Silk Enterprise Sustainability – 2024 & 2025 – This was written for the 2024 ASEAN Traditional Textiles Symposium panel discussion on silk business sustainability. The material came from a comprehensive report written by Cornelia Bagg Srey in July of 2023 identifying problems facing the producers of chorabab brocade in Cambodia. There is lots of information here, and much of it is relevant to textile production anywhere in the world - please be sure to read to the end!
When developing new products, use traditional patterns. If a producer simplifies patterns, yes, he can sell them to tourists, yes, he makes a profit, yes, the tourist goes home happy, and yes, he or she has been sold genuine handwoven silk. However, the weaver stops making the traditional patterns in order to make the simplified ones. This contributes to the loss of traditional patterns.
Since 2023, silkworms in some areas have been dying in the extreme heat of climate change. But not all of them die. Breed these heat-resistant survivors.
Most chorabab brocade is made with black warp thread. Producers buy white thread and dye it black; instead, they could buy black thread in Thailand (see the “Resource Grant / Networking Cambodian and Thai Weavers” tab of this website). This saves time, money and water, and reduces the amount of dye wastewater going into the environment. Many other colors are also available in Thailand. Proof of concept - one family in Central Cambodia is already making the trip to Surin to buy their thread, so it must be saving them time and money.
Make more products with warp or weft of undyed thread (such as undyed - white - silk thread, or nylon gold thread). Again, this saves time and money, and reduces the amount of dye wastewater going into the environment.
Teach critical thinking and “work smart” techniques. An example would be as described above - buying black warp thread instead of buying white thread and dying it black.
New products are developed to increase tourist sales. Develop new products for the local market. One chorabab weaver has had good success selling evening wraps to both markets.
Ex-pat markets can be very lucrative. Some stores in Cambodia sell to Cambodians living overseas via Facebook. They ship via DHL, and collect payments using transfer agents such as Wing. Not only did these businesses survive the pandemic, they appear to be doing better than everyone else!
Some weavers move to distant provinces when they marry. One chorabab producer sends a loom with them; they return finished pieces to her via bus freight, and she sends thread back to them.
One chorabab pattern setter has learned to work faster and reduce eye strain by using a tablet to magnify the pattern she is setting.
In Cambodia, selling on consignment often results in producers not being paid. If they organize, and all refuse to sell on consignment, this would eliminate the problem.
Be sure older weavers have reading glasses so that they can prolong their careers if they choose to, and continue to pass their knowledge on.
Vaccinate weavers to minimize downtime from illness. They should have: TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis), Japanese Encephalitis, Covid-19 booster (every 6 months), Typhoid, Hepatitis A and B, Polio, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Pneumonia, Influenza. For those over age 50, Shingles (Shingrix vaccine). (No vaccine currently recommended for Dengue.) Weavers may be able to get vaccinations at government clinics – less expensive, more convenient.
Teach weavers to wear light-colored clothing that covers arms and legs, and avoid going outside at dawn and dusk, to minimize mosquito-borne diseases (such as Dengue, for which there is no recommended vaccination at present).
Use volunteers. I got a doctor to volunteer his time to advise me what vaccinations Cambodian weavers should have. I got neighbors in California to collect reading glasses for weavers from their churches and offices.
To attract trainees, make weaving a more respected profession. Some countries have a Living Human Treasures program, like Japan’s. A category for silk production could be added, with media publicity.
Buy metal looms instead of wooden looms (a tasty snack for termites).
So that weavers can network with those in other areas, teach map reading. In the 1970’s map-reading was part of the school curriculum in Cambodia, but it was taken out.
Use the miracle of fabric softener! Consumers want soft silk that irons easily. Below left you see a silk scarf that has had the tapioca starch washed out, but no fabric softener has been used. It has been ironed damp, with a steam iron (really!). On the right you see the same piece, after being treated with commercial fabric softener (available in grocery stores) and ironed damp with the same steam iron.
If you are trying to identify the problems facing a particular weaving community, you can use this list of problems from the 2023 study as a checklist.
Problems Facing Chorabab Brocade Producers in Cambodia, with Proposed Solutions (Listed in Order of Severity) – 2023 – Committee Chair, Cornelia Bagg Srey
Note: Ksach Kandal is the district in which chorabab brocade is made.
1 Problem: There are not enough ruh pkaa (pattern setters); it is estimated that only 20 are left. Some work more than 12 hours a day to try to keep up with demand. Proposed solution: Recruit and train more and provide financial incentives. Set up a formal training program.
2 Not enough consumers buy traditional chorabab. Proposed solution: Increase demand through marketing, developing new products (see #3) and making chorabab that’s more affordable (no upper border, simpler lower border, only two colors, thread that does not need to be dyed, etc.)
3 Most consumers are not interested in buying a kbun (approx. 2 meters) of chorabab, but something less expensive that they can use right away or wear with Western clothes. Proposed solution: Develop new products, of interest to both tourists and Cambodians.
4 The price of silk thread has risen sharply in recent years, reducing the percentage of consumers for whom chorabab is affordable. Proposed solution: Look for thread producers in countries other than Vietnam. Find an organization that can buy thread in bulk and resell it to weavers.
