Pants to Poverty is a UK-based company that began as pant-loving members of Make Poverty History in 2005. When Nelson Mandela called for a generation to rise up to Make Poverty History, they did, and still are today! When they launched at Glastonbury festival in 2005, they were experimenting to see if they could make a perfect underwear brand that supports its farmers as much as consumers’ privates. Over 60,000 pairs later they’re really getting there and hope to go even further!

So far they have developed an ethical, transparent supply chain and a new type of underwear brand sold exclusively through a network of independent shops and over 10,000 people in 16 countries around the world who sell the pants and support their mission to rid the world of bad pants.

Fair Trade, organic and ethical
The supplier in India is called Pratibha Syntex in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. They control every process of the production of the pants and work exceptionally closely with the farmers to ensure that Pants for Poverty meet their objective of having the most ethical and transparent supply chain possible.

FAIR WAGES
All skilled workers are paid considerably more then the minimum wage for the region in India to ensure that everyone has a good, living wage.

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT:
This is core to the Pratibha approach with many management positions filled by women and 1,000 women now working at the factory (approximately 1/3 of all staff). Dynamic new programmes for women’s empowerment at all levels of the organisation have been instigated, including: a dedicated staff hospital, subsidised food, separate free accommodation, free transport, self-defence classes and a blood donation camp.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND PROMOTION:
The textile industry is renowned for being one of the worst polluting industries and so Pratibha, in order to leave a positive impact on the planet, invests heavily in effective waste management:
- 95% of water is recycled within the plant
-All waste is controlled within the plant
-100 trees are planted per quarter (25,000 to date)

All the pants are made using Fairtrade certified and pesticide free cotton. However it’s not just the farms that are certi?ed, but also the entire manufacturing process!

FARMING CERTIFICATION:
FLO
LACON

MANUFACTURING CERTIFICATION:
SA 8000
ISO9000
WRAP certified
ISO14001 (health)
OHSAS 18001 (Health and Safety certificates)

Although it might not have the organic logo, all the cotton is totally pesticide free and supporting the farmers and their land to the max! Pesticides not only destroy the health of the land and people exposed to them, but they also drive farmers into a cycle of debt and despair fueling suicide rates in India whilst making their manufacturers vast profits. Pants to Poverty supports the farmers to transition away from pesticides towards organic, a process that takes 3 years, and they buy their cotton until it is fully certified. Check out www.pantstopoverty.com/badpants for more information. In addition to this, Pants for Poverty are now donating an extra 50 pence per pair to fund the establishment of the world’s first source of child labour free seeds.

Zameen Organic
Zameen Organic, the home of the cotton, is the world’s first farmer owned marketing company for Fairtrade and organic cotton. Based in Hyderabad in India, Zameen will soon be majority owned by 6,700 of India’s poorest farmers, most of whom are in the Vidarbha region – an area where on average 26 farmers commit suicide every day due to unfair trade. Since Zameen started its work, there have been no suicides in the areas they serve and farmers are paid approximately 30% more than they are for conventional cotton.

Zameen means that, in exchange for their hard work on their own land, the farmers get:
- A guaranteed fair, market price for their cotton.
- Fairtrade and organic premiums
- Organizational and agricultural support to establish their own co-operatives, bank accounts and maximize the impact of their organic farming.
- Majority ownership of shares in Zameen Organic and farmer representatives on the board.
- A dividend on the profits generated by the company.
- A clean, chemical free environment to live in.