Pants to Poverty, part of the Make Poverty History coalition sell ethical underwear that are fair trade certified, sweat shop free and made from organic cotton.
Cotton is one of the few crops India can grow because of the poor state of the soil there but they weren’t getting fair prices so were trapped in poverty.
Many cotton farmers in India are now paid fairly thanks to fair trade policies. With the fair-trade premium, they have health insurance plans for farmers and their families as well as veterinary care for their livestock. Farmers also have wider options and can plant fruit trees to bring in more income.
- More jobs for women have also been created allowing them alternatives and giving them a chance to contribute more and provide properly for their families.
- Farmers creating cotton for Pants to Poverty use sustainable organic farming methods, which include using natural pesticides like neme oil and manure.
Better water technologies have also been made available to farmers in India such as drip irrigation techniques. This method wastes much less water and enables plants to get a steady supply, getting neither too much nor too little. In Africa, the Hippo Water Roller has been used to help increase people’s water supplies. There is a Hippo Food Security System available that uses the drip irrigation technique successfully and it has increased people’s food supplies.
Pants for Poverty is run by many volunteers but the more people that support them by buying their underwear, the more who are helped out of poverty. The underwear are cute and come in hot pants or boxers. The white band around the waist says, “Pants to Poverty” and was inspired by the “Make Poverty History” white bands, which people wear as the symbol for the global fight to make poverty history.
Poverty Effects on Farmers
- Larger corporations have been getting away with dumping chemicals and pesticides into India’s rivers, which has not helped matters. It's affected India's economy and their health. According to BBC in the last seven years, at least four thousand seven hundred farmers have committed suicide in India and have tragically done so with the same fertilizers that put them in debt.
Make Poverty History fights for global trade justice because that would help supply people with enough food, fair wages and protect their environment. Everyone deserves to have food and clean water.
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be overcome by the actions of human beings… sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation." (Nelson Mandela, 2004)
For more information or to support them see: Pants for Poverty and Make Poverty History
Related: Edun Promotes Organic Cotton: Bono and Ali Launch Clothing Collection on Premise of Trade not Aid
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