H&M is facing allegations of using cotton from Ethiopian farms that were subject to land grabbing. However, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer has clarified it’s making every effort to ensure its cotton does not come from appropriated land. The company says it does not source cotton from the Omo Valley region, where there is a higher risk of land-grabbing.

H&M began small-scale buying of clothes from suppliers in Ethiopia in 2013. This was its first sourcing from an African country. Its operations are widely seen as part of the Ethiopian government’s plans to build up a garment production industry. The company said it had undertaken an analysis that showed land-grabbing did not occur in the area where its direct suppliers are located but that it was not possible to trace any land-grabbing further down its cotton delivery chain.

The Ethiopian government has leased large swathes of land, mainly in its western Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions, to large companies such as Indian firm Karuturi Global, hoping to boost agricultural productivity. Critics, however, say many people — poor farmers in particular — have been forced off their land under the scheme. Land is often bought or leased in developing countries, by foreign companies, without the consent of affected local communities.

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