SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a call to action to end poverty and inequality, protect the planet, and ensure all people enjoy health, justice and prosperity. Through our work with the extended cashmere supply chain, the SFA is contributing to 11 of the 17 goals.
Hover over each goal below to learn more about our contribution
The SFA contributes to the goal of No Poverty by helping herders build resilience and reduce vulnerability to pasture degradation and climatic disasters. This work helps herders secure tenure rights for grazing pasture, which in turn allows them to increase the economic return from cashmere production.
The SFA helps improve the knowledge and skills of herders, enabling them to better manage their livestock and natural resources. This helps to improve the quality of education in rural communities, as herders are able to pass on their knowledge to others. We provide a more holistic approach to education that emphasizes both the acquisition of knowledge and the development of practical skills.
The SFA promotes gender equality by helping break down barriers that prevent women from participating fully in decision making processes and pursuing leadership roles in herding communities. By providing opportunities for women to develop their skills and knowledge, the SFA helps enable them to take on more active and influential roles. The SFA also encourages the participation of both boys and girls in livestock herding.
The SFA's work in promoting sustainable rangeland management, clean fibre processing, and water conservation helps to ensure the long-term availability of clean water for people, livestock, and wildlife. The Clean Fibre Processing Standard ensures that waterways are not polluted, which helps to maintain the cleanliness and quality of water.
The SFA helps to secure better access to markets and financial services for herders, as well as strong labor rights and safe working environments for factory workers. Additionally, the SFA's efforts to increase added value along the supply chain and implement our standards can help to boost economic growth in the industry.
The SFA's capacity building work helps empower herding communities to speak up for themselves and take action to improve their lives. This helps to level the playing field and ensure that these communities are able to access the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. The SFA's work to promote policies that support sustainable rural land use and livestock production can help reduce inequalities of outcome for herders.
The SFA is dedicated to promoting climate action in the cashmere industry. We help improve rangeland management practices and develop risk management plans, which help to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of herders to climate-related hazards. We educate and raise awareness about climate change mitigation measures for herding communities.
The SFA works to create an effective, accountable, and transparent supply chain, and to promote sustainable development policies for cashmere-producing regions. Additionally, the SFA's approach ensures inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making at all levels along the supply chain.
The SFA works to develop collaborative partnerships with a range of stakeholders in order to achieve our goals. These partnerships allow the SFA to share knowledge, expertise, and financial resources to support a sustainable cashmere supply chain. We work to build capacity and support government efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals while respecting national policy and leadership.