The New Route of Cotton

The new cotton route is an initiative to promote the cotton of Mali, based on knowledge and skills that reflect the talents and artistic creativity of craftsmen, designers, fashion designers and decorators, Malians and Canadians.

This initiative proposes to re-articulate culture and the economy so as to involve the communities concerned in the research and promotion of cotton development dynamics in order to create jobs in Mali and reduce the vulnerability of women and young people to unemployment. , migration, climate change and armed conflicts through fashion and design, as a vector of social, economic and environmental structural transformation.

Fight poverty, unemployment and migration

Poverty, endemic unemployment and climate change are the main causes of the migration of women and young people to Europe and of the security crisis that is raging in Mali with its share of daily tragedy. About 45% of Mali’s population is under the age of 15 and more than 250,000 young people enter the labor market each year with no prospect of employment.

Initiated by the Embassy of the Republic of Mali in Canada, this initiative is part of the cultural diplomacy strategy of the “Maaya” embassy: Culture, Memories, Landmarks and Creativity. “Maaya” intends to promote the cultural references that Mali shares with its communities and with the world. “Maaya” can be defined as a set of moral and spiritual values ​​that make an individual social and sociable.

The initiative is also part of the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent and is “a contribution to a better understanding of the general socioeconomic conditions of black populations in Canada” [1] but also in Mali.

[1] STATISTICS CANADA. 2020. Socioeconomic Evolution of the Black Population in Canada, 2001 to 2016, Statistics Canada Catalog no. 89-657-X2020001. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2020001-eng.htm.