The readiness of communal wool farmers to comply with sustainability standards in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

There are consumers today who see wool garments in store and are concerned about how the garment was produced and whether the animal was harmed during the wool production process. Some might question whether the production used environmentally friendly processes, and whether the materials were responsibly sourced. Basically, their question is, “Am I buying a garment that meets my eco-conscious sustainability standards?” Globalisation has over past decades resulted in the continued internationalisation of production processes. Many enterprises provide intermediate inputs to a final good, thus fragmenting and dispersing production across countries. For numerous reasons, these complex production networks have increased the relevance of standards: producers and businesses strive for greater transparency in production by certifying and labelling products, as well as services, that meet social and environmental criteria, allowing consumers to make better-informed decisions. As a result, wool sustainability standards have been developed to satisfy and appeal to end consumers. The global wool production and sustainable standards demand that wool production should adhere to the best animal welfare standards and best land management practices. However, as standards rapidly grow to regulate billion-dollar market segments and scale up to satisfy the expectations of mainstream market channels, communal wool producers find it difficult to keep up with high sustainability standard requirements because of a lack of resources. Accordingly, requirements for compliance with such standards act as a barrier for Eastern Cape communal farmers to participate in trade and, more pertinently leads to a degree of exclusion of Eastern Cape communal wool farmers from global, sustainable supply chains. For this reason, this study endeavoured, as a point of departure, to understand the readiness of Eastern Cape communal wool farmers to comply with sustainability standards. This study is premised on the three objectives:(I) to map and describe the South African wool supply chain and the role that communal wool farmers play in the chain; (II) to map global and national sustainability standards, their principles, and criteria; (III) to determine the extent to which the production practices of communal wool farmers are aligned with sustainability standards. This study used qualitative methodologies to understand the readiness of Eastern Cape communal wool farmers to comply with sustainability standards. The research was carried out in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. The focus was to ascertain which current production practices are already aligned with sustainability standards requirements and which are not, and to recommend interventions to support communal wool farmers for compliance with sustainability standards. A total of 50 communal wool farmers were randomly selected, mainly to understand their current production practices. The data was analysed using descriptive analysis, and a rubric method was developed to assess the production practises of communal farmers in relation to the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS). The literature reviewed in this study states that Eastern Cape is the largest producing region of wool and has a large number of communal wool farmers contributing approximately 10% of the national clip per annum. Therefore, it is important to make sure that these farmers are included in the sustainable production chains. Farmers were assessed based on Responsible Wool Standard, as it is the most recognised sustainability standard in the wool industry, internationally. The study showed that Eastern Cape communal wool farmers have the potential to comply with RWS, but not on a large scale. In the RWS, the prohibition against conducting mulesing procedures is a critical requirement that farmers are expected to adhere to. Eastern Cape communal farmers were found to have a tremendous advantage regarding this standard because they are already operating in an environment where mulesing is not practised. The study findings also revealed that farmers scored high on requirements related to Social Welfare. At the same time, this study also showed that farmers are unable to meet requirements related to land management, as they do not have access to private land ownership, which results in over-grazing and soil degradation of communal land. In addition, other practices, such as kraaling (An enclosure for livestock), lack of access to shearing sheds and high costs of vaccination and feeding, place farmers in a very disadvantaged position for complying with RWS. On the other hand, although this study shows that not practising mulesing is the farmers’ biggest strength when it comes to animal welfare requirements, they nevertheless need more support from the government and the industry on other issues such as feeding, medication and vaccination costs, housing, and building more shearing sheds. Considering the abovementioned findings, the study recommends that the wool industry should produce sustainable guidelines that are specific to communal farmers, build more shearing sheds for the farmers, and assist the farmers by subsiding the high costs of feeds and medication. Furthermore, developers should collaborate with the wool industry to develop digital apps to assist farmers with recording the health of their animals so that they could quickly get the advice they need, as soon as they report something wrong about an animal, and also for farmers to maintain five freedoms of animal welfare. Lastly, assistance should be given regarding land management requirements, since the study revealed that farmers do not have access to private land ownership. Because of this, communal farmers cannot control overgrazing and as a result, proper inspections of their animals cannot be done. The wool industry should also assist the communal farmers regarding general awareness on grazing and veld management in order to update communal farmers on land management requirements. Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainability standards, Wool, Communal farmers