Pastoral risk management in Qinghai Province, China
Qinghai is one of the five largest pastoral regions in China with extensive rangeland resources and a long history of pastoral livelihoods. Livestock production plays a central role in the economy of the province, especially for minority ethnic groups. However, harsh natural conditions and environment limit rangeland productivity. The alpine pastoral ecosystem is now in a fragile condition. Poverty and environmental deterioration are pronounced, and natural disasters (such as severe snow disaster and spring drought) are frequent. They severely jeopardise the livelihoods and production activities of local herders and at same time undermine the sustainable development of the local economy and threaten the stability of the society.
This combination of high exposure to natural hazards, poverty of local herders, steadily increasing pressure from livestock diseases and decline of pastoral productivity, caused by and resulting in poverty and a deteriorating environment, in turn inhibit the herders’ and government’s capacity to prevent risk, and manage and protect the environment. The objectives of the FAO-China Technical Cooperation Project were to develop a comprehensive pastoral risk management strategy, including annual risk management contingency plans for two counties in Qinghai Province as pilot areas for further replication; and to identify and field test in selected villages, together with herders, innovative risk management techniques and improved livestock production options to improve rational utilization of the family-based ranches so as to reduce losses when disasters occur.