From fleece to dress, a workshop using by-product of livestock

A rural women’s association used Rural Development Programme (RDP) support to organise wool processing training courses and to create employment opportunities by valorising wool, a by-product of sheep meat production.

Full Project description EN PDF icon (348.27 KB)
Project summary: 

The province of Ávila in Castilla y León is known for its production of sheep meat. The wool produced as a by-product is sold cheaply outside the region. Wool processing was a common place activity in the past, but it has been abandoned in recent years. The region of Ávila is also suffering from depopulation. In response to this situation, the local rural women's association invested in a training course on wool, not only to ensure knowledge transfer but essentially as a way of restoring an economic activity linked to livestock production. The association used support from the sub-Measure 1.1 of the Castilla y León Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020, to organise two training activities on wool processing.

Project results: 

The training was attended by 44 people at the town of El Barco de Ávila, and by 40 people in the town of Piedrahita: all of the participants were women.
As a result of the training several participants have embarked on further training with a view to setting up their own business.