Natural Fibre Supply to Industry and Female Livelihoods

The Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) seeks ACEBA grant support to strengthen the supply of natural fibers to the carpet and cashmere industries through the stop-shop network, as well as promote the creation of spin-off cottage industries, specifically for women. The network currently consists of 600 stop-shops as well as 22 central hubs and DCA proposes an expansion into six new provinces and previous uncovered districts that have high potential for the collection of wool. This would lead to the creation of 200 additional stop-shops and six (6) central hubs. DCA will also focus on providing 5,000 women with the means to produce handspun yarn and other woolen products to industry requirements and ensure efficient sales channels to buyers. The grant will focus heavily on ensuring the natural fibers collected by the stop-shops and the yarn produced by the spinners fully meets the requirements of industry. In particular DCA will concentrate on ensuring that sorting and grading is consistent, and the fiber length, freshness/dryness and color are to the standard needed. Additionally, DCA will highlight the value of the residual oil that is sometimes removed though washing and construct effective washing pools attached to selected central hubs.