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POVERTY AND POVERTY REDUCTION OF MONGOLIA
Report
For
“Income Generation and Poverty Reduction for Development”
By
KADYEI ZURASH
AGRICULTURAL OFFICER
GOVERNOR’S ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF SONGINO KHAIRHAN DISTRICT,
MONGOLIA
ULAANBAATAR -2010
Poverty and poverty reduction of Mongolia
1. Background
Mongolia is located in the Central Asia, between the Russian Federation to the
north and People‘ s Republic of China to the east, south and west. Mongolia is
landlocked country of 1.565 million square kilometers and is located 1580 meters
above sea.
The population of Mongolia is 2.7 million with a population density of 1.5 person per
square kilometers. About 32 per cent of the total population live in the cap ital city of
Ulaanbaatar and 36% of population are children below 15 years old. Around 95 per
cent of population are Mongolian. The official language of Mongolia is Mongolian.
The national GDP per capita is about US$ 400.
Literacy rate in Mongolia is very high amounting 97.8% of the population aged
15 years old and above.
The Parliament of Mongolia is the highest organ of State power. Mongolia is
currently in transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy.
Mongolia began its transition from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented
economy in 1990. Mongolia experienced a period of depression and increased poverty in
the first part of the 1990s . According to the Living Standards Measurement Survey
(LSMS) of the World Bank in 1998, 35.6% of the population lived below the weighted
national average poverty line.
2. Poverty of Mongolia
Poverty is a recent reality in Mongolia. Until about 1990 there were virtually no poor
people in rural areas. The government and rural collectives made sure that everyone
was supplied with basic goods and access to a full range of public services. Poverty
has been a direct consequence of the transition to a market economy in the 1990s,
after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Mongolia's centrally planned
economy. Privatization of industry and state farms brought high levels of
unemployment. Benefits and assistance dried up. Incomes shrank, inflation devoured
purchasing power and people had to bear the cost of health and education services.
Presently, one in three people in Mongolia are poor, and the number of poor people
grows as the income gap widens. Poverty is becoming entrenched not only in urban
centres but also in rural areas, where about half of the country’s poor people live.
Poverty remains widespread in the country despite efforts to reduce it. Official figures
suggest that around one third of the total population live in poverty, defined as the inability
to afford a basket of basic food and non-food items. Many others are very close to the
poverty line. In fact, increasing the poverty line by only 10.0 per cent leaves well over half
of the population mired in poverty. Whatever figure is chosen, the poverty reduction
challenge facing the country is significant indeed.
Poverty
most
certainly
increased
dramatically in the early years of transition
as
national
income
plummeted,
unemployment increased, price inflation
soared and social spending fell. There is
insufficient data to determine what has
happened since the mid-1990s. The two
poverty figures presented in the graph are
not comparable as there were important
changes in survey design over the period.
Poverty affects different households differently. Female-headed households, large
households, and households in urban areas are all more likely to be poor. The urbanization
of poverty is striking and has been accentuated by the migration from rural areas and
attributed to urban poverty.
Over half of total poverty is concentrated in urban areas and around one quarter in the
capital, Ulaanbataar. This change in the composition of poverty has brought with it new-
found social ills including crime, street children, urban slums and has increased pressure
on social services, already strained during transition.
Poverty is also closely associated with unemployment and low levels of education and
health care, including reproductive health services. Indeed, household survey data reveal
that one third of the very poor are unemployed, a rate over three times that of the non-poor.
The social costs of unemployment are severe, contributing to low self-esteem, depression,
alcohol abuse, domestic violence and crime. A final characteristic of poor households is
their heavy reliance on income from pensions and benefits, despite their very low levels.
The share of these transfers in household income is three times higher for the very poor
than
the
non-poor
in
urban
areas
and
twice
as
high
in
rural
areas.
A range of coping strategies have been used to respond to these shocks including
migration to the cities and to more prosperous regions, sale of assets, withdrawal of boys
from school as well as other petty activities. Clearly, many of these strategies have harmful
consequences for those involved.
Who are Mongolia's rural poor people?
