Understanding the Growers & Herders perspectives is key to building better textile fibre supply chain partnerships to accelerate innovation and sustainability
On 7-9 September 2022 the Natural Fibre Connect online conference for the alpaca, cashmere, mohair, and wool industries completed successfully.
Over 1000 tickets were sold for the live event and on-demand content platform to participants from 43 different countries. For 6 hours on each of the three conference days, over 80 speakers shared their knowledge across 9 key themes such as animal welfare, social welfare, regenerative agriculture, traceability, green finance and the metaverse. Majority of the presentations were available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Mongolian.
Highlights of the event, were speeches from His Majesty King Letsie III from Lesotho, Artist Michelangelo Pistoletto as well as La Rhea Pepper, CEO of Textile Exchange.
Recordings of all live presentations and discussions are available on the platform along with additional on-demand content until the end of the year.
In addition to the live conference, ticket holders also had access to a virtual exhibition hall where close to 40 different sponsors representing the Alpaca, Cashmere, Mohair and Wool industry exhibited their organizations and projects. Visitors to the virtual booths were able to connect and interact with the respective booth representatives.
The Natural Fibre Connect conference has highlighted the challenges of the textile industry of natural fibers of animal origin, considering current global trends. Industry experts, opinion leaders, breeders, brokers and brand representatives have shared their experience, concerns, limitations and challenges the industry faces in the light of new consumer demands.
One of the most important conclusions was that sustainability has multiple dimensions: environmental, economic, social and cultural; only when all four dimensions are being addressed progress in areas such as climate change, desertification and animal welfare can be achieved. This became apparent in the discussions around traceability and green finance where efforts need to go beyond Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or animal welfare standards and instead must consider economic and social dimensions as well.
The argument can however also be reversed. Improving livestock and regenerative practices and certifying them requires financial resources and the commitment and partnership of the entire value chain. Speakers of the green finance session have shown that funds exist and that the natural fibre industries must work together to tap into this massive opportunity.
Speakers of the Web 3.0 session also gave a glimpse into how the metaverse and blockchain technology will change supply chains, on-farm data management as well as consumer interaction with textile products and the people working in textiles. The transformational power of the new technologies is the future of the industry and will connect us in ways we cannot imagine today
The event was closed with growers and herders connecting live from Australia, Mongolia, China, South Africa and Argentina to share their perspective, challenges, questions and ideas with the supply chain.
Participants by industry sector
