The purpose of this project is to strengthen sustainability and climate resilience in South Africa’s wool industry. It aims to improve the productivity and wool quality of small-scale communal farmers. The project will also build the capacity of factory workers and increase market access for wool producers.

By supporting these improvements, the wool industry can provide a living income for farmers and secure decent jobs for workers. This is particularly important in some of the poorest provinces in South Africa.

This project builds on recommendations from ETNs previous work in South Africa. The local implementing partner is the National Wool Growers Association (NWGA) and their constituent farmer associations. NWGA represent almost 25000 farmers, of which 20 000 are communal farmers.

The project is aimed at strengthening NWGAs existing work to support and represent communal farmers, including institutional development of the farmers’ local representative structures, with a particular focus on increasing female leadership. NWGA field officers’ and other support officers’ capacity on elements like climate change resilience building and new market sustainability standards will be increased, with the aim of helping communal farmers improve the quality and sustainability of their wool production making them capable of supplying to the international market and new standards.

An additional element is the use of the Sustainable Cape Wool Standard, a standard tailored to the South African context that assists in farmers’ access to formal market. The standard offers traceability for brands through blockchain technology, includes a premium to farmers, and consists of criteria concerning environment, social matters and animal welfare.