5 Chorabab prices are currently not high enough for weavers to make a good living. Proposed solution: See #2.
6 Paamooung brocade in a newly-popular style is selling much better than chorabab,so most chorabab weavers are now making this type of paamuuong. But it’s more difficult to weave because mistakes are more visible (there’s so much pattern in chorabab that mistakes “disappear”). Proposed solution: Increase demand for chorabab with marketing and promotion.
7 There are not enough chorabab weavers who work full time (many work only part time). Proposed solution: If they could get help with child & elder care, they might work more hours (see #13).
8 There are not enough chorabab weavers. Proposed solution: Recruit or train new weavers.
9 Businesses need business training – how to set up & use e-mail & a business Facebook page or website, how to sell overseas (incl. how to take credit cards from overseas customers & how best to ship), how to do cost accounting to in-crease their profit margin, how to make products according to specification, how to design their signage, etc. Some don’t even understand that their business Facebook page and their personal page should be completely different. One loses business because their customers can’t find them – they have no signs! Proposed solution: Find an organization that can help all chorabab artisans by providing business training to employers. If Ksach Kandal had a weaving center, the training could be done there.
10 Businesses need faster, more reliable Internet. This would enable them to sell online to overseas consumers. (Businesses in Siem Reap who sell textiles use the Internet to sell to overseas consumers. This enabled them to weather the pandemic & has greatly increased their profits.)
11 Because chorabab sellers who have their own retail stores sell expensive products (see #3), they offer merchandise in a lower price point by buying cotton products at wholesale and selling them at retail. They actually undercut sales of their ownproducts (see #9)! And they’re sometimes scammed by the cotton wholesalers. Proposed solution: Chorabab businesses must stop selling products that undercut their own, and stop selling cotton; cotton weaving in Cambodia is not an endangered art form. They must develop new products in chorabab, of interest to both tourists and Cambodians.
12 Some weavers want a regular paycheck and higher earnings, so take a job and no longer weave. (See #5.) Proposed solution: If they made more money weaving, they wouldn’t take jobs.
13 Most weavers have inadequate child care and elder care. Proposed solution: Help with child & elder care could be provided at a weaving center.
14 If a person is not from a weaving family, they are hesitant to learn to weave. Proposed solution: Recruit new trainees from other segments of the population, and provide financial incentives.
15 Some young people want to pursue a pro-fessional career (i.e. become a doctor, lawyer, architect, etc.) so do not weave. No solution proposed.
16 Many young people do not have the patience required to become a weaver. No solution proposed.
17 Some weavers borrow money from their employers. This causes friction, and hardship to employers. Proposed solution: Require borrows to open a bank account and sign a repayment plan / contract.
18 Some weavers are poor; their homes are infested with mosquitos, which carry deadly diseases (and there are other problems). When their employer comes to help solve a weaving problem, or the ruh pkaa comes to set up the loom, she is also exposed. (16% of Nara Silk’s staff lives below the poverty line.) Proposed solution: Build a weaving center where these weavers can work, so they have safe working conditions.
19 Weavers working at home with inadequate space for the loom sometimes get dirt on the piece. The seller must either clean the piece before selling it, or sell it at a discount. This sometimes creates friction between the weaver and her employer, and slows production. Proposed solution: Build a weaving center where these weavers can work, so they have enough space to work.
20 Some artisans do not have access to reading glasses, so must retire before they want to or can afford to. Proposed solution: Make reading glasses more available & affordable. This could be done by an NGO.
21 Weavers who marry often move out of Ksach Kandal. Proposed solution: Have employer set up a loom in her new home. She’ll ship finished pieces back to her.
22 Weavers lived in 5 villages in 1995. Now they’re more spread out. This makes it harder for them to network & communicate with their employers. Proposed solution: Organize quarterly meetings to network.
23 Higher temperatures from climate change decrease productivity, & weavers must not get perspiration on the piece. Proposed solution: A weaving center would enable weavers to work in a cooler environment.
24 Higher temperatures resulting from climate change cause some golden silkworms to die. Proposed solution: Breed the heat-resistent survivors.
25 Some weavers are slower than others. Proposed solution: Have faster weavers train slower ones. Each employer can contribute its fastest weaver to the training pool.
26 When looms wear out, they are very expensive to replace. Proposed solution: To reduce cost and the need for replacement, buy metal looms (instead of wooden looms) in bulk and resell them to weavers.
27 Some weavers don’t do “cleanup” (snipping off stray threads, etc.) at regular intervals throughout the weaving process. The employer ends up doing it. Proposed solution: Employers can train their weavers to do their own “cleanup”.
28 Silkworms must be fed 3 times a day. This means that their caregiver cannot leave them for long periods of time without making arrangements for someone else to feed them. Proposed solution: The caregiver must make arrangements for someone else to feed the silkworms.
29 Some weavers and pattern setters are the sole earner in the family, usually because of divorce. No solution proposed.
Because of these many problems, some chorabab businesses cannot make enough money to build inventory; they must sell pieces as soon as they are completed. This limits their ability to sell to overseas consumers (both individuals and stores), wedding arrangers and dance companies, and often forces them to sell at wholesale instead of at retail. And they can’t sell on consignment.