The essential problems of Mongolian pastoral reform
Ayurazandin Enkhamgalan
Institute of Agricultural Economics Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Pastoral livestock production, for many centuries the only economic activity in the country, is adapted to the harsh climatic conditions characteristic of Mongolia. The advent of pastoral livestock husbandry in Mongolia was not a casual event, but was determined by the specific geographical location and the unfavourable soil and weather conditions for crop production. It was stimulated further by the animal husbandry capabilities of Mongolian herders and the fact that, being the only means of commodity exchange, animals became an object to be worshipped.
During the 40 years of communist centrally planned agriculture, moves were made towards the intensification of extensive pastoralism which was implemented at a tremendous cost and did not result in any drastic changes in the production and lifestyle of Mongolian pastoralists. At present, pastoralism is still one of the most important sectors of the economy and the aspiration remains to maintain pastoralism which is based on the traditional Mongolian passion for livestock. However, the potential of pastoral livestock husbandry to satisfy the increasing demands of the growing population is limited in terms of pasture resources and productivity and raises the question as to whether it is necessary to consider reform of the pastoral system as well as intensification.
Mongolia is a large but sparsely populated country which is landlocked between the Russian Federation to the north and China to the east, west and south. Its total land area (1.6 million km2) is about one-half the size of India. It stretches 2 400 km from west to east and, at the maximum point, 1 250 km from north to south. The average land height is approximately 1 600 m above sea level and the climate is semi-arid continental. Mongolia's winters are long and severe, with average temperatures below freezing between October and March. The average temperature in January is -25°C, with lows often falling below -40°C.
The primary source of feed for pastoral livestock is open, natural pasture on which livestock are managed under nomadic or semi-nomadic conditions. Livestock are moved between pasture areas and within seasons to harvest each year's standing crop, employing pastoral grazing management strategies. Pastoral livestock production is adapted to the harsh climatic conditions characteristic of Mongolia. Traditional practices and co-evolved native breeds of livestock are adapted to Mongolian ecological conditions. Climatic conditions and consequent pasture yields and quality are highly variable between seasons, years and regions.
Like the natural pastures on which Mongolia's pastoral livestock production depends, pastoral management practices adapted to these conditions remain surprisingly intact. These two factors together - the natural resource base and the herd and pasture management of Mongolian herders - represent the major potential for sustained production in the short to medium term. For many centuries, pastoralism has been the mainstay of the Mongolian economy. The existence of pastoral livestock husbandry in Mongolia did not come about by accident; instead it was determined by the country's specific geographical location where the weather and soil conditions are unfavourable for crop production. Pastoralism was the dominant form of production because, even in the absence of economic exchange, herders could exist quite well on their herds and their whole lives consequently revolved around their animals.
For the past 40 years, the communist centrally planned system of agriculture moved towards the intensification of production by introducing specialized production and management systems which included the provision of shelter structures for livestock, making supplementary fodder and concentrates, the irrigation of natural pasture and veterinary services. These measures were implemented at a tremendous cost and, while they did have the significant benefit of reducing livestock mortality (Table 1), they did not result in any major changes in the production and lifestyle of Mongolian pastoralists. The controlled nature of the communist centrally planned system had no mechanism to encourage producers to intensify their production.
At present, pastoralism is still one of the most important sectors of the economy (Table 2) and it is important to study the future of pastoralism against the background of the present deep economic crisis which has followed the collapse of the communist system and which has been characterized by a sharp decline in production (Table 3).
The deterioration of the economy became more vivid in those sectors which are heavily dependent on imported inputs. External capital inflows from the former USSR, which had accounted for up to 30 percent of GDP, declined after 1989 and ceased entirely in 1991. Even the extension sector. which is self-sufficient, has been affected directly because of a shortage of supplementary food and fodder which has often been transported over long distances.
