EXPERIENCE IN CASHMERE MARKET DEVELOPMENT

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Norman McKenzie
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EXPERIENCE IN CASHMERE MARKET DEVELOPMENT Odessa Centre Ltd 2 The Ridgeway Great Wolford CV36 5NN UK Email: carol_kerven@msn.com

uk Tel: +44-1608-674489 For the past twelve years I have been working on development of cashmere in Central Asia, with the aim of increasing smallholders income from marketing cashmere from their

1 EXPERIENCE IN CASHMERE MARKET DEVELOPMENT Odessa Centre Ltd 2 The Ridgeway Great Wolford CV36 5NN UK carol_kerven@msn.com Tel: For the past twelve years I have been working on development of cashmere in Central Asia, with the aim of increasing smallholders income from marketing cashmere from their goats. In 2000 I designed and led a study in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The study was undertaken with Angus Russel, a UK animal fibre specialist from Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, UK. We sought to identify and analyse market constraints to processing, marketing and development of value added livestock fibre products of wool, skins, camel and goat fibre. One of the main results was the identification by Prof. Russel of good quality cashmere from indigenous Kazakh goats. We concluded that improved cashmere marketing would particularly benefit poorer pastoralists. Cashmere is a new commodity in Central Asia. A report was published by ILRI as: Kerven, C., A. Russel, J. Laker The potential for increasing producers income from wool, fibres and pelts in Central Asia. Working Paper No 45, International Livestock Research Institute, and Macaulay Institute, Nairobi. 32 pages. More than 500 samples of cashmere from goats in several regions of Kazakhstan have since been tested at the Macaulay Institute Animal Fibre Evaluation Laboratory, and some are of excellent quality by international commercial standards. Sampling cashmere in the Kazakh desert IInn collaboration with the Kazakhstan Research Institute of Sheep Breeding, in 2001 we obtained a grant from the British Embassy, Kazakhstan, for creating a nucleus goat breeding flock to select superior animals to be provided as studs

2 for improving cashmere quality in pastoral goat flocks. We purchased local goats from four different regions of south Kazakhstan, tested their cashmere, and began breeding elite cashmere goats for sale to farmers. In 2002 in Kazakhstan we tested cashmere from a highly endangered Central Asian wild goat species, Capra falconeri (common name markhor or screwhorn). The results showed very fine cashmere (10.6 to 14.0 micron diameter). Markhor hybrid buck in Kazakhstan We bred some of the does of the domestic goat species with semen from a markhor in the Kazakh zoo. Four hybrid kids were born, and the hybrid bucks since mated successfully with domestic does in the elite flock, and been raised in local pastoralist flocks. This is the first controlled experiment of breeding markhor with domestic goats, to produce finer diameter cashmere. We arranged in 2004 for the importation of frozen semen from Scottish cashmere goat bucks to Kazakhstan and this was used for improving the local goat types. Kids of markhor and Scottish cashmere bucks have been placed in pastoralist flocks and adapted well. From 2002 to 2006 I worked with a USAID-funded project on market improvement of cashmere and wool in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan under the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program (GL CRSP). My work involved: Training pastoral producers and local traders how to comb and sort raw cashmere Informing producers and traders on the world market criteria and price differentials for cashmere by quality Training national research partners on assessment of cashmere, selection of superior breeding goats, and world market trends Establishing links between domestic and international commercial cashmere processing companies Gaining recognition by donors and host country Ministries of Agriculture that cashmere is a high-value commodity providing income to producers as well as augmenting national agricultural revenue Promotion of available quality cashmere to international buyers and investors Together with Kazakh colleagues I produced local information bulletins, press articles and publications for a wider international readership. Two videos have been produced in Russian with English sub-titles, for training livestock farmers on cashmere: From Goat to Sweater and Training farmers to prepare cashmere for improved marketing. 2

Publications on cashmere Goat down for profit, 4 page colour brochure in Russian. 1000 copies distributed to farmers, traders, officials and donors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