Rural poor people in Mongolia include:

women who are heads of households

members of households with more than four children

families of small herders

unemployed people

people without basic education

vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and disabled people, and orphaned
children
Poverty is more likely to affect women than men. In 2002, more than 55,000 households
in Mongolia were headed by women, 250 per cent more than in 1990. One in four of
these families have six or more children. At least half of the households headed by
women are poor.
Where are rural poor people in Mongolia?
Rural poor people are scattered, isolated and highly mobile. They are mainly in five of
Mongolia's 21 aimags, or provinces: Huvsgul, Arhangai and Bayan-Olgiy in the northwest; Dorno-Gobi in the south-east and Bayanhongor in the south-central part of the
country. Within the aimags, poverty seems to be most deeply entrenched in rural district
centres called soums, which are settlements made up of a few hundred families.
Half of all people in rural areas are semi-nomadic herders, who move from one remote
pastureland to another, living with their families in traditional round felt tents called ger.
The other half of rural people live in soums. People tend to move their herds closer to
soums so they can have easier access to health and education services and basic
supplies.
Why are they poor?
Most rural poor people are herders. Although livestock production is still the principal
source of livelihood for rural people, the number of livestock per herder is decreasing
dramatically. It shrank by more than half between 1990 and 2000. In that decade the
number of herders swelled from about 150,000 in 1990 to about 420,000 in 1999, an
increase of more than 180 per cent.
The size of the livestock holdings of most families, particularly newcomers who have
migrated from urban centres, is well below the subsistence level. For a sustainable
livelihood over the long term, a family of herders needs at least ten heads of cattle or yak
or 70 sheep. Yet when livestock collectives were disbanded in the early 1990s, about 20
per cent of families, many of them headed by women, received fewer than ten animals.
Smaller herds barely support a simple life at the subsistence level, which is permanently
threatened by the fragile condition of pastureland, severe winters and endemic animal
diseases. To cope in the short term, herders at the subsistence level may have to sell
animals. With fewer animals they find it even harder to survive. Herders are among the
poorest of the poor in Mongolia.
Source: IFAD
3. Human Development Report 2009 Mongolia
The Human Development Index - going beyond income
Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the human
development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being.
The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development:
living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured
by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of
living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The index is not in any
sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example,
include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to
measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms. What it does
provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship
between income and well-being.
Of the components of the HDI, only income and gross enrolment are somewhat
responsive to short term policy changes. For that reason, it is important to examine
changes in the human development index over time. The human development index
trends tell an important story in that respect. Between 2000 and 2007 Mongolia's HDI
rose by 1.02% annually from 0.676 to 0.727 today. HDI scores in all regions have
increased progressively over the years (Figure 1) although all have experienced periods
of slower growth or even reversals.
Figure 1: HDI Trends
This year's HDI, which refers to 2007, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life
chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world. The HDI for
Mongolia is 0.727, which gives the country a rank of 115th out of 182 countries with data
(Table 1).
Table 1: Mongolia’s human development index 2007
HDI value
Adult literacy
Life expectancy at
rate
birth
(% ages 15
(years)
and above)
1. Norway
(0.971)
1. Japan (82.7)
113. Bolivia
(0.729)
114. Guyana
(0.729)
115.
Mongolia
(0.727)
114. Tajikistan
(66.4)
115. Nepal (66.3)
116. Mongolia
(66.2)
1. Georgia
(100.0)
31. Argentina
(97.6)
32. Romania
(97.6)
Combined gross
enrolment ratio
(%)
GDP per capita
(PPP US$)
1. Australia
(114.2)
1. Liechtenstein (85,382)
57. Panama (79.7) 123. Congo (3,511)
58. Philippines
(79.6)
33. Mongolia 59. Mongolia
(97.3)
(79.2)
124. Philippines (3,406)
125. Mongolia (3,236)
116. Viet Nam 117. Pakistan
(0.725)
(66.2)
34. Israel
(97.1)
60. Romania
(79.2)
126. Cape Verde (3,041)
117. Moldova 118. Russian
(0.720)
Federation (66.2)
35. Greece
(97.1)
61. Colombia
(79.0)
127. Guyana (2,782)
182. Niger
(0.340)
151. Mali
(26.2)
177. Djibouti
(25.5)
181. Congo (Democratic
Republic of the) (298)
176. Afghanistan
(43.6)
By looking at some of the most fundamental aspects of people’s lives and opportunities
the HDI provides a much more complete picture of a country's development than other
indicators, such as GDP per capita. Figure 2 illustrates that countries on the same level
of HDI can have very different levels of income or that countries with similar levels of
income can have very different HDIs.
