Module 11 - Mongolia: Sustaining Livelihoods in Areas with High Natural Disaster Risk

Rural poverty in Mongolia has been increasing in depth and severity. Although the number of people living below the poverty line has been relatively stable (around 36 percent of the population from 1995 to 1998), those who are living below the poverty line have become even poorer. Previous projects targeting poverty reduction have fallen short, partly owing to a lack of commitment by the government. In July 2000, however, the government declared that poverty reduction was to be one of its highest priorities. This declaration paved the way for projects to address one of the root causes of poverty in Mongolia—vulnerability to risk. In particular, a Participatory Living Standard Assessment demonstrated that loss of employment, high costs of health and education, and natural disasters are the most common factors associated with poverty.

Project Objectives and Description

The Mongolia Sustainable Livelihoods Project was financed to reduce vulnerability and promote the security and sustainability of rural livelihoods in a manner that can be scaled up. In particular, the Mongolia project targets risk from natural disasters, including drought and dzud (winter disaster), through an integrated approach that includes:

• A Local Initiatives Fund, to be managed in a socially inclusive, community-driven way to diversify incomes and improve local infrastructure.
  
  
• Community-based pastureland management based on improved grazing discipline and alternative conflict resolution mechanisms.
  
  
• Risk forecasting and contingency planning, including an index-based livestock insurance scheme, meteorological monitoring, and an early warning system.

Pastureland throughout Mongolia is classified as “common land,” although tenure rights can be granted. As a result of this land tenure system, pasture must be managed on a community rather than an individual basis. Currently five to nine percent of pastureland in Mongolia is considered degraded. This degradation threatens sustainable livelihoods and may be worsened by poor management associated with overuse, especially during natural disasters such as drought and dzud. Within this project, communal land management is strengthened through the development of community-based grazing management systems that include conflict resolution mechanisms and sanctions for noncompliance. Reducing instances of poor land management is expected to allow herders to sustain productive livelihoods, thereby contributing to poverty reduction.