UN Trade and Development's video: World Cotton Day 2020 - Mukhisa Kituyi UNCTAD Secretary-General

I am pleased to celebrate the second World Cotton Day, this 7th of October 2020. World Cotton Day was founded, in part, to draw attention to the importance of cotton as a source of income for small family farms, especially in developing countries. In many arid parts of the world, cotton is the only crop that provides farmers a reliable cash income. This year, the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has jeopardized livelihoods worldwide. For cotton, the crisis has led to a fall in global consumption of at least 12%, dragging down prices and leaving some farmers unable to sell their crop. In this difficult year, my message on World Cotton Day is: let us maintain our focus on improving the lives of our vulnerable populations. To do this, we must work through the multilateral system to ensure that developing countries receive fairer opportunities to trade their cotton, so their farmers can earn a fairer living. We must also assist countries in creating new income opportunities, by adding more value to cotton fibre and developing by-products from the cotton plant UNCTAD will continue to do its part in these efforts. I wish you a prosperous World Cotton Day 2020.