Agriculture and farming practices – Retail

Primark depends on the agricultural sector for its raw materials, such as cotton, which is the main fibre used in its products.

A cotton farmer from the Primark Cotton Project, India

Responsible agriculture, biodiversity and land use

The Primark Cotton Project, set up in India in 2013, trains predominantly smallholder farmers, to reduce water use and dependence on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. It also teaches skills relating to seed selection, land preparation, sowing and harvesting. Read more about the Primark Cotton Project in the case study.

To tackle challenges facing cotton farming relating to biodiversity loss, including soil degradation and reduced agricultural productivity, Primark continues to partner with CottonConnect, SEWA, Biodiversify and the Srushti Conservation Foundation on its biodiversity monitoring framework. With its partners Primark has developed both a deep dive and lighter touch ‘citizen science’¹ biodiversity monitoring approach.

Since 2024, Primark has conducted deep dive biodiversity surveys across 14 farms in five villages in the Indian state of Gujarat. Based on detailed analysis, this provides a comprehensive understanding of the state of biodiversity in the farms surveyed. Additionally, the ‘citizen science’ approach entails both classroom and in-field training to equip local data collectors with the skills needed to carry out lighter touch biodiversity monitoring. The data and analysis from each approach is helping Primark to identify existing biodiversity levels on the farms they work with, to assess the impact of different approaches to farming on biodiversity levels, and to thereby help the business shape its future activities in order to tackle biodiversity-related risks within its supply chain.

Primark is assessing how best to apply these approaches going forward so as to continue building its understanding while also tracking progress in supporting biodiversity within the Primark Cotton Project.

1.The involvement of trained community members in collecting data using standardised methods to support scientific research.

Deforestation

Primark uses man-made cellulosic fibres derived from wood-pulp, such as viscose, to make some of its products. It also uses paper in its packaging and wood in some of its products. Primark has its own Wood and Wood-Derived Fibre Policy, which sets out its approach to sourcing these materials responsibly. This Policy applies to all Primark-branded products, product packaging (primary and secondary) and transit packaging (tertiary).

Primark supports the protection of the world’s limited forest resources through its partnership with the not-for-profit environmental organisation, Canopy. Primark continues to work alongside other fashion brands through the CanopyStyle initiative, which aims to transition fashion supply chains away from using ancient and endangered forest material and bring lower-impact fabric alternatives to customers. Primark is part of Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative, which is working to ensure companies move away from forests to use low-impact paper packaging options and reduce dependency on virgin wood-derived packaging.

All Primark suppliers are required to source only from man-made cellulosic fibre producers that are green rated by Canopy’s Hot Button ranking.

The Primark Cotton Project

Explore the case study

Animal health and welfare

As Primark expands the range of materials used in its products, it continues to ensure that animal welfare is part of its selection criteria.

Less than 2% of all products sourced by Primark contained one or more animal derived material, such as wool, cashmere, alpaca, mohair, silk or leather. Primark supports the development of animal welfare standards and certifications, and has an Animal-Derived Material Policy that requires suppliers to comply with industry standards.

Primark does not conduct, support or condone the use of animal testing that is not required for safety or quality by law. Primark avoids the use of animal testing wherever possible and does not maintain any testing facilities. All Primark own-brand cosmetics have been approved by the ‘Cruelty Free International Approval Programme’ (formerly Leaping Bunny Program), an internationally recognised gold standard for cruelty-free products, since 2021.

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Supporting farmers through the Primark Cotton Project and wider initiatives

Farmer training under the REEL regenerative standard

The Primark Cotton Project provides farmers, most of them women, with agronomic training in more regenerative agricultural practices. It teaches practices which aim to reduce the environmental impacts of growing cotton. For example, by replacing synthetic pesticides with biological alternatives, while lowering input costs and increasing yields, thereby improving farmers’ livelihoods and helping the continued availability of cotton within Primark’s supply chain.

During the year, the Primark Cotton Project transitioned to Cotton Connect's REEL Regenerative Standard, which provides additional independent verification of farming and ginning practices against the standard’s requirements.

Since its inception in 2013, the Primark Cotton Project has supported more than 300,000 farmers across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. As of July 2026, 64% of the cotton clothing units sold in the reporting year contained cotton from Primark preferred cotton sources (cotton from the Primark Cotton Project, recycled cotton, organic cotton and Cotton made in Africa)¹.

Further support for farmers

Primark recognises that farmers face a range of challenges to improving their farming practice and achieving more resilient livelihoods, not all of which can be addressed through agronomic training. Therefore, Primark is supporting farmers in other areas.

Improving agricultural outcomes

A key objective of the Primark Cotton Project agriculturally is to support farmers to improve their soil health, which is vital to more productive and resilient farming. To understand biodiversity levels better, during the year, Primark established biodiversity baselines on selected farms and piloted new monitoring approaches, including acoustic monitoring of pollinator activity in India, with its partner ‘Agri-Sounds’. Together with a recent Primark Cotton Project life cycle assessment, this data helps

reveal the impact of Primark-funded activity on soil, biodiversity and climate, and will inform future activities.

Strengthening farmers’ livelihoods and resilience

In addition to improving agricultural outcomes, Primark is working to support more effective collective action by women farmers, improving their access to insurance and social welfare, and supporting their income diversification.

Primark partners with Haqdarshak, an Indian social enterprise, to help female farmers obtain government-funded welfare support which they are entitled to but have difficulty accessing. This includes benefits such as insurance, pensions and agriculture-related loans. As of August 2026, Haqdarshak has helped 873 women to access benefits, and provided 788 women with digital financial literacy training to help them manage more effectively the benefits received.

Primark’s ‘Sustainable Lives India’ initiative supports female cotton farmers in Gujarat in India to form farming clusters and work together more effectively. Targeted benefits include obtaining lower input costs and improving access to credit to build their self-reliance. The project is delivered through Primark's partner the Self Employed Women’s Association, India’s largest trade union. As of August 2026, the project has reached more than 2,000 women and helped form 18 village committees to support planning and organisation. 

Primark also supported farmers in Pakistan who were evacuated from their land during severe floods in November 2025. To support their recovery, Primark provided food packages, veterinary care for their livestock and seeds at the beginning of the new season.