3 Publications on cashmere Goat down for profit, 4 page colour brochure in Russian copies distributed to farmers, traders, officials and donors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Selling cashmere brings income for Central Asian pastoralists Ruminations, GL-CRSP Prospects for goat down in Russian. In Agro-Inform journal, May 2005, Kazakhstan. Circulation 4,000 to officials, agribusiness and private farmers. Opportunities to Develop a New Sector in Cashmere. In Russian. Agro Inform, Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan, March Cashmere marketing: A new income source for Central Asian livestock farmers GL-CRSP Research Brief WOOL April WOOL.pdf Cashmere marketing is a new income source for Central Asian livestock farmers (Carol Kerven, Serik Aryngaziev, Nurlan Malmakov, Hilary Redden, Aidos Smailov and Kathy Galvin). In XX International Grassland Congress, Offered papers, Dublin, June Production strategies of livestock herders in the grasslands of Kazakhstan (Kathleen Galvin, Carol Kerven, Randall Boone, Aidos Smailov). Poster at XX International Grassland Congress, Offered papers, Dublin, June Fine cashmere available in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (Carol Kerven, Hilary Redden and Serik Aryngaziev). In Wild Fibers magazine (Maine, USA) Fall Presentation on Integration of Central Asian Pastoralists into World Cashmere Markets at Colloquium on Pastoralists and the World Market: Problems and Perspectives, University of Halle-Wittenberg and University of Leipzig, Leipzig Germany, April Kerven, C., Aryngaziev, B., Redden, H. and Smailov, A Cashmere in Kazakhstan: A marketing update. Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program Research Brief WOOL. McGregor, B.A, Kerven, C. and Toigonbaev, S Sources of variation contributing to production and quality attributes of Kyrgyz cashmere: Implications for industry development. Small Ruminant Research 84 Nos. 1-3, pp Interviews by New Agriculturist on-line journal: May 2009 Kyrgyzstan: Cashing in on Cashmere, Kerven, C., B.A. McGregor, and S. Toigonbaev, 2009 Cashmere-producing goats in Central Asia and Afghanistan. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome, AGRI (Animal Genetic Resources Information) 45, pp Kerven, C., Toigonbaev, S Cashmere from the Pamirs pp in P. Mundy (ed) Adding Value to Livestock Diversity: Marketing to promote local breeds and improve livelihoods. League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development/ IUCN/FAO, Rome. Promote-Local-Breeds-And-Improve-Livelihoods McGregor, B.A., Kerven, C., and Toigonbaev, S Sources of variation contributing to cashmere fibre diameter, staple length and fibre curvature in Tajikistan and implications for industry development. Small Ruminant Research 99, pp Kerven, C New opportunities for improving livelihoods by marketing livestock products from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: High value cashmere from indigenous goats. In H. Kreutzmann et al. (eds) Pastoralism and Rangeland Management in Mountain Areas, pp GIZ, Feldafing, Germany. Assessments of cashmere quality and potential for improving marketing were carried out in 2003, in Tajikistan s mountainous Pamirs of Gorno Badakhshan for the Aga Khan Foundation programme, Mountain Societies Development Support Programme. Laboratory tests on several hundred goats sampled in six districts showed that some had 3 Goats in the Pamirs of Tajikistan

4 cashmere of good quality, but lower in other districts due to introduction of angora-type goats in the Soviet period. Marketing was very poorly developed everywhere, and producer prices were extremely low. A study tour to the Mongolian cashmere industry in 2005 was organised through funding I obtained from the British Embassy in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and also supported by USAID Central Asia. I accompanied six senior Central Asian livestock specialists and government officers for a week in Mongolia. In 2006 I organised an assessment of cashmere in Afghanistan for GRM International. This involved training animal husbandry officers in the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture to collect 600 samples from 10 provinces, to be tested by a UK animal fibre laboratory. The test results indicate that Afghan goats produce high quality cashmere that could attract premium prices in the international market. There is potential to develop goat breeding, producer training programmes, market price dissemination and export promotion for Afghan cashmere. Assessments of cashmere in the Pamir mountains of northern Tajikistan were organised by my company in 2007, on behalf of UNDP and German Agro Action. Cashmere from more than 250 goats was tested, and the results show that commercially-attractive cashmere is produced by the local Tajik goats. I assisted several European firms with buying arrangements for cashmere in Tajikistan. The first International Conference on Cashmere was organised by my company together with the Kyrgyz Sheep and Goat Breeders association, in Kyrgyzstan in January This conference brought together 42 participants from 16 countries representing cashmere industries, research, community groups and international development projects. A website has been designed for exchange of information on market opportunities, research and development of cashmere in the Asian supplying countries. 4

