Promoting sustainable production and consumption

Although the Indian textile and craft sector contributes to 14 percent of industrial production, 4 percent of the GDP, and 17 percent of the country?s export earnings, there have been little targeted efforts to study and address problems relating to health and safety of workers as well as the general environmental impact of textile and crafts production processes.

Negative environmental impacts from production processes disproportionately impact poor communities who are often located in close physical proximity to production sites. Consumers across the world are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues, as well as more sensitive to the conditions in which the products they consume are produced. Taking pro-active approaches to improving environmental and health and safety measures will be a key step in ensuring long term competitiveness of the Indian textile and craft sectors.

In this context, the All India Artisans and Craft workers Welfare Association (AIACA) - in partnership with Traidcraft UK and COTEX, Rajasthan - is working on a 4 year project- the SWITCH Asia Project (Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production). The project is supported by the European Union and will promote the production and consumption of sustainable textiles in India.

Under the sustainable production element, the project will assist the creation of an eco friendly textile park in Bagru, Rajasthan. This park will use green technologies for production and will have in place infrastructure for water harvesting and conservation. The design of the park will also reflect best practices in occupational health and safety. This park will be used as a model to promote best-practice adoption in 29 other textile parks across the country. The project will also work towards increasing the use of environment friendly technologies and practices by textile-producing SMEs, specifically focusing on reducing contamination of local environment, reducing water and energy consumption and increasing the use of sustainable raw materials. The project will encourage technical innovation, developing models for low cost technology relating to water conservation, treatment and recycling for the textiles and craft sector.

The sustainable consumption element of the project will include market research both at the domestic and international levels so as to identify and support effective marketing strategies to promote eco-friendly products. In addition, the project will also focus on brand development and eco- labelling initiatives.

The project will also undertake in depth study of the existing Government policies as well as practices within the industry to identify the challenges faced in the textile and craft sector. The outcomes and findings of the research will support advocacy with Government Departments and private industry in the form of policy briefs supporting best practices for sustainable development of the sector.

To access the Project Information Leaflet [pdf] click here.

For more information on the Switch Asia Networking Facility please log on to http://www.switch-asia.net/.