Project for Guanaco Textile Fibre Was Initiated by Argentine Govt

Argentina’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Lino Baranao, presented a model for development of a textile value chain for processing of guanaco fibre in Malargue city of Mendoza province.
 
The model aims at improving the quality of life of small farmers based on the sustainable use of guanacos and appropriate use of technological innovations, according to a statement from the Ministry.
 
The project will have a huge impact at the local, provincial and national level as it aims at creating a value chain for fiber and textile products derived from guanacos, camelids native to South America, and will also contribute to conservation of the environment.
 
For the project, the Ministry of Science, through the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion will allocate $ 5.678 million. The project will be administered by Argentine Fund Sector (FONARSEC) of the Agency.
 
This project is very different from the many things we have done, as it aims at making science and technology reach populations that never received any such finance earlier, the Minister said.
 
He said it is a challenge to join an ancestral knowledge with technology that allows being competitive, and generates products that have value in the international market.
 
Dr. Gabriela Lichtenstein, researcher at the National Research Council (CONICET), who is in-charge of the project, explained that the initiative is to transfer the skills to produce and market high quality products including guanaco yarn and other natural fibres.
 
The project will have a huge impact locally, provincially and nationally. It will work for creating a place for guanaco fiber in the international market, and to create the brand "Guanaco Argentina", for which there is a lot of possibility in Mendoza province, which houses the world's largest population of guanacos.