The number is striking, and it puts fresh attention on how something as ordinary as clothing can quietly strain global water supplies at a time when droughts and climate pressures are rising worldwide.

The figure aligns with research from the Water Footprint Network , which estimates that cotton is among the most water-intensive crops on the planet. Their global calculations show that cotton farming can demand anywhere between 7,000 and 29,000 litres of water per kilogram, depending on the region.

Why cotton uses so much water

Cotton grows mainly in hot, dry regions, where water is most scarce, which forces farmers to rely heavily on irrigation. Over time, this has drained rivers, damaged soils, and contributed to ecological disasters.

WaterAid, a charity focused on global water access, notes that water-intensive farming practices often compete directly with people’s basic needs. In communities where clean water is already limited, growing cotton can worsen shortages for households.

This issue is not limited to one region. The Guardian has reported widely on how cotton farming contributed to the near-collapse of the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest inland lake. Massive cotton irrigation projects in Central Asia diverted the rivers that fed the sea, causing it to shrink dramatically and leaving behind health crises, dust storms, and economic collapse.

Today, similar pressures are appearing in India, Pakistan, China, and parts of Africa — all major cotton producers. These regions face rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall linked to global climate change, making cotton even thirstier and more difficult to sustain.

This conversation comes as major fashion brands face growing pressure to reduce their environmental impact . Several companies are rethinking their supply chains after new 2024–2025 regulations in Europe and the U.S. began demanding clearer reporting on water usage and climate risk.

Meanwhile, the ongoing droughts affecting North Africa , the American Southwest, and southern Europe have sparked new questions about which crops should be prioritised in a warming world. Cotton, with its high water footprint, is increasingly part of that debate.

The Nile, which stretches an extraordinary 6,650 km, remains not only the longest river in Africa but one of the longest on Earth. It threads through 11 countries, from Burundi and Uganda to Sudan and Egypt, forming the backbone of agriculture and life along its banks.

Nearly 300 million people depend directly on the Nile Basin for survival.

Flowing west to east, the Niger River, at 4,200 km, is the lifeline of West Africa, curving through Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria before emptying into the Gulf of Guinea.

It supports millions of farmers and fishers and anchors some of the region’s largest urban centres. The Niger Basin Authority notes that the river sustains over 160 million people in nine countries.

In Central Africa, the Congo River runs 4,700 km, carving through one of the world’s largest rainforest ecosystems. It carries more water than any river in Africa and is second only to the Amazon globally.

The Congo Basin is home to over 80 million people and provides critical carbon storage for the planet, a fact repeatedly emphasised in global climate discussions.

To the south, the Zambezi River, which spans 2,600 km, crosses Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is the river behind Victoria Falls and fuels major hydroelectric projects such as the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams, which power much of southern Africa.

Despite the continent's numerous water resources, the Horn of Africa continues to experience climate-driven droughts alternating with destructive floods, which amplify tensions over Nile water rights.

Hydropolitics, the politics of water, is increasingly shaping diplomatic relations. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), for instance, remains a focal point of negotiation between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.