| Cashmere Farmers Feeling Pinch of Financial Crisis |
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Many cashmere wool farmers in Mongolia have been forced to sell or slaughter their precious goats as profits have been sheared because the demand for luxury goods has plummeted during the financial crisis.
Many Mongolian nomad farmers used to earn most of their income raising goats which produce the soft fibers that are used to make the high-end cashmere sweaters, scarves and coats. Yet the world economic crisis has changed everything, even hitting the most remote parts of the world. Mongolian nomad farmer Terychin Chengelbator has been living on the Mongolian plains all his life, raising goats for cashmere. Now he is simply struggling to survive. Im not getting even the half of the money I used to get, says Terychin who decided last year to increase his livestock and even took out a bank loan. |
