Reviving Uzbekistan's and Tajikistan's Sustainable Ikat and Silk

Towards Eco-Innovative IKAT Design & Manufacturing in Tajikistan

Tajikistan is the cradle of a unique and beautiful textile product, Central Asian silk ikat, manufactured by dyeing the threads before weaving. Recently, the industry has been suffering from a lack of raw material supply as the Tajik sericulture vanished after the collapse of the USSR and civil war era. Besides, manufacturing has become wasteful and toxic/ecologically harmful. Whereas traditionally, unharmful natural dyes were used, untreated wastewater from chemical dyeing processes that is released into the environment has increasingly become a sustainability issue today.

This SWITCH-Asia Programme funded project builds capacity in 300 silkworm farmers, 100 dye suppliers and 200 small manufacturers in order to shift to cleaner production practices. At the same time, young designers gain skills to modernize their collection to reach Western markets. The Project also engages with the policy makers to provide a suitable ground and policy instruments for this challenging shift.

Connecting the silk farmer communities to the market

Silkworm farming traditionally takes place in private households embedded in the daily lives of families within rural communities. In many cases it is not performed in a high-scale industrial manner but on a small-scale and based on knowledge that is passed on through generations, especially among the women of a family. While many rural communities depend on the silk industry it has been difficult after the USSR and civil war era to preserve former cross-border value chain links.

Today, many silkworm farmers experience difficulties to re-establishing these links and finding value chain partners in order to access new markets for their silk. Against this background, this SWITCH-Asia Programme funded project aims to address this issue by connecting communities, providing guidance locally and jointly improve access to value chain partners. As a starting point, the project has identified clusters of silk farming communities in Tajikistan which appear mostly in the Khatlon and Northern Sugd region. By building capacities of 100 silk farmers the project aims to build the foundation for a revival of Central Asian silk products. 

Empowering young IKAT entrepreneurs

The future of crafts depends on the next generations and their ability to market ikat products. Due to the stresses experienced by the country, including the civil war, the continuous tradition of teacher-apprentice training in ikat production was interrupted, leading to a sharp decrease of ikat masters and trainers in Tajikistan and loss of valuable knowledge. Along with reviving traditions and modernizing production to increase its market appeal RUTSIS project aims to increase capacities of local stakeholders including training providers, which will ultimately increase accessibility and quality of trainings provided to younger generations. 

As an additional significant contribution, business development training will be provided for young masters. The latter has become more important recently due to the barriers to sales caused by COVID-19 and the decline in tourist flows, which had been an important sales channel for ikat producers before the pandemic. Developing new business models is critical to sustainability and business expansion.