Donor-Funded Programs Need a New Compass: Beyond Legacy Tactics to the true need of modern apparel manufacturing

IIn the early decades of the apparel industry’s growth, donor-funded programs played a vital role. At a time when knowledge was scarce, skills limited, and industries just beginning to build capacity, these initiatives provided a foundation. Yet the structure of many such programs has largely remained unchanged, only the topics have shifted. Some implementation partners still replicate formats introduced decades ago, often without addressing today’s pressing needs. As a result, parts of this support remain confined to words and isolated initiatives, rather than creating pathways that ensure sustained job creation and worker wellbeing.

The industry is no longer in its formative stage. Apparel-exporting countries now face a new paradigm defined by market volatility, shrinking lead times, ESG compliance demands, and modern manufacturing systems. What worked in the past is no longer sufficient. The next era demands a new compass that directs donor-funded programs toward the true systemic needs of raising competitiveness, not tactical stopgaps.

Too many initiatives remain tactical and narrow, delivered as isolated interventions. While they may provide immediate knowledge transfer, they rarely dismantle deeper systemic barriers: reliance on outdated methods limited workforce adaptability rising cost structures and weak ESG integration.

To sustain these interventions, capacity-building programs often develop local service providers—yet even these are built on legacy techniques rather than creating a modern pool of expertise capable of driving the true needs.

Factories today do not simply need more training they need engineered solutions, resilient systems, and adaptable workforces capable of thriving amid turbulence. Yet too often, programs chase numerical targets rather than deliver real, lasting benefits.

For donor-funded programs to serve the industry’s future, they must evolve. Real support requires embedding capacity building within broader frameworks that connect people with engineered methods, build adaptable workforces, integrate ESG principles into practice, and place competitiveness at the core of outcomes. Unfortunately, the industry still lacks the depth of expertise to deliver on these needs, leaving many programs stuck in cycles of replication and legacy. Without systemic alignment, donor-funded efforts risk being remembered as temporary extensions of foreign assistance rather than catalysts for sustainable change.

Only by recalibrating to this new compass can donor-funded programs move beyond being contributors of the past to becoming engines of competitiveness for modern apparel manufacturing.

The critical question is:
👕 Who sets this compass direction? And more importantly,
👕 Is there a national integrated development strategy to guide donor-funded programs toward meaningful contribution?