Is this the end of forced labor for Uzbekistan’s cotton industry?

Forced labour is eradicated but other issues remain unsolved

Originally published on Global Voices

Uzbekistan’s cotton industry, once synonymous with forced labor, was long shunned by the international market. Western brands and manufacturers like Levi’s, H&M and Adidas, avoided the country's cotton sector due to sustained pressure from human rights groups, which led to an international boycott of Uzbek cotton. Yet, in September 2024, just two years after that ban was lifted, Uzbekistan hosted the world’s largest annual textile convention — the International Textiles Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).

While the country has made significant strides in eradicating forced labor and transforming its cotton sector, the motivation was largely economic and political. Forced labor was bad for business, and the nation could not compete internationally unless it modernized its industry and distanced itself from its legacy of exploitation. Cotton production makes up 12 percent of the country’s GDP. Politically, forced labor was bad for Uzbekistan’s image abroad, which the government has tried to fix since 2016.

Ending the decades-long backbreaking practice

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), since reforms began in 2015, Uzbekistan has taken an estimated two million children out of child labor and half a million adults from forced labor. The nation has also developed a vertically integrated textile industry, liberalized its markets, and transitioned from exporting raw cotton to exporting value-added textile products.

This progress is remarkable given Uzbekistan’s recent history of widespread forced labor, deeply entrenched in its economy and society until just a few years ago. This decades-long practice started when Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union and was one of the largest cotton producers in the bloc. The cotton industry’s reliance on forced labor forced millions, including children, to harvest cotton to meet government quotas.

Here is a YouTube video about forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton industry.

To make matters worse, up until around 2020, Uzbekistan’s state-controlled cotton monopoly compelled local officials to mobilize workers and forced farmers to sell cotton at government regulated and artificially low prices, concentrating profits among a small elite.

Esmira, a 30-year-old woman from Samarkand, reflected on her time working the fields with a degree of nostalgia. She remembers the camaraderie with classmates, joking around and enjoying evening discos after a long day in the fields.

However, she doesn’t shy away from discussing how grueling the work was.

I cried for the first few days because I was from the city and didn’t know how to pick cotton. My hands were in pain.

Eventually, I got the hang of it, but it was still backbreaking work. We had a quota of 50 kilograms a day. I would mix soil with the cotton in my sack just to make sure I wasn’t under.

Changing the industry

Since 2017, the government has implemented sweeping reforms to modernize Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. These reforms were administered by the current president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who came to power in the fall of 2016, after the death of Uzbekistan’s heavy handed first president Islam Karimov. By 2018, stricter labor inspections were introduced, and the cotton cluster system — vertically integrated companies managing the entire production chain from farming to yarn, fabric, and garment manufacturing — began to take shape.

Today, nearly all of Uzbekistan’s cotton is produced through 142 clusters. By 2020, cotton quotas were abolished, and the minimum wage was determined by the government in collaboration with trade unions and employers. That same year, the ILO reported that systemic child labor had been eradicated and was no longer a significant concern. The boycott was lifted in 2022.

Here is a YouTube video about the new cluster system and other changes in the cotton industry.

Eradicating forced labor has been hailed as, “one of the most significant victories anywhere in the world in the battle against forced labor in the twenty-first century,” said Bennett Freeman, co-founder of the Cotton Campaign in 2022. This achievement was made possible by the dedication of Uzbekistan’s human rights defenders and organizations like the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, who monitored cotton fields and flagged abuses, as well as by the government’s responsiveness in addressing these reports.

These dizzying changes were acknowledged by speakers at the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) annual conference.

In the interview with the author, Abu Yousef, head of the Better Work Programme in Uzbekistan — a collaboration between the ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), noted that the seismic changes in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector are also due to a shift in mindset.

Based on my discussions with industry leaders and our colleagues in the government, there has been a clear shift in mindset, along with efforts to diversify export potential. They are committed to compliance and have demonstrated that commitment in their collaborations.

Rights violations, harassment of activists, and state control

Despite the progress made in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry, significant challenges remain. While forced labor has been largely eradicated, issues such as labor rights violations, retaliation against workers, and intimidation of rights defenders persist. In April 2024, two prominent labor rights activists, Umida Niyazova, director and founder of Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, and Sharifa Madrakhimova faced harassment by unidentified individuals seeking to obstruct their efforts to monitor labor conditions.

There are also ongoing labor rights issues, such as contract abuse and efforts to suppress worker organizing — practices that undermine the goals of the cotton sector’s reform efforts.

Yousef acknowledges the strides made.

Through the reforms since 2017, Uzbekistan has opened its market to the West, allowing the industry and farmers more autonomy in dealing with business actors. This is a significant change from before, where the government controlled everything. Now, businesses themselves take ownership in working with their partners in the local market.

Despite abandoning forced labor, the government still continues to exert strong control over cotton production, and prevents farmers from fully operating on their own terms. While farmers receive resources and loans, the system remains inefficient, with state-set cotton prices often diverging from global prices. A 2023 presidential decree allowed farmers limited choice in selling surplus cotton on the market, but real market freedom has yet to be attained. By 2024, despite promises of reform, the state once again imposed minimum cotton prices based on global exchange rates, effectively maintaining the old system.

As the government and industry continue pushing for international compliance and diversified export potential, it is now time to tackle these lingering issues to ensure more trust and transparency.

The government's achievements in cotton industry reform so far are remarkable, but these gains must be preserved. Cases of harassment must be swiftly and thoroughly investigated, and the government should publicly reaffirm its commitment to allowing independent monitoring of labor practices.

Written by Karena Avedissian