A small village in Mali is not usually where you expect to run into a buyer from Topshop, Marks & Spencer or Debenhams, but the landlocked African country is increasingly playing host to some of Britain’s top retailers as they battle it out to prove their ethical credentials.

Demand for Fairtrade and organic cotton, much of which is grown by small producers in poor countries such as Mali, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, is expected to balloon next year as stores draw on one of the most well known ethical brands.

The labelling organisation is conservatively predicting a 50 per cent increase in sales of Fairtrade cotton in 2008. However, sales are likely to considerably exceed that estimate as high street retailers and supermarket groups including J Sainsbury and Tesco all step up the amount of Fairtrade cotton they sell.

The new initiatives come on top of an estimated eightfold increase in sales of Fairtrade cotton this year to a retail value of £45 million, up from just £6 million the year before.

Fairtrade cotton has been a roaring success since it was launched in 2005. It is the fastest-growing product group among six major categories of goods now sold under the ethical guarantee, including wine, confectionery and hot beverages.

In February Marks & Spencer promised to produce 20 million garments using Fairtrade cotton by the end of next year. Debenhams will also make its first major move into the market next year with the launch of FiveG, a men’s clothing range.

Topshop, meanwhile, will help Fairtrade to achieve its aim of attracting a younger, trendier audience when it steps up its own-label range of items using ethically sourced cotton next year. The fashion chain will be selling underwear in 50 stores, nightwear in 73 stores and jeans and fashion pieces in the 30 top stores after a successful trial of T-shirts made with Fairtrade cotton this year.

Sainsbury’s intends to increase the amount of Fairtrade cotton it uses by 50 per cent in 2008 to 630 tonnes as part of a plan to switch all its standard T-shirts in its Tu clothing range to the ethical fibre.

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said: “Since we started selling Fairtrade bananas nearly seven years ago, customers have demonstrated that they now expect the values of Fairtrade to be a normal part of their shopping. There is a growing awareness among UK consumers of the importance of buying Fairtrade products to improve the livelihoods of poor producers.”

Fairtrade offers farmers a higher price for the cotton than they can get on the world market, calculated to ensure that it covers production and living costs. An additional premium is also distributed to the producer cooperatives that are an essential part of the Fairtrade system. The cooperatives invest their premium in community development projects such as schools, clean water and clinics.

Under the scheme, retailers and brands must make long-term commitments regarding the amount of cotton they need to allow producers to plan production efficiently. They must also get Fairtrade approval for each step in their supply chain, from spinning to manufacture, under stringent rules. It’s quite a tricky process for retailers who are trying to ensure they are as responsive as possible to shoppers’ latest whims.

However, in return, producers commit to sell only their best cotton fibre to Fairtrade buyers. They are also bound by much stricter environmental care rules than conventional cotton producers.

Producers are obviously keen to sign up to the Fairtrade system, the additional finance from which has had an impressive impact on the lives of more than 30,000 cotton farmers from 16 producer groups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, India and Senegal. In Mali’s Kita region, for example, where farmers are supplying M&S and Debenhams, among others, the Djidian cooperative board, which oversees 2,108 farmers, has so far seen its members use community premiums to build six schools, two clinics two wells and 20 storage houses. All this has been achieved with a premium for the union’s cooperatives of just £100,000 over two years.

Despite its meteoric rate of growth, Fairtrade cotton still makes up less than 1 per cent of the fibre produced worldwide. The majority of conventional cotton is produced in the US, where state subsidies mean farmers receive a price equivalent to 70 per cent more than the international average. Oxfam says that the bulk of this money goes to just ten farms.

Brazil is heading a campaign backed by Oxfam to persuade the US Government to stick to its promise to the World Trade Organisation last year to phase out subsidies. The US has said it will not do so until Europe ends its subsidy programme.

Fairtrade has been criticised for supporting unsustainable production but the organisation argues that, until farmers in poor countries get a fair price for their goods, Fairtrade is the best way to counteract US and European subsidies.

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