http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LJ19Df01.htmlSilk industry struggles
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"In the past, our handicrafts were very valuable, and businesspeople and wealth customers used to go to those who were producing silk handkerchiefs, shawls and turbans," said Mohammad Hussain, 75, his body bent after more than half a century as a silk weaver. "Owning silk products was then a sign of nobility, but now the good customers are gone, along with our high wages."
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A silk industry worker can now expect to earn just US$2.50, Hussain said, warning that unless the government steps in to help, Herat's heritage as a center of silk-making will be lost.
Abbas Azami, head of Herat's silk weaving union with 20 years in the industry behind him, said that the market had become moribund due to the wide availability of cheaper foreign materials since the fall of the Taliban regime nine years ago.
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Herat has long been famed for its high-quality silk, a material particularly valued in Afghanistan for both its beauty and its practical use, and is a favorite gift to newly married couples.
Silk production is a laborious process that begins with hatching silkworm eggs and feeding the larvae on mulberry leaves until they form cocoons. Silk farmers collect these and boil them to release silken threads, which are then dyed and spun.
"We produce a natural product so we spend more on the outlay, which makes the price higher," Azami said. "Imitation products are imported to Herat and sold at a comparatively low rate. In some cases, smugglers bring them in through illegal routes, and they put the Herat stamp on these goods."
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some younger men say that what they make is old fashioned and made by old, old, men.
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even the old can be updated, spread their knowledge. I'd think Afghan would need all the small business it can
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