Cotton is the backbone of Levi’s business. It represents nearly 90 percent of the raw materials sourced for Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) products. Recognizing the need to protect this critical resource, Levi’s has taken a step forward to support cotton farmers in Pakistan.
Levi’s provided an early look at the Levi’s Regenerative and Resilient Landscape Initiative (LRI) on the brand’s Unzipped blog.
The brand is funding the new initiative in Pakistan as part of the Regenerative Production Landscape Collaborative, a model that aims to strengthen agricultural systems that conserve and enhance natural resources, build resilience to climate change and secure long-term supply of agro-commodities.
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LRI provides funding to the program initiated by WWF-Pakistan with support from Laudes Foundation, which covers one million hectares of land under multi-stakeholder partnerships in Brazil, India, Pakistan and Tanzania.
Levi’s said LRI’s goals are both environmental and human. By December 2028, the initiative aims to improve water productivity on farms, reduce synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use, increase soil organic matter and plant 100,000 trees to enhance biodiversity and capture carbon.
The initiative is also focused on strengthening economic resilience for farming families by lowering input costs, supporting climate adaptation and helping build more stable, sustainable livelihoods. Levi’s emphasized that partnerships and work alongside governmental agencies will play a key role in growing the adoption of regenerative practices.
“Investments like the LRI are an expression of that belief and a reminder that sustainable supply chains aren’t built overnight—they’re built relationship by relationship, field by field, season by season,” Levi’s stated on Unzipped.
LRI launched in January 2026 in Jalalpur Pirwala in Punjab’s Multan district. The region is one of Pakistan’s key cotton-growing areas. Approximately 30 percent of LS&Co.’s cotton was sourced from Pakistan in 2023.
Farmers around the world are at a critical tipping point, facing mounting challenges such as soil degradation, water scarcity, and increasingly unpredictable weather. At the same time, demand for responsibly produced fibers continues to rise, adding further pressure to already strained agricultural systems. Levi’s said these challenges are “prominently at play” in Pakistan, which is why the country is part of Levi Strauss & Co.’s watershed restoration project.
The region’s cotton production has long been an area of focus for the denim industry with mills like Artistic Milliners, Soorty and AGI Denim launching regenerative agriculture programs.
Levi’s noted that LRI’s “mini-landscape” approach sets the intiaitve apart from other efforts. “Rather than treating farming as an isolated activity, it recognizes that farmers, water systems, biodiversity and communities are all deeply interconnected. The program is designed with that whole system in mind,” the brand stated.
Progress is already underway. Just three months into the initiative, LRI has engaged with nearly 600 farmers through community meetings and awareness-raising sessions. It has established 20 farmer field schools for hands-on learning and trained 165 farmers on soil health and water conservation.
The program has also collected 100 soil samples to analyze and establish baselines for measuring future progress.
