Global mohair supply flourishes in South Africa’s desert

On a farm in South Africa’s semi-arid south, herds of angora goats foraged across open land stretching to the horizon, their pale fleeces glinting in the harsh sun.

Linked by dirt tracks and dotted with remote farms, the sparsely populated Karoo region sits at the heart of the global mohair trade, supplying more than half of the world’s output of the fibre prized for its sheen and softness.

A Cape Dutch-style gable in one corner of the…