Category: Nepal
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Can AI Authenticate Pashmina in a Photo?
Assessing the Prospects of PashmNet Offhand, it sounds nuts. Even an experienced pashmina vendor is sometimes unsure about a fabric that he or she is actually touching. How could a conventional photograph possibly be more certain? Before pashmina can be assessed, the term has to be defined. The word may refer to the fine undercoat…
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Prolegomenon to Pashmina Dreams
Concerning squishy terms and numbers Abstract The National Pashmina Sector Export Strategy 2022–2026 appears to tell a coherent story: Nepal will strengthen Chyangra-fiber production, fill missing links in the domestic value chain, promote Chyangra Pashmina, and raise exports to US$75 million. Critiquing that story, however, requires more certainty than the available words and numbers always…
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Three Sisters
A project to link Istanbul, Kathmandu and New York City Mountain Sisters is an initiative to connect communities with a stake in mountain stewardship. That stake may be due to their location within or at the gateway to mountainous regions, or they may have important research institutes focusing on mountains, or they may have substantial…
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Pashmina Dreams
Nepal’s Five-Year Pashmina Plan Meets Reality There has been a good deal of nervous chatter lately about Nepal’s pashmina industry, much of it surrounding the National Pashmina Sector Export Strategy 2022–2026, developed by the Government of Nepal with support from the International Trade Centre and the European Union. The attention can seem disproportionate. Pashmina is an…
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What is Pashmina?
The word “pashmina” as used in contemporary English has four common meanings: Current usage of the term “pashmina” 1) A pashmina goat is a cashmere goat. The scientific name for all domestic goats is Capra hircus (“laniger” has no standing as a scientific name with regards to goats.) There are about three hundred breeds of domesticated goats worldwide,…