Before the crisis:
Before 2008, the husband and father of six children earned an income of 4 million tugrug (US$2,750) a year. His herd of 500 animals is mostly made up of goats.

How has life changed since then?
“The herdsman’s life is getting worse and more difficult,” says Batsuur. His income is a fraction of his earnings last year and doesn’t approach 1 million tugrug (US$690). The prices of raw cashmere and other goods have fallen. “There are many households with similar numbers of cattle,” he says.

What’s most difficult about life during a financial crisis?
It is harder to sell skins and hides in such a remote region, which is about 1,800 km from the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. Like most herders have to give their children’s allowance documents to the stores as security so they are able to buy consumer goods such as flour and rice.

How is he getting by?
Baysukh took out a loan of 3 million tugrug (US$2,068) from the bank, putting up all 500 head of cattle as collateral to pay tuition fees for his children. Also, most herder-households have credit accounts in the soum (small town) stores.

What does he hope for the future?
Batsuur will try to improve the cattle’s productivity and improve the strain on them. “I wish the price of raw cashmere would increase,” he says. “We believe in the state doing more for our good lives.”