Last March Edun director Gary Jermyn traveled to Gulu, Uganda.

"Normally I don’t like Mondays-but this Monday was special. Gathered in the main office at CCIU (Conservation Cotton Initiative Uganda) in Gulu were 20 CCIU staff. We gave the team the good news that the program had funding in place to continue another 3 years – with Technoserve managing the farming program and Invisible Children the social programs. The news was greeted with a loud round of applause! Griffin, one of the field officers, said on behalf of the CCIU team, 'I would like to show my appreciation to you for believing in us, for believing in the farmers, and for believing in CCIU. By coming here today, you have shown that you are a part of us'."

The primary focus of the 3 year plan is to develop the CCIU program over the next 3 years in the Gulu/Amuru region of Northwest Uganda, one of the poorest regions in Uganda. The goal is to increase the number of farmers from 3,500 to 8,000 and to lift them out of poverty by enabling them to take up commercial farming and significantly increase their income, with the support of business service providers. Funding for the 3 year programs has been provided by Bono and Ali as a result of their participation in the Louis Vuitton Core Values ad campaign.

"A real highlight of my trip was seeing the 114 tonnes of seed cotton at the WACU ginnery that had been harvested under the CCIU program. This is now being ginned and baled and will be used to manufacture Edun t-shirts."