Figure 2: The human development index gives a more complete picture than
income
Human poverty: focusing on the most deprived in multiple dimensions of poverty
The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development. The
Human Poverty Index (HPI-1), focuses on the proportion of people below certain
threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living a
long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living. By
looking beyond income deprivation, the HPI-1 represents a multi-dimensional alternative
to the $1.25 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure.
The HPI-1 value of 12.7% for Mongolia, ranks 58th among 135 countries for which the
index has been calculated.
The HPI-1 measures severe deprivation in health by the proportion of people who are
not expected to survive to age 40. Education is measured by the adult illiteracy rate. And
a decent standard of living is measured by the unweighted average of people not using
an improved water source and the proportion of children under age 5 who are
underweight for their age. Table 2 shows the values for these variables for Mongolia and
compares them to other countries.
Table 2: Selected indicators of human poverty for Mongolia
Children
Probability of
Adult illiteracy People not using
Human Poverty
underweight for
not surviving to rate (%ages 15 an improved
Index (HPI-1)
age (% aged
age 40 (%)
and above)
water source (%)
under 5)
1. Hong Kong,
1. Czech
1. Georgia
China (SAR)
1. Barbados (0)
1. Croatia (1)
Republic (1.5)
(0.0)
(1.4)
56. Syrian Arab 84. Jamaica
31. Argentina
106. Senegal (23) 41. Barbados (6)
Republic (12.6) (9.9)
(2.4)
57. Sao Tome
85. Suriname
32. Romania
and Principe
107. Malawi (24) 42. Egypt (6)
(10.0)
(2.4)
(12.6)
58. Mongolia 86. Mongolia
33. Mongolia 108. Mongolia
43. Mongolia (6)
(12.7)
(10.3)
(2.7)
(28)
59. Iran (Islamic 87. Russian
109. Burkina Faso
Republic of)
Federation
34. Israel (2.9)
44. Panama (7)
(28)
(12.8)
(10.6)
60. Lib Arab
88. Uzbekistan 35. Greece
110. Burundi (29) 45. Azerbaijan (7)
Jamahiriya (13.4) (10.7)
(2.9)
135.
153. Lesotho
150. Afghanistan 138. Bangladesh
Afghanistan
151. Mali (73.8)
(47.4)
(78)
(48)
(59.8)
4. Building the capabilities of women
The HDI measures average achievements in a country, but it does not incorporate the
degree of gender imbalance in these achievements. The gender-related development
index (GDI), introduced in Human Development Report 1995, measures achievements in
the same dimensions using the same indicators as the HDI but captures inequalities in
achievement between women and men. It is simply the HDI adjusted downward for
gender inequality. The greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the
lower is a country's GDI relative to its HDI.
Mongolia's GDI value, 0.727 should be compared to its HDI value of 0.727. Its GDI value
is 100.0% of its HDI value. Out of the 155 countries with both HDI and GDI values,
Mongolia has the best ratio.
Table 3 shows how Mongolia’s ratio of GDI to HDI
compares to other countries, and also shows its values for selected underlying indicators
in the calculation of the GDI.
Table 3: The GDI compared to the HDI – a measure of gender disparity
Adult literacy rate (%
Combined primary,
GDI as % of
Life expectancy at
ages 15 and older)
secondary and tertiary
HDI
birth(years) 2004
2004
gross enrolment ratio2004
Female as % male Female as % male
Female as % male
1. Russian
1. Mongolia
Federation
1. Lesotho (122.5%)
1. Cuba (121.0%)
(100.0%)
(121.7%)
2. Colombia
24. Europe
5. United Arab Emirates
5. Barbados (116.7%)
(99.9%)
(110.5%)
(102.2%)
3. Hungary
25. Mauritius
6. Antigua and Barbuda
6. Estonia (116.1%)
(99.9%)
(110.5%)
(101.0%)
4. Bahrain
26. Mongolia
7. Mongolia (100.9%) 7. Mongolia (115.1%)
(99.9%)
(110.4%)
5. Lithuania
27. Romania
8. Seychelles (100.9%) 8. Kuwait (114.9%)
(99.9%)
(110.3%)
6. Romania
28. Georgia
9. Uruguay (100.8%)
9. Suriname (114.3%)
(99.9%)
(110.3%)
155.
