February 26, 2025

Complacency upended for all

Over the past few years, we have regularly seen how geopolitics and geoeconomics have increasingly impinged on the leather business. Hides and skins, followed by leather and then leather goods of many sorts, have been traded since the earliest days of international trade; even going back to earliest history when large hide-covered coracles or rafts floated on inflated whole skins provided the earliest “long distance” transport across lakes, down rivers and over small bodies of open water.

This high degree of trade relates to the fact that types and breeds and their qualities vary from place to place as do the available materials and methodologies of processes. Equally, each culture uses leather in different ways creating special and luxury items on top of utilitarian ones that are desired elsewhere. Hopefully this type of trade will continue.

Yet, we cannot forget that, in the latter half of the 20th century, various international bodies put great effort into transferring tanning and the production of items such as shoes, garments, gloves and leather goods into emerging markets. In some instances, this was to add value to local raw materials while, in others, it was the fact that even a single tannery can create huge numbers of jobs that are fundamentally craft tasks not requiring more than adequate literacy. This moves the population out of the black economy into one where tax can be collected and replace foreign donations and local corruption when the raw material is exported unprocessed.

Organisations such as UNIDO and the World Bank have played a major role in the infrastructure development of tanneries, waste treatment, environmental compliance, technology and skills transfer. Trade agreements and market access, along with financial aid for small businesses such as grants for equipment and exports, are added by governments and other bodies.

The Global South

The Global South is, for leather, the future area of growth. Excluding China, most of the countries still have a long way to go. Even those with prominent industries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia all need help to escape the commodity trap and get into higher value-added market sectors. Most also need more help with environmental and governance matters to be acceptable suppliers to top global brands.

So, the abrupt U.S. stopping of aid, plus uncertainty about market access through talk of tariffs as a universal tool along with the intention to ignore climate change, creates a toxic environment for a simple tanner.

America is by far the biggest donor of aid globally. In recent years, most U.S. aid to Ethiopia has been humanitarian food, medications, water and shelter for areas impacted by drought and fighting. Without a quick policy reversal, catastrophe will soon follow, on top of the loss of projects on job creation, literacy and health.

Climate projects in much of Africa are planned to involve well-balanced grazing on grasslands to sequester carbon. But this needs funding to avoid overgrazing and develop climate resistant husbandry of the land and animals. Nearly all of the Global South will be badly impacted by the consequences of rising temperatures, so adaptation needs to start now.

Furthermore, the U.S.’ dislike of diversity programmes and the Vice President’s apparent views on women make for a big potential weakening of business in the Global South.

Need for more female technicians

There is no doubt that diverse boards with women fully represented achieve better results than male-only ones. Equally, the wider leather business is an excellent environment for women to exploit their skills. We already see it in the service side, in design and marketing, but we need to have many more female technicians on the floor driving the tanning of leather as a craft rather than an industrial commodity; appreciating each skin with hand and eye.

It is now important to diversify sources of finance and markets as the U.S. steps into the background, but it should not involve doing only more of the same. New trade partnerships in new geographies will have to be created and recognise that tomorrow’s customers will be in Africa and parts of Asia rather than the old countries. With the change in policy, even North America will quickly start aging and declining. Not everyone can have 13 children!

Local raw material in emerging markets tends to be defined as lower quality, hairsheep, kidskins and buffalo offer typical exceptions. It is the moment to rethink leathermaking from the ground up to ensure that 100% gets used without creating a plastic lookalike product. Better husbandry should help along provide more meat and milk from fewer healthy animals as we have seen elsewhere. Hide segmentation, thoughtful processing of every piece (as well as every waste product) and design consideration of where and how it is used are essential. Definitely not more of the same.

Equally, waste regulations need to be properly enforced so tanneries can obtain and retain full accreditation without any suggestion of cheating. Where space permits bioremediation and energy producing forms of treatment can be introduced rather than cost heavy engineered or chemical solutions. Hybrid materials can be among the added value solutions for some waste products. The target must be self sustaining systems which create true added value.

We are long overdue some African-founded brands in every leather sector. As well as lucrative Middle Eastern markets, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) must be exploited to the full, with infrastructure supported to improve communications of all sorts.

New thinking, more women, new markets, new brands and an escape to craft from commodity must signify an escape from the past and the proud creation of the true leather future of the Global South. Time to fly.

Michael Redwood

Leather chemist, writer, and advisor on responsible leather manufacturing and material strategy. This article was originally written for ILM.