Cashmere processing line opened

The first de-haired cashmere from the new line

Just back from Herat where we attended the opening of the new cashmere de-hairing line at Herati Cashmere and Skins, one of our Round 1 grantees.

Seeing a grant project come to fruition is one of those experiences that makes it such a pleasure to work on the ABIF project. After speeches from various distinguished guests, we had a tour of the plant and I was allowed to cut a ribbon and press the button that started the de-hairing line!

As well as the formal ceremony side of the event, this was also an opportunity to meet several of the company's representatives who are going to be running the cashmere collection centres in Badghis and Ghor provinces. The new collection centres will allow farmers in remote areas to sell small quantities of cashmere that are then aggregated and transported to Herat, helping to strengthen the factory's supply chain. This means that farmers who were previously largely cut off from demand, or were unaware of the value of cashmere, will be able to access a new market and benefit from a new/more reliable source of income. As well as collecting the cashmere, the centres will also provide animal health services and harvest training for the goat-herders.

Listening to the stories and ideas of the HCS representatives

During our discussions with the collection centre representatives, they told us that not only was this a money making business for them, but they were paying more than the traders who previously controlled the market (where it did exist) and expected farmers to start to grow and harvest more cashmere goats as the word about the new market opportunity spread. They told us that with the new cashmere processing capacity, they could buy as much cashmere as the goat-herders could produce. HCS estimates that once all of the collection centres are up and running (in time for this year's harvest, expected in April), they will be buying cashmere from something like 40,000 goat-herders.

It is through this kind of private sector development driven by an anchor investment, that ABIF is not only changing the way that local markets work, but is also able to overcome the kind of security constraints that otherwise prevent direct interventions in remote areas of Afghanistan.