190. Swaziland
145. Afghanistan
Afghanistan
175. Afghanistan (55.6%)
(98.0%)
(29.2%)
(88.0%)
The gender empowerment measure (GEM) reveals whether women take an active part
in economic and political life. It tracks the share of seats in parliament held by women; of
female legislators, senior officials and managers; and of female professional and
technical workers- and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic
independence. Differing from the GDI, the GEM exposes inequality in opportunities in
selected areas. Mongolia ranks 94th out of 109 countries in the GEM, with a value of
0.410.
5. IFAD in Mongolia
Since 1996 the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has helped rural
poor people in Mongolia by funding development projects in the livestock sector, the key
to the livelihoods of rural Mongolians. IFAD approved a first loan of US$3.5 million to the
Mongolian Government to finance the Arhangai and Huvsgul Rural Poverty Alleviation
Project (AHRPAP). IFAD supports a second project in Mongolia, the Rural Poverty
Reduction Programme, with a loan of more than US$11.0 million. To help reduce poverty
in rural areas, IFAD is committed to a total investment of close to US$15.0 million.
Projects have introduced an innovative restocking scheme that helps herders rebuild
their herds with credit in kind. Credit is also provided for vegetable production and
activities that generate income for non-herder families.
IFAD strategy in Mongolia focuses on helping poor herders take full advantage of the
market-oriented economy, and on supporting development of activities that generate
cash income for rural poor people, particularly women. IFAD supports technical services,
participatory rangeland management and rural finance services.
The Government of Mongolia believes that the International Fund of Agricultural
Development should pay and prioritize an attention by extending and strengthening it’s
intensive
cooperation
activities.
During the last four years, with successful cooperation activities with IFAD, the
Government of Mongolia has taken many different measures in poverty reduction areas
and subsequently has achieved many good practical results. In future, we also believes
that IFAD will play an important role and make a valuable contribution to achieve above
mentioned objectives.
The IFAD funded the “Rural Poverty Reduction Project” which was implemented
successfully in two largest provinces between 1996-2003. The total number of
participating families reached 7,800, which was 27 percent higher than expected.
Even though the winter natural disaster (dzud) occurred during the project
implementation period, and contributed negatively in the herd restocking component of
the project, valuable lessons were learned for future programs development and
implementation.
Currently, we are working and cooperating with IFAD to discount loans for herders who
lost much of their livestock because of the dzud during those years.
In July, 2003, IFAD started the second stage of the Rural Poverty Reduction Program in
Mongolia, and it’s objectives and activities correspond with the Government’s policies
and strategies. Within the project’s framework, the rehabilitation of rural schools,
dormitories and hospitals, the improvement of social services and the building and
rehabilitation of water points and wells in rural areas, have all been welcomed by the
rural population.
6. Mongolian agriculture
The Mongolian economy depends mainly on the performance of agriculture and mining
and their price fluctuation in international markets. In 1999, agriculture, the main livestock
production was the source of approximately 35% of GDP; commerce 29%; services, 18%;
mining, 10%; and industry, 7.5%. Mining generated more than 80% of the economy's
export earnings. The industrial field includes wool and cashmere processing, leather
goods production, food processing, and construction. In 1999, 70% of GDP was generated
by the private sector. In 1990 the equivalent figure was 10%. Year of 2008 is becoming
very important and special year for IFAD.
The Mongolian food and agriculture sectors have required the introduction of new
management approaches, with intensified production based on modern scientific and
technological advancements.
To this regard, many important measures need to be taken.
Mongolia’s agriculture sector is affected negatively by three main following factors.
Re-structural adjustment during the transition period from the planned economy to
market economy
b. Global climate change
c. Globalization
a.
These three factors are causing not very easy difficulties, but they also offer wide range
of opportunitites.
Therefore, the Mongolian Government’s agriculture sector development policy is
targeting to decrease previously mentioned negative influences and eventually to
eradicate completely and develop an agricultural production based on the positive side of
the situations.
