Wool study trip to South Africa 2027

Through visits to farms, shearing sheds and key value chain actors, participants will gain a practical understanding of how wool moves from farm to market, while exploring efforts to improve farmer incomes, strengthen gender equality, build climate resilience and support responsible business practices.

The project works with communal farmers.  Communal farmers are smallholder sheep farmers who farm on communally owned land rather than owning private farmland. Many live in former apartheid-era “homeland” areas and face challenges such as limited land-use rights, weak infrastructure, climate risks, limited access to markets, and poverty, with women often experiencing additional discrimination and barriers to land access and finance. The project is funded by Norad. The project works to uplift communal farmers through:

• Contributing to decent job creation through increasing incomes and market access.
• Building resilience to climate change.
• Strengthening farmer organisations and local leadership.
• Advancing gender equality.
• Building farmers’ knowledge and skills.
• Improving access to support services and infrastructure advocacy.

You can read about our project on wool in South Africa here: South Africa – Etisk Handel.

Project benefits for companies:

• Good quality wool.
• Can provide traceability to the raw material through the Sustainable Cape Wool Standard (SCWS).
• An updated standard for wool through the SCWS that safeguards the environment, social conditions and animal welfare.
• Supporting companies’ human rights and environmental due diligence at the raw material level by:
  • Increased Income: Buying wool through the project is a measure to increase farmers’ wages through premiums in the Cape Wools Standard.
  • Gender equality: Training for farmers in gender equality and strengthening the position and capacity of female wool farmers.
  • Environment: Training and support for farmers on sustainable production.

Practical Information

Dates for the trip are the 7^th-12^th of February 2027.

Objectives for the trip:

• Learn about decent work and environmental issues in the South African wool supply chain.
• Engage with wool farmers to understand their realities.
• Engage with supply chain actors to get a practical understanding of the wool supply chain.
• Engage with other wool actors to exchange good practice on promoting responsible business conduct in textile supply chains.
• Learn about results from Ethical Trade Norway’s Norad funded project in the Eastern Cape and wool sector.

Practical information.

• Participation fee of approximately 13 000 NOK per person. This includes:
• Accommodation in South Africa (five nights).
• Local transportation.
• Flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
• Meals and snacks.
• Five days of stakeholder meetings.

• Participants book and pay for their own flights from and to South Africa. Round trip flights from Oslo range from approximately 13 000 NOK – 19 200 NOK, depending on direct booking or through a third party. Please note that final costs may vary depending on flight availability and exchange rates, and that bookings made through third-party platforms may offer limited support in the event of delays, cancellations, or missed connections.
• Total costs of the trip are approximately 26 000 NOK – 32 000 NOK per person.
• Deadline for signing up: Wednesday 25 November 2026.
• Invoice for participation fee will be sent out at the end of January.

Programme

Please save the date and register your interest here (non-binding): Register your interest for participating in the study trip to South Africa in 2027 – Fyll ut skjema.

If you have any questions about the project or the trip, please contact the project manager, Emilie Mysen Moe, at emilie@etiskhandel.no or +47 95863682.