Uzbekistan's cotton industry rebounds after boycott
Uzbekistan is the world's sixth-largest cotton producer and has seen growth in this industry following reforms and the end of an international boycott of Uzbek cotton. The ban was initiated in 2010 by the Cotton Campaign due to forced harvesting, where more than 2 million people, including children, were forced into the fields. The World Bank put in place a monitoring campaign, which found forced labour had been eliminated by 2021 and the boycott was lifted in 2022.