Mongolia: Sustainable Livelihoods and Environment

R2B improves information sharing systems and enhances transparency and accountability of air pollution data in Ulaanbaatar and the provincial center of Tsetserleg in Arkhangai. People in Need and its partners work with local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), empowering them to engage with local and national authorities to address urban air pollution. Through R2B, we work with communities, CSOs, local NGOs, local and national authorities to increase knowledge of air pollution data, understand the gaps in air pollution mitigation measures and develop best practices for an adaptation and mitigation campaign. Raising awareness of effective adaptation and mitigation practices will help citizens protect themselves and their families by contributing to improved air quality and decreasing the chances of illnesses caused by air pollution.

In cooperation with GERES and our local partners, PIN supports the redevelopment and retrofitting of households in the ger district working with construction sector MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), local authorities, individual households and institutions to directly benefit 10,000 households and indirectly impact the whole population of UB. Through awareness raising, residents of the ger districts are educated and empowered to use sustainable energy consumption solutions and the associated behaviors. The project provides increased access to financial institutions for home renovation opportunities making it easier for people from ger districts to build and retrofit energy efficiency in their houses. Selected households (with a priority given to vulnerable and women-headed households based on their motivation to retrofit sustainably) are selected to pilot technical solutions in the building and retrofitting process. Overall, this project aims to contribute towards reduced energy consumption of coal, further contributing to reducing CO2 and PM emissions from individual houses in UB’s ger districts, thereby reducing air pollution and benefitting the whole population.
 

Leveraging Technology and Tradition for Resilience, or LTT4R, is a project that increases the resilience of the rural population to drought, dzud and climate change in four provinces of Mongolia. LTT4R works in 4 ways:

1) increasing the availability of early warning through an SMS platform,
2) assisting local and national authorities in disaster management,
3) research and advocacy around herder’s household vulnerability, the barriers they face for new and old coping mechanisms and advancing early warning systems and
4) developing disaster management plans, proactive pasture management plans and a dzud vulnerability index for use the Government of Mongolia and humanitarian actors in-country.

A key activity is the development in our target areas of local disaster management plans that include pasture management, and a vulnerability index for Mongolian herder population. Accessing weather information and an increased knowledge of the new challenges facing them will increase the resilience of Mongolian herders to shocks and stressors. At an institutional level, increased planning and sensitization will enable local and national authorities to better to respond to hazards in Mongolia. Working at these levels and advancing research on the challenges facing Mongolian herders, PIN Mongolia aims to increase the viability of the herding livelihood, a tradition in Mongolia, in the face of a changing climate.

Livestock farming plays a vital role in the Mongolian economy and is of fundamental significance for employment and export income. The success of their farming activities depends on the local, landlocked climate with alarming temperature extremes over the course of the year.

Sheep’s wool is an important resource in Mongolia. 90 % of it is raw wool which is in low demand, and generates almost no profit for suppliers. For this reason People in Need focused on this unused potential in a project for processing sheep’s wool as heat insulation construction material.  Special emphasis is laid on development of a supply chain involving small and medium enterprises, individual sheep farmers and institutional consumers in the form of schools and state authorities. The programme therefore represents not only an interesting business opportunity for the inhabitants of Mongolia, but also an environmentally-friendly energy-saving alternative.

The Dornogobi province is combination of semi-desert and occasional desert. Revegetation is exceptionally difficult here, because the large herds, the size of which interests the herders more than economy and efficacy, over-graze vegetation and exhaust water sources, thereby causing desertification in new areas.  Dornogobi is also a region with high levels of unemployment of almost 40 %.
 
A promising alternative in the local conditions is plant production. The advantage in this lies not only in further potential income for individuals, but also potential for long-term development of the area. People in Need offered agricultural advice during which the emphasis was placed on economical management of scarce irrigation water and orientation in plant species with market potential. In this, PIN followed up on previously implemented programmes and built the Agrocentre advice centre which also serves as a model farm for plant cultivation, irrigation and storage.  
    
The Agrocentre is also a distribution centre for quality seeds and seedlings and provides expert knowledge to existing and potential farmers not only about cultivating plants, but also about the subsequent phases of the business. In addition to this, it helps farmers form cooperatives and provides them with all the necessary agricultural data involved.