Decentralising Wool Futures

UNDP Accelerator Labs Grant, 2025

Product Innovation, Systems intervention, Textile Design, Fiber Research

Wool Scouring Innovation and systems intervention

India has the third largest sheep population in the world, but the country’s wool requirements are largely met by imported wool. This has resulted in a sharp decline in wool procurement from shepherds and pastoral communities. With the lack of technological infrastructure, competing demands on people’s time, investments are needed to scale deep into the technology used for wool pre-processing at the village level. Still further, modularity and the reliability from energy generation at site, through distributed renewable energy systems, can be leveraged to power wool processing, potentially avoiding drudgery, increasing production, and improving net incomes. One such hurdle has been the inefficient and tedious process of wool scouring. Traditional methods often involve the use of harsh chemicals and consume significant amounts of water, leading to pollution and resource depletion. To address these issues, the introduction of a small-scale scouring machine running on renewable energy in Ladakh region has the potential to revolutionize the textile and handloom industries, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.

BUZZ

UNDP Accelerator Labs and People of Japan Grant Awardee