Botswana's karakul renaissance - Ministry of Agriculture

Botswana’s karakul renaissance
Article: Felix Mothatego
Photos: Mothusi Tlale
Very few are enjoying the benefits of
exporting karakul pelts to Europe.
Hendrick Esterhuizen of Welkom farm,
which is located a stone throw from
Bokspits and struizendam villages is
one of the farmers making the statistics.
Welkom is also located along the border
fence between Botswana and Namibia.
He said karakul is the skin of newborn or
even unborn lambs, prized for its softness
and silk-like texture. The newborn are
slaughtered immediately after birth
because their silky pelt would fetch a
high price on the export market.
Once the lamb is a few days old, its pelt
looses the characteristics-silk watered
look; it dries out and becomes longer. At
that point it is ordinary sheepskin, sold
for a fraction of the price of karakul.
The fur enjoys wide demand in Europe,
where it is made into high-priced coats.
The skins go mainly to Britain, Denmark,
Finland and China, he added. The most
common colours are grey and black,
although beige and other tints are also
popular.
Hendrick said preparing karakul skins for
use is a laborious and time-consuming
process, which in part accounts for the
high price of the pelts. When describing
the procedure he said the small pelt is
first washed clean, and sprinkled with
salt before it is put in special trays, and
left in the sun to dry. After they dry, the
skins are cut into pieces ready for export.
He then packages them in a way that
would not affect the quality during
transportation, and then he applies for
the permit to export to South Africa.
The products are then quarantined for
30 days here in Botswana, South Africa,
and Namibia before they are flown to
Europe. He said it would then take up
to six months to get any feedback from
Europe. He said an average price for a
pelt is P500.00, and sometimes even
much more depending on the quality.
Hendrick said before 1985 the process
of exporting was not as tedious as it
is to date. He said karakul producers
were many and would produce 30 000
pelts per year, but now there are about
three to four active farmers in Bokspits
village. He said most of the producers
lost confidence in karakul due to the
collapse of the karakul market in 1985.
“However, the market has now recovered
and prices are even much better than in
the past because a pellet used to be sold
for P6”, he said.
He said the hardy karakul sheep
withstands the harsh climate of
Botswana’s south, with its cold winter and
brutally hot summers. He said karakuls
are not complicated to control because
they forage in groups as compared to
goats which scatter all-over the place
when foraging. He also said karakuls
have to be shaved regularly because they
quickly grow to wool. He said he waters
them every morning before they go out
on their foraging trip, and that they return
at dusk by themselves.
Hendrick said he first learnt about
karakul production in 1964 when he was
still a young man working for the then
“Germany West”, which is now Namibia.
He was working under supervision of a
scientist doing research on these animals.
He also said he has been passing karakul
production skills to his children and
grandchildren all his life so that they
know that they understand is survival
skills
karakul
May 2010