Cashmere producing smallholder nomads of Himalaya: Survival challenges of a system

Cold arid region of Himalaya is famous for Changthangi Cashmere (Pashmina) producing breed of goats reared under transhumance production system. Breeding tract of Changhthang spans from the Chinese province of Quinghai in the East across central and North Tibet to Ladakh (India) in the West with an altitude of 3700-4500 m amsl and wide seasonal/diurnal fluctuating temperature (35 °C to −40 °C). Two field studies were conducted with objectives to assess performance, livelihood security, pastoral nomadism, value chain and survival challenges of Cashmere goat based smallholder production system. Multistage stratified random, probability proportional to size sampling, project evaluation, growth models, and constraint analysis techniques were used to synthesise the results based on data collected from 350 nomadic households rearing 25,659 goats in three zones of Changthang with variable altitudes. Results reveal altitude, demographic trend, flock structure and size, sex, age and grade of Cashmere exhibited statistically significant high correlation (r > 0.80) between altitudes and flock size vis-a-vis fibre quality. Important contributing factor for quality fibre diameter (≤14 μ) turned to be cold aridity, altitude ≥4000 m asl and availability of quality pastures. Cashmere yield was recorded highest in castrated bucks (585 g) and lowest in does (385 g) with body weight highest in castrated (30 kg) and lower in breeding bucks (27 kg). Overall, Cashmere production and breed population showed growth (CAGR) of 3.7% and 4.94%, respectively with BCR (2.72:1), IRR (1843.17%), NPV (INR 72.14) and payback period of one year, indicating the viability of the production system. In the value chain, brilliantly coloured feather weight Cashmere shawls, rumal and stoles handcrafted from the fibre with 20 times value addition annually realised around INR 1679 million (USD 24.70 million) revenue besides generating employment of 3.56 million mandays. Constraint analysis indicate survival challenges of the production system and the study flags policy options to arrest diseases, high inbreeding, winter malnutrition, kid mortality, trans-boundary hostility, onslaught of fake products besides infrastructure deficits in Changthang.