Description

Mongolia is a landlocked country which is elevated on average to 1,580 m above sea level with a range of 532 m (Khukh Nuur Lake depression) and 4,374 m (Khuiten mountain peak, Mongolian Altai range), in Asia. Historically, animal husbandry was dominantly widespread in the country. Today, 73% of the country's territory accounts for agriculture, where 31.6% of the national population belong. Agriculture contributes 13% of the gross domestic production of the country after mining and industry and construction sectors (The Statistical Yearbook 2021). Animal husbandry produces 96% of gross agriculture product, occupying 70% of the country's territory as pasture and 25% of the labor force as herders. In Mongolia, the pasture is owned by the state, whereas the livestock is owned by private, while the Constitution of Mongolia says “the livestock is to be under state protection”. Over the past 30 years, the number of livestock has increased by 2.7 times, and stocking rate of pastures exceeds by 36.6%, and the country faced with a number of problems e.g., 77.8 % of territory is prone to desertification (Desertification atlas of Mongolia, 2020). More than 70 percent of pastureland degraded its conditions that of 1940s and 1950s (S. Tserendash, 2016). Pasture degradation in Mongolia has been caused by a number of drivers such as climate change, livestock number and composition, animal husbandry infrastructure, social issues and access to markets, and human factors in view of coordination and management roles (Nyamdorj, 2016). The human factor driving desertification has already reached from 39% to 53% (MET, 2015). Therefore, it is significant to study about what kinds of private institutions exist that manage and coordinate pasture resources in Mongolia. This paper is prepared based on a study, which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and conducted in 20 soums1 of four aimags2. The paper touched institutional governance aspects, specifically a type of pasture user organizations and management. The study soums accounted for 18% of national population, 19% of national households, and 28% of total herder households in Mongolia.

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Collaborative Management of Common Pasture Resources: Institutional Concerns on Sustainable Pasture use in Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country which is elevated on average to 1,580 m above sea level with a range of 532 m (Khukh Nuur Lake depression) and 4,374 m (Khuiten mountain peak, Mongolian Altai range), in Asia. Historically, animal husbandry was dominantly widespread in the country. Today, 73% of the country's territory accounts for agriculture, where 31.6% of the national population belong. Agriculture contributes 13% of the gross domestic production of the country after mining and industry and construction sectors (The Statistical Yearbook 2021). Animal husbandry produces 96% of gross agriculture product, occupying 70% of the country's territory as pasture and 25% of the labor force as herders. In Mongolia, the pasture is owned by the state, whereas the livestock is owned by private, while the Constitution of Mongolia says “the livestock is to be under state protection”. Over the past 30 years, the number of livestock has increased by 2.7 times, and stocking rate of pastures exceeds by 36.6%, and the country faced with a number of problems e.g., 77.8 % of territory is prone to desertification (Desertification atlas of Mongolia, 2020). More than 70 percent of pastureland degraded its conditions that of 1940s and 1950s (S. Tserendash, 2016). Pasture degradation in Mongolia has been caused by a number of drivers such as climate change, livestock number and composition, animal husbandry infrastructure, social issues and access to markets, and human factors in view of coordination and management roles (Nyamdorj, 2016). The human factor driving desertification has already reached from 39% to 53% (MET, 2015). Therefore, it is significant to study about what kinds of private institutions exist that manage and coordinate pasture resources in Mongolia. This paper is prepared based on a study, which was funded by the Asian Development Bank and conducted in 20 soums1 of four aimags2. The paper touched institutional governance aspects, specifically a type of pasture user organizations and management. The study soums accounted for 18% of national population, 19% of national households, and 28% of total herder households in Mongolia.