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Cashmere-producing goats in Central Asia and Afghanistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2009

Carol Kerven ,
Bruce McGregor  and
Sabyr Toigonbaev
Carol Kerven*
Affiliation:
Odessa Centre Ltd. UK, 2 The Ridgeway, Great Wolford, Warks CV36 5NN, United Kingdom
Bruce McGregor
Affiliation:
Solutions for Goat Producers, Victoria, Australia
Sabyr Toigonbaev
Affiliation:
Kyrgyz Cashmere Producers' Association, Osh, Kyrgyzstan
*
Correspondence to: Carol Kerven, Odessa Centre Ltd. UK, 2 The Ridgeway, Great Wolford, Warks CV36 5NN, United Kingdom. email: carol_kerven@msn.com
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Summary

Indigenous goats of Central Asia and Afghanistan produce cashmere, the warm undercoat grown annually to protect them from cold winters. Cashmere is appreciated in luxury markets, but there are no efforts to conserve these goats. Commercial assessments of their fibre quality have recently been undertaken. Poorer villagers in the most climatically difficult remote desert and high altitude regions are particularly dependent on raising goats. Villagers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan started selling raw cashmere mainly to Chinese traders in the 1990s. Afghan producers have been selling cashmere for a longer time. In comparison with China and Mongolia, Central Asian and Afghan producers sell their cashmere unsorted and at relatively low prices. Traders do not offer producers differentiated prices according to quality, but world commercial prices are highly sensitive to quality. Producers thus lose potential value. Summaries are given of tests on the quality of cashmere from samples of 1 592 goats in 67 districts and 221 villages from 2003 to 2008. There are cashmere goats in these sampled districts which produce the finest qualities of cashmere typical of Chinese and Mongolian cashmere. There is impetus to increase the production, commercial value and income for producers from cashmere produced by Central Asian goats.

Résumé

Les chèvres indigènes de l'Asie centrale et de l'Afghanistan produisent du cachemire, le sous poil chaud qui pousse chaque année pour les protéger du froid de l'hiver. Le cachemire est apprécié dans les marchés de luxe, mais aucun effort n'est consacré pour la conservation des chèvres. On a entrepris récemment des évaluations sur la qualité de leur fibre d'un point de vue commercial. Les villageois plus démunis qui résident dans les régions reculées du désert et des montagnes les plus difficiles du point de vue climatique dépendent de façon particulière de l'élevage des chèvres. Dans les années 90, les habitants des villages du Kazakhstan, du Kirghizistan et du Tadjikistan ont commencé à vendre du cachemire brut surtout aux commerçants chinois tandis que les producteurs afghans vendent du cachemire depuis plus longtemps. Par rapport à la Chine et à la Mongolie, les producteurs de l'Asie centrale et de l'Afghanistan vendent le cachemire en vrac et à des prix relativement faibles. Les commerçants ne proposent pas aux producteurs des prix différenciés selon la qualité. Les prix commerciaux dans le monde sont très sensibles à la qualité. Les producteurs perdent ainsi de la valeur potentielle. On présente ici un résumé des essais effectués, entre 2003 et 2008, sur la qualité du cachemire à partir des échantillons de 1 592 chèvres dans 67 districts et dans 221 villages. Dans les districts pris en examen, il y a des chèvres qui produisent les qualités les plus raffinées du cachemire typique chinois et mongol. Il existe des possibilités d'augmentation de la production, de la valeur commerciale et des revenus pour les producteurs du cachemire des chèvres de l'Asie centrale.

Resumen

La cabra indígena de Asia Central y Afganistán produce cachemir, el cálido manto de base que produce cada año para protegerse de los fríos inviernos. El cachemir es muy apreciado en los mercados de lujo. No se está haciendo ningún esfuerzo para conservar estas cabras. Recientemente se han llevado a cabo valoraciones acerca de la calidad de sus fibras desde una perspectiva comercial. Los aldeanos más pobres, que residen en zonas de gran altitud y en el desierto remoto, donde existen las más duras condiciones climáticas, dependen especialmente de la cría de cabras. Los aldeanos de Kazajstán, Kirguizistán y Tayikistán empezaron a vender cachemir en su estado puro principalmente a comerciantes chinos en la década de los 90. Los productores afganos han estado vendiendo cachemir durante más tiempo. En comparación con China y Mongolia, los productores afganos y centroasiáticos venden su cachemir sin clasificar y a precios relativamente bajos. Los comerciantes no ofrecen a los productores precios diferenciados según la calidad. Los precios comerciales a nivel mundial son altamente sensibles a la calidad. Por lo tanto, los productores pierden un valor potencial. Se facilitan resúmenes de las pruebas realizadas para determinar la calidad del cachemir a partir de muestras obtenidas de 1592 cabras en 67 zonas y 221 aldeas entre 2003-2008. Existen cabras de Cachemir en dichas zonas que producen esta fibra de la más alta calidad, típico del cachemire chino y mongol. Queda margen para aumentar la producción, el valor comercial, y los ingresos para los productores, gracias al cachemir producido por las cabras centroasiáticas.

Keywords

AfghanistancashmeregoatsKazakhstanKyrgyzstanTajikistanAfghanistancachemirechèvresKazakhstanKirghizistanTadjikistanAfganistáncachemiracabrasKazajstánKirguistánTayikistán
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales , Volume 45 , October 2009 , pp. 15 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2009

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