From Farm to Fabric : A Measurement of the Sustainability in a Textile Production in Northern India

Sammanfattning: A value chain for a textile production can be described as transforming a crop into a textile, then turn the textile into a fabric, then create a product from that fabric - a horizontal chain from farm to fabric. This paper analyses the different activities within a value chain of a sustainable textile production in India to understand where, and how, sustainable value is added at each stage. The transformation from farm to fabric involves many stages such as farming, yarn manufacturing, dyeing, fabric manufacturing, finishing and storage. The case study was performed as a) explaining the triple bottom line theory (3BL) and how it is used as a theoretical framework b) defining the key processes of Avani’s textile production in India c) visualising the value chain of Avani’s textile production based on semi-structured interviews and d) discussing the global textile industry with the 3BL to measure sustainability. The social bottom line in Avani’s textile production is the most sustainable dimension and the economic sustainability is not far behind. The environmental dimension is the weakest measured due to the lack of information to the employees. Future research with long-term measurement with dimensions as environmental, economic and social need to be done in able to refine and define sustainability in textile production but most of all to the counteraction of environmental devastation.