20 Years Aid by Trade Foundation. - Aid by Trade Foundation

20 Years of Aid by Trade Foundation – 20 Years of Value to Business, People and Nature

Entrepreneur Prof. Dr Michael Otto founded the Aid by Trade Foundation in 2005 with three primary aims: making a decisive and measurable contribution to the sustainable production of raw-materials, stabilizing the living conditions of producing communities, and protecting nature. What began with Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) in three African countries is now a global foundation that maintains four recognised sustainability standards for cotton and cashmere.

Value to Business, People and Nature

Convinced to transform cotton and textile production, AbTF began with its first efforts to introduce sustainable cotton into mainstream textile production in 2005 and launched Cotton made in Africa®. Since then, the Aid by Trade Foundation has been continuously expanding its operations. In 2006, the program was initiated with 100,000 small-scale farmers in three countries in Africa South of the Sahara. Over the years, AbTF has grown to become the largest standard for independently verified and sustainable cotton produced by small-scale farmers who stand in the forefront of AbTF’s engagement. Eventually, two other cotton standards were added: CmiA Organic and Regenerative Cotton Standard® (RCS). The launch of RCS represents AbTF’s first expansion of a cotton standard beyond Africa, to India. RCS is produced by farmers in Maharashtra who implement regenerative farming practices – a holistic and future-facing way to grow cotton. Now, in 2025, AbTF works with approximately 21 managing entities in the cotton cultivation areas, 65 retailers and brands purchasing the verified cotton, and more than 800,000 farmers in ten African countries as well as in India. Additionally, AbTF has started pioneering work with The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS), established in 2019 as the first standard for sustainable cashmere from Inner Mongolia. Having quickly risen to become a global leader in verifying sustainable cashmere production, GCS is now in demand by more than 50 fashion brands and textile companies, including H&M, J.Crew, Zadig&Voltaire, and The White Company. In China’s Inner Mongolia, GCS works with around 5,500 herders on whose farms 2.4 million goats live. Overall, more than 3,000 partners are now working with the foundation along the textile value chain from field to fashion, including some of the largest German and international trading companies and fashion houses in the textile sector. Each year, millions of textiles carry a label from the Aid by Trade Foundation based in Hamburg. By reinvesting the resulting income generated by activating market forces as part of a closed cycle, AbTF and partners makes a significant and measurable contribution to the sustainable transformation of the textile and fashion industry, to nature conservation, animal welfare, decent working conditions and stabilized living conditions of producers on-site, despite increasingly challenging external factors.

AbTF Launches New Biodiversity Fund

In 2025, AbTF’s commitment to preserving biodiversity and implementing innovative practices in sustainable cotton and cashmere production remains unwavering to accelerate nature restoration and socio-economic justice for cotton and cashmere farming communities. To take immediate action on top of its voluntary sustainability standards, the Aid by Trade Foundation officially launches its fund for the promotion of nature conservation and biodiversity protection, a future facing initiative to mark its 20-year anniversary. The foundation initially allocates EUR 500,000 to support projects and activities promoting biodiversity and nature conservation in the cotton or cashmere project regions of the Aid by Trade Foundation. Learn more here.