Hi there, welcome back to Part 2 of <Cotton On? Cotton Off>. In Part 1, I’ve talked about the environmental perils of cotton farming and focussed on its large water footprint and use of harmful agrochemicals. Let’s now focus on the more “human” aspects of cotton farming.
Human-environment interactions
In understanding how environmental impacts translate into socio-economic impacts, the concept of socionatures by Nevins and Peluso (2008) can be applied. Socionatures are “forms of state-capital-society-nature connections…processes are not discrete categories but heterogeneous, overlapping, contradictory, and mutually constitutive” (Nevins and Peluso 2008: 16). This essentially means that the interrelations between humans and the environment cannot be ignored. Going back to the case study on the Aral Sea, we can see how socionatures come into play as the impacts of cotton farming cascade down to the local economy and communities living along the lake. In a study by Anchita et al. (2021), a similar concept is also used as seen in the figure below – the “One Health” approach shows the interconnections between environmental health, human health and animal health.
Loss of livelihood for fishing communities
Water diverted to cotton farming has resulted in the shrinking of the lake, and this, in turn, forced the fishing industry to collapse and shut down. Previously a freshwater lake, the Aral Sea supported thriving fisheries and provided up to 40,000 jobs in the region (Howard, 2014). Fishing communities that have relied on the lake then lose the only form of livelihood known to them for decades.
Carcinogenic dust
A secondary impact of cotton farming lies in the health impacts associated with the desiccation of the Aral Sea. As mentioned in Part 1, large amounts of persistent pesticides and other agrochemicals are used to support cotton monoculture in the region, leading to toxic pollution (Ataniyazova, 2003). With little water left in the Aral Sea, the concentrations of toxic pollutants increased sharply. Wind passing over the seabed picks up the toxic dust and carries it downstream. This has contributed to a reduction in air quality and affected crop production with salt-laden particles accumulating on arable land. To put this into context, the proportion of land that is moderately to strongly saline has increased by twofold from the 1980s to the 2000s (Ataniyazova, 2003).
There are also health impacts associated with the transport of carcinogenic, toxic dust – according to the Uzbek Ministry of Health, more than 2000 people living near the Aral Sea die of tuberculosis yearly. Besides affecting respiratory health, dust particles have also polluted drinking water sources. In Karakalpakstan, the nearest major city to the Aral Sea, groundwater quality has degraded over the years and the population continues to drink highly mineralised and polluted water (Ataniyazova, 2003).
Forced labour
In Uzbekistan, people are threatened with expulsion from schools, dismissal from their jobs and physical violence if they refuse to help the government harvest cotton in the vast cotton fields (Bishkek, 2013). This forced labour to harvest “white gold” applies to both children and adults and it was only in 2012 that child labour was banned, albeit this ban is routinely flouted. This video here summarises cotton crimes in Uzbekistan:
Through the lens of socionatures or the “One Health” concept, we can see how cotton farming affects both the environment and people. Our purchasing decisions will not only affect the environment but also inadvertently affect the region from which the raw textiles are sourced. In the next post, we will look at the pollution caused by textile dyes and until then, let’s keep running away from fast fashion!
Cheers,
Chermaine
References
Ataniyazova, O. A. (2003). Health and Ecological Consequences of the Aral Sea Crisis—Panel III: Environmental Issues in the Aral Sea Basin. 7.
Bishkek, D. T. (2013). In the land of cotton. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/banyan/2013/10/16/in-the-land-of-cotton
Howard, B. C. (2014). Aral Sea’s Eastern Basin Is Dry for First Time in 600 Years. Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/141001-aral-sea-shrinking-drought-water-environment
Nevins, J., & Peluso, N. L. (2008). Introduction: Commoditization in Southeast Asia. In J. Nevins & N. L. Peluso (Eds.), Taking Southeast Asia to Market (pp. 1–24). Cornell University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv5rf61v.6