2022 was supposed to have marked a turning point for Uzbek cotton, once synonymous with state-sanctioned slavery.

On April 3, 89 civil society organizations signed a joint statement calling on the IFC and the EBRD to ensure remedy and accountability, for the severe and systemic violations at Indorama Agro cotton project, Uzbekistan.

The 2024 harvest saw a shortage of pickers, government backtracking on positive legislation, and issues stemming from the cotton cluster system; problems rooted in continued state efforts to micromanage the industry.

Uzbekistan’s new regulations for NGOs impose government control and interference in the implementation of projects funded by foreign organizations or individuals. This poses difficult questions for international donors including the European Union, USAID, United Nations agencies, and others who make grants available to civil society organizations. 

Human rights activist Umida Niyazova spoke to Fergana News about a recent trip to her homeland and her impression of new realities after many years in exile.

The much heralded privatisation of the Central Asian state’s cotton sector has led to claims of exploitation. But workers are fighting back.

Despite significant progress on the eradication of forced labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector, new challenges have come to light since the privatization process began. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland have now been transferred to private operators (clusters) leaving many farming families without work and in poverty. Because only one cluster operates per district, farmers who have retained their land are now trapped in contracts to deliver cotton to the cluster in their district, leaving them without the power to negotiate favorable terms. Instead of the state, de facto private monopolies have emerged that control entire districts.