Uzbekistan: Increasing Farmers’ Autonomy Critical To Address Forced Labor Risks And Attract Responsible Sourcing
(Washington, DC, March 12, 2025) Uzbekistan should reinforce reforms to address structural issues that contribute to ongoing forced labor risks in cotton production, the Cotton Campaign said. Such measures would ensure the emerging textile industry can meet international labor standards necessary to attract responsible sourcing by global brands. The call comes as Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, Cotton Campaign's frontline partner, today published its findings of independent civil society monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan. The report shows that financial challenges in the cotton sector disadvantaged farmers, weakening their ability to pay rates high enough to incentivise voluntary cotton picking. The report, “There Is A Lot Of Cotton, But No One To Pick It”, also found that forced labor risks remain due to factors that include the government’s imposition of cotton production targets and strict control of the harvest. These practices show that the cotton production system remains coercive, despite the elimination of systemic state-imposed forced labor in the harvest. This was further reinforced mid-way through the 2024 harvest, as the government lowered the price cotton companies were obligated to pay farmers for their crop, despite existing contracts between farmers and the companies.
"In the three years since Uzbekistan ended the use of systemic forced labor in the annual cotton harvest, forced labor and other labor rights risks still remain”, said Allison Gill, Legal Director at Global Labor Justice, which hosts the Cotton Campaign. “Further reforms to guarantee freedom of association for farmers and workers are critical to protect the progress made so far, eliminate remaining forced labor risks, and move towards a truly sustainable industry. Such reforms will help to attract responsible sourcing, which in turn will further sustainable economic growth."
Despite privatization of the cotton sector, the Uzbek government retained a coercive role over farmers, including by enforcing cotton production plans. During the harvest, local officials are responsible for delivering cotton according to these production plans under pressure from central authorities. The 2024 harvest was marked by a severe shortage of voluntary pickers. Faced with pressure to meet their own delivery quotas, some district officials used coercion to mobilize pickers or extort money to pay for replacement pickers. Following media reports of such cases in the first phase of the harvest, the Senate, the Ministry of Education, and the Labor Inspectorate issued statements reiterating the prohibition on forced labor. These resulted in a decline in reported cases by the end of the harvest.
In 2024, cotton farmers’ economic situation worsened, which undermined their ability to pay competitive rates sufficient to attract voluntary pickers. Without any consultation, one month into the harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture required farmers to sign additional agreements with cotton companies, wherein they accepted to be paid lower prices than originally agreed upon. While a subsidy was made available to partially compensate for the drop in farmers’ income resulting from the lower price, farmers reported that in many cases this was insufficient to cover their production costs, let alone make a profit and improve their livelihoods.
Farmers across different regions reported pressure and intimidation by local authorities to agree to the lower prices. Some farmers also reported that unless they signed the additional agreements, cotton companies refused to accept their cotton or the state bank refused to release further loans they could use to pay cotton pickers. Following media attention to such cases, the Ministry of Agriculture backtracked on its requirement for new agreements, but by that time, the majority of farmers had signed them and sold their cotton at prices lower than originally agreed to.
The government’s intervention was apparently in response to an appeal from cotton companies that volatility in global cotton prices would make them unprofitable if they paid the prices previously agreed to with farmers. This intervention reversed progress made in December 2023 to increase farmers’ autonomy, when a Presidential Decree allowed cotton farmers, for the first time, to negotiate prices and sign futures contracts with cotton companies ahead of the 2024 season through the Uzbek Commodity Exchange.
“The fact that farmers had no choice but to accept they would be paid less than originally agreed upon, which in many cases meant they were unable to cover their production costs, shows that farmers lack collective bargaining power to negotiate solutions to crisis situations that satisfy all parties", said Umida Niyazova, Executive Director of Uzbek Forum for Human Rights. “To achieve a sustainable cotton sector, the Uzbek government should take action to enable and protect farmers’ rights, including bargaining rights as well as freedom of choice over what crops they grow and which cotton companies they enter into contracts with.”
Farmers have repeatedly sought to engage in dialogue with the government and negotiate policies impacting the cotton sector. Uzbek Forum’s report describes that in a collective action in November 2024, a group of farmers sent an open appeal to the President of Uzbekistan. They asked for consultations to address a wide range of issues including forced crop placement, a lack of accountability for interference by authorities and law enforcement in contractual relationships between farmers and cotton companies, and constraints on farmers’ freedom of association rights to form cooperatives. At the time of the report publication, the government had not yet responded to the farmers’ appeal.
Uzbekistan has developed a vertically integrated textile industry, which provides global brands with unprecedented opportunities for full visibility and traceability of cotton supply chains. However, to unlock the full potential of its newly developed textile industry, Uzbekistan should take concrete action to address the ongoing forced labor risks and the coercive nature of the cotton sector. This includes enabling and protecting farmers’ right to organize and form independent organizations to represent them, defend their interests, and engage in good faith bargaining with cotton companies, respect and enforce bargained agreements, as well as strengthening the rule of law and preventing interference in contractual relationships governing the supply of cotton.
“To encourage global brands to explore sourcing Uzbek cotton and textiles, it is essential that the Uzbek government and industry make further tangible progress to address remaining forced labor risks and protect and respect workers' and farmers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining", said Nate Herman, Senior Vice President, Policy, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). “Not only are these rights fundamental to a sustainable cotton and textile industry, but growing regulations worldwide require brands to ensure protection and respect for labor rights across their supply chains.”
"Government interference, coercion, and contradictory policies contribute to ongoing risks associated with Uzbek cotton and raise concerns about Uzbekistan’s ability to provide a stable and predictable supply chain”, said Raluca Dumitrescu, Senior Coordinator of the Cotton Campaign. “To reduce risk and support the Cotton Campaign’s efforts to develop a pilot program for sourcing, Uzbekistan should create an environment where terms and agreements governing cotton production and supply are negotiated and enforced in accordance with international standards.”
"We commend the Uzbek government for taking prompt action to address reported cases of forced labor in the harvest", said Bennett Freeman, Cotton Campaign co-founder and former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. "But to develop a sustainable industry that complies with international labor standards and brands' requirements for sourcing, Uzbekistan must accelerate the reform process by introducing broader reforms to protect workers and farmers."
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The Cotton Campaign is a coalition of human and labor rights NGOs, independent trade unions, brand and retail associations, responsible investor organizations, supply chain transparency groups, and academic partners, united to end forced labor and promote decent work in cotton supply chains in Central Asia.
