Anvil joins the Cotton made in Africa Demand Alliance

New York, NY - Monday January 24 2011

The Aid by Trade Foundation fur-ther expands the Demand Alliance for its Cotton made in Africa initiative to the USA: Anvil is the first North American apparel manufacturer to join. The additional demand from this textile company for sustainably produced cotton will significantly help grow the program.

The Cotton made in Africa Demand Alliance continues to grow. With Anvil the network gains a further textile manufacturer that places a very high priority on its corporate responsibility. Anthony Corsano, Chief Executive Officer of Anvil Knitwear explains the deepening of the company‟s sustainability strategy: “Cotton made in Africa is anoth-er source of sustainable fiber for Anvil. It is rain fed, utilizes principles of soil conservation, reduces pesticides, and incorporates important ILO labor principles. We also hope our purchases help African small-holder farmers improve their own living standards.” Headquartered in New York, Anvil Knitwear produces sportswear and accessories under the Anvil® brand and for major private label brands. Anvil has earned its reputation in the textile sector as a transparent sustainability pio-neer, marketing its sustainable projects through its AnvilOrganic® and AnvilSustainable® collections.
Cotton made in Africa works in five African countries to help local smallholder cotton farmers help themselves through trade. On the one hand the initiative supports cotton farmers on-site with training and community projects; on the other, the initiative continues to build its Demand Alliance of international textile companies that take up sus-tainably produced cotton and process it further for the global market. The Alliance currently includes over twenty textile major companies.

The Aid by Trade Foundation

The Aid by Trade Foundation was established in 2005 by Dr. Michael Otto, the Hamburg-based entrepreneur and Chairman of the Otto Group Supervi-sory Board. It has since acted independently of the Otto Group. The Founda-tion‟s goal is to help people help themselves through trade, and thus to se-cure the conservation of vital natural resources and the future of coming gen-erations in developing countries. Cotton made in Africa is the Foundation‟s first initiative that literally puts the principle of „aid by trade‟ into practice.