# Otto Group and the Cotton made in Africa initiative promote adult literacy in Burkina Faso

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/04/otto-group-and-the-cotton-made-in-africa-initiative-promote-adult-literacy-in-burkina-faso/
- Published: 2011-04-21T20:25:54-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

_**Learning to read and write supports sustainable development**_

Education is the key to sustainable development. This is why the Otto Group is making
a financial contribution to a social project established by the Cotton made in Africa
initiative to promote adult literacy.

[⌊Benin Cotonou Projekt Cotton Made in Africa Baumwolle mit langen Fasern⌉⌊Benin
Cotonou Projekt Cotton Made in Africa Baumwolle mit langen Fasern⌉[

Benin Cotonou Projekt Cotton Made in Africa
Baumwolle mit langen Fasern

This public private partnership project receives major support from the Otto Group
and offers some 5,000 adults in the Central-South region the opportunity to learn
to read and write in evening school. “Improving the literacy rate is one of the 
key factors in establishing a sustainable development process”, is how Andreas Streubig,
Otto Group Division Manager Environmental and Social Policy, explains the company‟
s engagement.

The project was established in the autumn of 2009 within the framework of the Cotton
made in Africa initiative, together with the fashion company Apart, the German Society
for Investment and Development (DEG) and Welthungerhilfe. The illiteracy rate of
around 71% has an extraordinary high impact on the economic development of Burkina
Faso and also poses very specific challenges for the smallholder farmers who participate
in the Cotton made in Africa initiative: many cannot enjoy the potential benefits
of the educational courses on offer because they cannot make notes or even read 
the course materials. Here, the literacy project helps people to help themselves.

Cotton made in Africa is not only committed to the sustainable cultiva-tion of African
cotton but also sees itself as an intermediary for a number of public-private partnership
projects. These PPP projects are characterised by companies and public organisations
bundling their resources in order to strengthen social infrastructures in Benin,
Burkina Faso, Côte d‟Ivoire, Zambia and Malawi through social projects.