During the transition period to market economy, Mongolian agricultural sector has been
privatized one hundred percent and transferred to the private sector.
However, during the privatization period, previous agricultural entities have been divided
into much smaller entities. This results 70 to 80 percentage of the agricultural production
is dominated by the household level production that affects dramatic decrease overall
agricultural production and difficulties for making future investment.
About 80 percentage of the total Mongolian agriculture production is produced by the
livestock sector. Generally, our livestock system is pasture grazing livestock husbandry.
Lately, total number of livestock has been increased dramatically and reached more than
40 million heads which is the positive result for increasing total production of the sector,
but on the other hand, it call challenges and pressure for pasture land, which is the major
condition for running livestock husbandry. In addition to the dramatic increase of the
livestock growth, there is desertification process has been taken in place so rapidly as
never before caused by the global climate change and dryness. Crop sector also suffers
from climate change, drought and dryness.
Under the influence of the globalization, we are facing high rocking fuel and wheat price
increase, that hits hard the agricultural production itself.
Therefore there is increased role and importance of IFAD to overcome previously
mentioned obstacles, to remove rural small scaled agricultural entities from poverty and
prevent them to be affected by the poverty.
To increase the livestock sector’s production by successful breeding of local elite
livestock breeds that are adapted to the country’s climatic conditions, along with
using high quality breeds from abroad, especially nearby population concentrated
urban areas while introducing modern biotechnological techniques
To establish capacity for livestock and crop production business and encourage
the development off settled farming and to enhance institutional arrangements for
mitigating natural disasters such as drought and dzud
To increase pastureland, hay and fodder production and improve quality of feed
To irrigate pasture and crop areas, increase human and livestock water supplies
and to introduce advanced soil tillage technologies and fertilizers in order to
improve soil fertility
To protect pasture land pests and rodents, especially to use environmentally
sound and advanced, modern technologies to fight against widely distributed
pasture pests such as locusts and uliin tsagaan ogotn.
To increase production of locally adapted seed varieties and introduce new
potential seed varieties,
In order to implement previously mentioned activities, we are facing challenging goal that
will require substantial amount of investment and period for renovating agricultural
techniques and machineries.
In the world’s changing global climate, issues regarding the preservation of our natural
environment, rehabilitating damaged areas, combating against desertification,
eradicating food shortages, and reducing poverty have become not only Mongolia’s
problems, but also the world’s problems. We are working to prevent sudden changes
and environmental disasters, while preparing to withstand unforeseen occurrences with
less impact if and when they happen.
7. Arhangai Rural Poverty Alleviation Project
The overall objective of the project is to reduce rural poverty by distributing livestock to
very poor herder households and through the development of vegetable production and
other income-generating activities. The major focus is on the redistribution of livestock
from better-off herders to poor herders.
Activities
The livestock sector was seen as a key to reducing rural poverty in Mongolia because
the ownership of livestock is widespread among poor rural households. One result of the
liberalization of the Mongolian economy was the privatization of the livestock sector
followed by the emergence of households with insufficient numbers of animals to provide
an adequate means of livelihood. The project was designed to redress this situation
through a livestock redistribution programme that provided additional livestock from rich
to poor herding households as loans in kind. The livestock re-distribution scheme did not
target the poorest segments of the population because the earlier Mongolian experience
showed that herds smaller than 10 bods (one bod = one cattle or yak or seven sheep)
were not viable to ensure the livelihood of a family in the long term. Therefore, the
project provides loans only to herders with 10 – 20 bods of livestock.
The project is also providing credit to poor non-herder households for the production of
vegetables and other income-generating activities, to cover the costs of seeds, tools and
fencing. Demonstration plots are to be established with the poorest households so as to
improve the replicability effects. In addition, loans are to be provided for incomegenerating enterprises operated by individuals.
Outcome
Livestock Distribution
Beneficiary household herd sizes have more than doubled, and, on average, milk and
wool production have increased three- to fourfold. For the average beneficiary household,
this means that enough milk is available for home consumption during the summer and
some surplus is produced to make butter and cheese for consumption during the winter
and spring. Project reports state that overall income of participating herder households
has increased by 1.9 times.
The women beneficiaries appreciate the project support as it led to increased wealth and
improved purchasing power. Herders are now able to meet their basic needs such as
food, clothing, housing, fuel, water supply, access to education and health services.
