The South Africa Mohair Cluster in collaboration with Sustainability Institute (SI) Projects held the first ever stakeholder engagement workshop in Port Elizabeth from 14 to 15 November 2017. The main aim of the workshop focused on identifying opportunities and facilitating coordinated efforts to enhance the industry competitiveness and sustainability.
The workshop participants represented various sectors of the Mohair industry ranging from primary producers, brokers, manufacturers, and SMME’s to government departments (Eastern Cape Economic Development Department), funding institutions (IDC), research institutions (CSIR) and policy makers (including The dti).
South Africa is a key player in the global mohair production industry, and contributed 53% of global production in 2016[1]. Given the important role of mohair production, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davis, named the Mohair Cluster among the clothing and textile sectors that would be promoted to enhance its competitiveness. To support the renewed interest for demand driven interventions, increased mohair production, and the promotion of overall competitiveness, the South Africa Mohair Cluster (SAMC) team consisting of Executive Director Martin Viljoen, Ian Taverner and driven by Camilla Gilman, commissioned Sustainability Institute (SI) Projects to assist in producing the Mohair Primary Production Echelon Model (MoPPEM). The model, prepared by Prof Josephine Musango, Lize Duminy and Benjamin Batinge, was developed using the System Dynamics approach to visualize the major components of mohair production activities and how they are related as described by industry stakeholders. The workshop brought together key stakeholders, whose inputs would assist in extending the model to other processes including Spinning, Processing and Manufacturing echelons.
At the workshop, various speakers gave insights into the Mohair industry from different perspectives. Martin Viljoen, Executive Director of SAMC opened the evening with a retrospective analysis of the industry and set out how the different compartments relate to each other. Guest speakers included Elaine Smith (The dti), and Gavin Smith (IDC CTCP Desk) who detailed their respective department’s perspectives on the project as well as Deon Saayman (Managing Director: Mohair South Africa) who emphasized the need for innovation and collaboration within the cluster and amongst stakeholders. Camilla Gillman (SAMC) set out the workshop goals and described the need for using a System Dynamics approach within the cluster, followed by Prof Josephine Musango, who gave an overview of the process map of system dynamics that had been developed for the Mohair Industry thus far.
One of the key interventions identified in the preliminary report relates to value addition, which means we may soon see a wider product range extending beyond just the fibre.
For more information, an executive summary of the report and the Phase 1 project report can be viewed.
[1] Data sourced directly from Deon Saayman, Managing Director, Mohair South Africa