA Organic.
Established in 2019, GCS quickly became the global leader for verified sustainable cashmere from Inner Mongolia, ensuring that animals, people, and land are all treated with care. Global demand has reached an all-time high, with 71 retail and brand partners from 13 countries worldwide processing and tracing GCS fibres.
The launch of RCS in 2023 embodies AbTF’s increased focus on protecting and restoring the environment whilst improving conditions for cotton farming communities based on a holistic approach for regenerative agriculture. The standard sets clear guidelines for regenerative cotton production, which include regular independent verifications. It was rolled out in India and Tanzania, with the number of farmers applying the standard criteria in Tanzania rising by 87.8 percent.
* CmiA Organic farmers are included in the overall number of CmiA farmers named above
Figures compared to the previous year.
To this end, the foundation has allocated EUR 500,000 to the AbTF Biodiversity Fund, which was established to mark the 20th anniversary of the foundation, in 2025.
"It’s not a question of why we involve local communities but rather of how we can support local communities in their own efforts to preserve their lands and livelihoods."
Elizabeth Naro
Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Adaptation
African People & Wildlife
Tanzania
"We chose the CmiA standard because it focusses on improving farming practices, supporting smallholder farmers, and empowering women."
Joe Ryan
Product sustainability manager
Primark
"With the new version of the CmiA standard coming into force, AbTF is increasing its precision, purpose, and value to all stakeholders integrated value."
Margaret Wanjiku
Lead Verifier
AfriCert
"Supporting women would increase agricultural production worldwide, especially in developing countries. Women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income in their households’ well-being."
Adèle Noudjilembaye
Head of Sustainability
Cotontchad SN
"Bokashi and biochar are tailored to turn agricultural waste—specifically cotton stalks—into valuable carbon-rich soil amendments."
Dorina Nathaniel
Agriculture Field Supervisor
Alliance Ginneries Ltd.
"As herders, our responsibilities and obligations extend beyond managing the goats’ habitat, food, and water; they also involve paying constant attention to their mental well-being."
Chaoluomenqiqige
Woman Herder Running a GCS Model Farm
Otog Banner, Ordos, China
"Providing enrichment and respecting the goats' social nature improves welfare, reduces stress, and makes farming safer and more productive."
Dr Alan McElligott
Animal Professor
Animal Behaviour and Welfare City University of Hong Kong
Côte d’Ivoire
Empowering women so that they can share their knowledge and ecological practices for improving soil quality is at the heart of a project in Côte d’Ivoire. It is being coordinated by the Aid by Trade Foundation, implemented by local managing entities, and financially supported by the Bestseller Foundation.
As part of the project, which will run until March 2027, women are provided with the necessary resources to improve their social standing by playing a key role in establishing climate-resilient farming methods through ecological measures to optimise soil quality. This, in turn, increases the resilience of farms and stabilises rural communities. Overall, the project directly benefits about 400 women, with a broader indirect impact on approximately 5,400 individuals from the surrounding communities.
Cameroon
Making cotton cultivation climate-resilient is a key goal of all the Aid by Trade Foundation’s cotton standards. The way small-scale producers live and produce cotton contributes little to climate change. Paradoxically, the consequences of global warming are now an existential threat to many farmers.
For this reason, AbTF is supporting a project in Cameroon, implemented by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and other partners who, in collaboration with bizpando AG, aim to promote access to carbon credits in cotton production. The goal is to enable small-scale farmers to improve soil quality, sequester CO2, and make the carbon credits market accessible to farmers through digital technology.
Benin
Among the four African countries that produce cotton in accordance with Cotton made in Africa Organic, a special focus was placed on Benin in 2025; it was one of the first countries where the Aid by Trade Foundation became active. Also in 2025, the foundation participated in the consortium project, “Fostering strong partnerships to integrate Benin’s growing organic cotton sector into global supply chains”, which will run until 2027.
The consortium—which includes the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK, the Organisation Béninoise pour la Promotion de l’Agriculture Biologique (OBEPAB), cotton trader Reinhart, the Société pour le Développement du Coton (SODECO), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and AbTF—supports small-scale farmers in converting to organic cotton cultivation with CmiA Organic verification. This helps to prevent the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and further expands the organic cotton sector in Benin.