Selection of beneficiaries
A very positive impact of the project has been the introduction of participatory method on
selecting project beneficiaries. The selection criteria of beneficiaries have been
communicated to sub-district level in print and through radio programs. Local project
management staff obtains a list of eligible poor households through a participatory
ranking exercise, carried out even in the most remote areas. Public and local authorities,
including herder group leader, screen the applications, verify the information and finally
recommend eligible households for approval by the district poverty alleviation council.
From application to approval, the procedure takes between 30–40 days, short period
taking into account the complex process, the long distances and the poor communication
facilities. The beneficiary him/herself selects the loan animals from a pool of animals that
had to pass firstly the “quality check”of the livestock officer.
Access to inputs and infrastructure
The amount of public funds available for veterinary services has declined.
Thus, between 1990 and 1993 the number of vaccinations and parasite
treatments fell by 35% and 65%, respectively. Herders are now requested to
pay the cost of treating individual animals. The German Agency for Technical
Cooperation and the European Union has funded national projects to
strengthen veterinary services. Cost-recovery measures were made fully
effective, but failed to halt the decline in vaccination coverage and parasite
treatments in the project area.
Planned
Achieved
To finance vaccines and parasite control
The project has financed enterotoxemia
for the project animals. The target was for
vaccination to project animals in Arhangai
vaccinations and parasite treatments to
province. In Huvsgul the project animals
reach 1990 levels.
are de-wormed with ivermectin twice a
year.
To finance the purchase of female
breeding animals (cattle, yaks and
The livestock re-distribution component is
sheep), using traders or companies for
proceeding on schedule: the herd sizes of
procurement and for distribution on credit
project households have more than
to poor herding households.
doubled and milk and wool production have
more than tripled. However, the poorest
segments of society were not included.
Various training sessions have been
organised to project staff and beneficiary
herders. A total of 1567 people were
involved. The training covered the following
subjects: participatory beneficiary selection,
training for trainers, animal husbandry,
breeding and winter preparation including
hay making.
Risk management
Due to the liberalization of the livestock sector, the herders bear all the risks related to
their activities. Main risks in livestock production are extreme weather conditions
(droughts and harsh winters) and endemic diseases. Drought causes fodder scarcity and
complicates hay preparing for the winter period. Animals loose their condition and are not
strong enough to survive through the following winter.
Planned
Achieved
To prefinance the livestock insurance
This mode of insurance premium payment
premiums for animals distributed by the
proved to be impractical. The project now
project until such time as the loans have
insures the animals for the first year and
been repaid, deducting the premiums from
the beneficiaries are responsible
the sale price of the recovered animals.
thereafter. Unfortunately it was noted by
Supervision mission 2003 that most of the
To improve winter hay production.
beneficiaries do not insure their animals.
To assist in strengthening local capacity
The premiums are high and attempts to
for marketing herder products and
negotiate with the insurance company
animals, on a pilot basis in two localities.
have so far been unsatisfactory.
Due to the liberalization of the livestock
sector, the herders bear all the risks
Since the winter disasters of the last years
related to their activities. Main risks in
caused the death of a high numbers of
livestock production are extreme weather
animals, the national insurance company
conditions (droughts and harsh winters)
was overwhelmed with requests of
and endemic diseases. Drought causes
refunding of insured livestock. It is reported
fodder scarcity and complicates hay
that the insurance has paid out only up to
preparing for the winter period. Animals
70%of the real value of the animal. Since
loose their condition and are not strong
this is not in line with the insurance
enough to survive through the following
contract it has been contested by the
winter.
Project; supported by the Government.
The Project sells hay making implements
to interested beneficiaries. After the
frequent winter disasters, herders are very
keen to obtain this equipment.
Reportedly, hay making has increased by
a factor 2 to 3 in the project area.
The marketing initiative was not
implemented in this project but it will be an
important activity in the new Rural Poverty
Reduction Program.
Rangeland resources
Traditional rangeland management practices have developed over the centuries
and, in general, provide a satisfactory system for allocating grazing and hay cutting
areas among herders, and leads to few disputes. The sub-district administrative
level usually resolves any disputes that occur and represents the key unit for the
allocation of range resources and for range management.