In 2008 my company obtained a grant from the Aga Khan Foundation to carry out quality testing of cashmere on 1,000 goats in two regions of Kyrgyzstan, covering more than 50 villages in five

5 In 2008 my company obtained a grant from the Aga Khan Foundation to carry out quality testing of cashmere on 1,000 goats in two regions of Kyrgyzstan, covering more than 50 villages in five mountainous districts. The results were tested in a USA certified laboratory. Together with a team of Kyrgyz consultants, we also provided training workshops to farmers and local traders, and liaised with a number of international cashmere buyers who were interested in sourcing high quality cashmere. Kyrgyz village traders learning how to assess cashmere quality in the training workshops A case study on marketing niche products from local breeds was commissioned by the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development in Germany, in Odessa Centre together with Sabyr Toigoinbaev, a Kyrgyz cashmere specialist, wrote Cashmere from the Pamirs: Helping Mountain Farmers in Kyrgyzstan on the current marketing chain from village flock-owners to Chinese and European buyers. We propose development activities and investments which would increase the value of cashmere sales for producers. The Odessa Centre started an elite cashmere goat breeding flock in the Alay Pamir mountains of Kyrgyzstan in 2008, with two Kyrgyz and an Australian partner. The flock was assembled by selecting goats with the best test results from the previous sampling across five districts. Our aim is to assess and test individual goat cashmere quality, select the optimum characteristics for further breeding and eventually make superior goats available for sale to local farmers wishing to upgrade their cashmere goat flocks. A study on cashmere value marketing chain for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, was carried out by Odessa Centre with Kyrgyz and Tajik specialists in the eastern Pamir mountains (Gorno Badakhshan) of Tajikistan, in The study found an active new trade in cashmere from the Pamirs to Kyrgyzstan and thence to China. However, indigenous cashmere-bearing goats have been interbred since Soviet times with introduced angora breeds, thus threatening the genetic integrity of the local goats. Villagers and small-scale traders lack information on sorting and prices for grades of cashmere. The study recommended training workshops for villagers and agricultural specialists on better methods of harvesting and marketing cashmere, and the establishment of a breeding scheme. In 2010, the Odessa Centre obtained a grant from the PALM (Pamir Alay Land Management) under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) United Nations Environment Programme, together with the Tajikistan Livestock Research Institute, a Tajik NGO Kashmiri Zerafshan and the Kyrgyz Cashmere Producers Association. We have conducted village training workshops and collected 260 cashmere samples from goats in three districts of the Tajikistan Pamir mountains. The samples have been tested for quality in an Australian laboratory and the results are being published. 5

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has given a grant in 2011 to Odessa Centre in partnership with League for Pastoral Peoples in Germany to

The project Inter-regional Learning on Animal Fine Fibre Processing and Niche Markets aims to increase the incomes of rural poor producers of high value animal fibres

6 The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has given a grant in 2011 to Odessa Centre in partnership with League for Pastoral Peoples in Germany to organise two study tours and workshops on animal fibres for livestock producers and marketing groups. The project Inter-regional Learning on Animal Fine Fibre Processing and Niche Markets aims to increase the incomes of rural poor producers of high value animal fibres in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The workshops were held in southern Kyrgyzstan and in Bolivia in Carol with Kazakh villager combing her cashmere goat Cashmere buck in Odessa Centre s elite breeding flock, Kyrgyzstan February

Trip Report. Developing Institutions and Capacity for Sheep and Fiber Marketing in Central Asia.

Trip Report. Developing Institutions and Capacity for Sheep and Fiber Marketing in Central Asia. GLOBAL L IVES TOCK COLL ABORATIVE R ESEARCH S UPPOR T PROGRAM Trip Report Developing Institutions and Capacity for Sheep and Fiber Marketing in Central Asia. Traveler (s): Robert Stobart, Kathleen Galvin,