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A sustainable and fair trade supply chain for cashmere clothing will link socially responsible:
- cooperatives of goat herders in Inner Mongolia, China (restoring the desertified ecosystem by reducing the numbers of goats they raise, and by planting hardy endemic shrubs for income, for erosion control, and for habitat support)
- purchasers (paying herders a 'sustainability' price, to enable them to support themselves while decreasing their herd sizes)
- processing factories and mills (hiring skilled workers; providing good working conditions and living wages)
- fiber wholesalers (paying a fair price for high quality sustainably raised cashmere)
- brand-name buyers (using third-party assurances to support sustainability claims)
- retailers (marketing sustainable cashmere products)
- consumers (becoming globally aware and proud of their contribution to improve the global ecosystem and to support herding families' quest for long-term sustainability)
The goal of our project is to create a supply chain for cashmere and camel hair that will allow Inner Mongolian herders to produce fiber in a manner that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. It should revitalize the already degraded landscape, as well as assist in the preservation of social and cultural practices that may support sustainable herding. This multi-year project is supported by Ford Foundation - China.
In Inner Mongolia, in north central China, goat and camel herders in the western region live in a sparsely populated desert, where massive dust storms can blot out the sun and bury roads or villages. The herders we work with live, work and conduct business in amazing physical and social isolation, but not economic isolation. They are at the bottom of the global supply chain for cashmere, a luxury fiber that has, during the past decade, been turned into a mass commodity and marketed at hyper-competitive prices across the globe.
For the middle class in developed countries, wearing affordable cashmere is access to comfort once reserved for the elite. For Inner Mongolian herders, the global supply chain that makes this possible was a mixed blessing, at first. In the 1990s, as the demand for cashmere went up, the soft fiber was viewed as "spun gold". The cashmere market has now become a challenge and part of the herders' struggle for survival. Massive overproduction and overgrazing are damaging the fragile desert ecosystem upon which their industry, livelihood and culture depend. The Chicago Tribune's investigative report by Evan Osnos, "Your cheap sweater's real cost" provides vivid stories of the seriousness of the current situation.
Dust storms that darken Beijing's skies and close airports in Korea are becoming more common. The price of cashmere is falling and the profit margin vanishing as herders become ever more reliant on corn (maize) fodder, the cost of which is subject to global demand. Herders are now forming cooperatives, seeking a sustainable path to economic, environmental and community survival.
ECOLOGIA and an international team of animal husbandry, desert ecosystem and business experts are calculating the sustainable cost threshold for cashmere. We are designing a system to raise a "sustainability premium" from purchasers of ashmere, to transfer to the herders. Our sustainable supply chain and marketing program for cashmere will support herders' and cooperatives' environmental restoration activities and responsible grazing practices, including goat herd size reduction and more reliance on camels.
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