At the time of appraisal in 1996, a new land law was implemented. This law
provided for long-term leases for winter/spring grazing areas, hay land and the
designation and management of emergency grazing areas. Implementation of the
law aimed at ensuring good range management and availability of hay supplies at
the level of the tent group herder. In addition, it allowed for the collection of grazing
fees, even though the necessary enabling legislation has yet to be put in place. The
rationale for the grazing fees was to encourage herders to reduce grazing pressure
on rangeland close to the district and provincial centres.
The land law did not address fully the needs of the herding community and it was repeatedly
discussed in the Mongolian parliament during the last years. The last amendment of the law
was issued by the Parliament in 2002. The new legislation on land use and land ownership has
been spelled out more clearly.
Planned
Achieved
To redistribute livestock so as to support
There is evidence of a breakdown in the
sustainable management of available
customary relationships that regulate pasture
rangeland. The strategy was to purchase
usage as a result of the many newcomers to
livestock from large herders within the
herding. Conflicts over access to pasture are
project area and to resell it to eligible
becoming more frequent and herders appear to be
small herders. Households eligible for a
reluctant to leave their traditional camps and
restocking loan and living at the district or
pasture areas for fear of encroachment by
provincial centre were required to
newcomers. There is a general pattern of over-
relocate permanently, with their animals,
concentration of animals close to the district
to the rural area from which they had
centres as populations move nearer to health and
come originated and to adopt traditional
education services and basic supplies. This has
grazing management techniques (i.e.
led to land degradation in some overstocked sub-
movement between spring, summer,
districts, while less populated sub-districts remain
autumn and winter pastures).
understocked.
To establish a Rangeland management
The PIU (Project Implementation Unit)
and monitoring system to avoid the
commissioned the Provincial Land Management
detrimental effects of increased livestock
Office to review the pasture situation in all project
production on currently stable
districts. Initial results of this survey that was
rangelands.
undertaken in 2001 found that pasture was
overgrazed in four districts. The Supervision
To encourage the Mongolian
Mission 2001 recommended that the project
Government to introduce mechanisms to
should only continue to disburse animals in
control livestock numbers and monitor
districts where pasture is not obviously overused.
the condition of the pasture on a regular
basis, and to review a system for
The PIUs with assistance of Centre for Nomadic
licensing animals.
and Pastoralism Studies have carried out an
assessment study on the carrying capacity of
rangelands and prepared mapping at district and
provincial level. The village level mapping exercise
is yet to be carried out.
A nation-wide livestock and Rangeland monitoring
system is still under discussion.
Lessons learned
A major lesson learned was the need for better support services and a stronger focus on
disaster preparedness to ensure sustainability of the re-distribution impact. The vulnerability
of poor households to natural and economic risks needs to be addressed. Risk management
programmes would include livestock insurance, winter fodder production, improved animal
health services and marketing training.
Although livestock redistribution is a successful approach to poverty alleviation in the pastoral
areas the poorest herding households cannot be reached. In most cases the herd size of
these very poor households is far below the viability threshold, and therefore repayments
associated with restocking would be too large and would become a burden to cope with.
Loan sizes and eligibility criteria need to be reviewed frequently in the light of changing terms
of trade and the upward movement of the poverty line, so as to ensure that viable herds are
built up.
Livestock provides the basis for strengthening the resilience of pastoral households.
Maintaining the traditional pastoral system has prevented widespread degradation of
rangelands. In any restocking programme, care must be taken to avoid introducing an
unsustainable number of households to herding. The distribution of animals was linked to the
condition that herders should take the stock far away from rural centres. However, further
incentives, such as mobile livestock support and social services, may be required. A
rangeland monitoring system should be established to ensure the appropriate use of
rangelands. It is critical that herders are involved in the implementation and maintenance of a
Rangeland management system. The local political institutions could act as supervising
bodies.
Best practice: The project endeavoured to identify the local knowledge on livestock management
and mainstream the same into the program. The project tried out an innovative approach of attaching
the new herders to the traditional herders. This proved useful because the new herders were able to
obtain insights into local knowledge on livestock management. Some of the best practises on
breeding, haymaking, winter shelter preparation, maintaining water sources, etc, have been codified
in the form of a Training Manual in consultation with the traditional herders and village leaders.