TABLE 1
Mortality of animals
1956 |
1960 |
1970 |
1990 | |
(percentage) | ||||
Camels |
4.9 |
5.0 |
6.2 |
6.6 |
Horses |
2.7 |
3.8 |
4.5 |
3.2 |
Cattle |
4.7 |
4.3 |
3.8 |
2.6 |
Sheep |
12.2 |
6.9 |
4.3 |
2.5 |
Goats |
4.7 |
7.4 |
3.7 |
2.5 |
Total |
8.6 |
6.4 |
4.2 |
2.6 |
TABLE 2
Share of agriculture and livestock husbandry in the national economy
Sector |
Percentage share |
Share of agriculture In national economy |
|
Gross social product |
15.7 |
National income |
20.2 |
Share of livestock husbandry in agriculture |
|
Gross output |
72.6 |
Number of employees |
82.0 |
Share of local pastoral breeds in total no. of livestock |
|
Cattle |
92.6 |
Sheep |
93.8 |
TABLE 3
Percentage rate of change in GDP
1981-86 |
1987-89 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
7.0 |
4.6 |
-2.1 |
-15.0 |
-10.0 |
In the present situation it becomes more realistic to sustain pastoralism as much as possible, as it is mostly based on the traditional Mongolian love of livestock. This opinion is also stimulated by the fact that people are now more interested in taking up livestock breeding because, with the current high rates of unemployment (approximately 10 percent), there are no alternative choices.
But how well is this idea substantiated? To answer this very important question is to reveal the internal potential of Mongolian pastoral livestock husbandry.
Natural grassland as a primary agricultural resource in Mongolia is decreasing absolutely and relatively. In 1960 there were 139 million ha of grassland or 146 ha per caput. This was equivalent to 2.8 ha per sheep unit (SU) which is the unit used in Mongolia to determine livestock demand for forage. This decreased to 98 ha per caput or 2.6 ha per SU in 1970 and, as of 1992, total grassland constitutes 120.25 million ha, including state reserve pasture which is 53 ha per caput and 2.25 per SU.
Approximately 33 million tonnes in dry weight (DW) of forage consumed by grazing animals are produced annually on Mongolian rangelands. The carrying capacity of these rangelands is estimated to be 59 million SU, which represent 10 million more than the 1992 figure of 53.4 million. There are some excess or underutilized pasture resources in the eastern aimags which are favourable areas for wild steppe gazelle herbivores of pasture. The general consensus among Mongolian institutions concerned with land use is that approximately 11 million ha of land (7 percent of the total land area) have experienced some degree of degradation as a result of human activities. Ecological degradation is attributed to overgrazing by livestock, the destruction of vegetables by vehicles throughout the pastoral area owing to the absence of a developed road system and the degradation of large areas of pasture by rodents (Micotis brandii).
Additionally, a major portion of land opened to cultivation under the Virgin Lands Programme in the semi-arid steppe regions has been abandoned, including 40 000 ha of irrigated cropland. Overgrazing is especially obvious in the areas surrounding the major urban areas and around aimag and soum centres. Even in some rural areas, locations close to water and feed mineral (salt) sources are indications of visible degradation. Degradation of natural grassland resources, which constitute 96 percent of the total feed balance, is the most worrying problem today. Another consideration today is the temptation for individuals to exploit pasture land for short-term personal gain by increasing livestock numbers beyond the pasture carrying capacity.
During the winter/spring period, animals lose 20 to 25 percent of their live weight in relation to their autumn weights because of the decline in grass yield and quality. National specialists estimate that the minimum level of fodder supplements, calculating only to keep animals alive, would be 50 kg of feed units or 125 kg of natural hay per SU. However, fodder production output, including natural haymaking, amounted to only 18 kg of feed units in 1985-89 and 10 kg in 1991-92.
The population of Mongolia is increasing at a rate 2.7 percent, or 60 000 people per annum (Table 4).
There is currently discussion about milk supply by-products from pastoral livestock husbandry. Providing meat for more than
60 000 people at current levels of 90 kg per caput would require an increase in livestock of 280 000 sheep, assuming productivity of Mongolian pastoral breeds is constant, which is in fact the case (Table 5).
However, as mentioned before, the carrying capacity of pasture is basically depleted and the meat production potential of available livestock (total 25.66 million head: camels 0.41, horses 2.2, cattle 2.8, sheep 14.63 and goats 5.6 million) is 450 million tonnes in live weight which is equal to the food demand of today's population of 2.2 million. It means that Mongolia, with its livestock sector as a main branch of the economy, is facing a meat problem today. This fact raises the issue of the destiny of Mongolian pastoralism in terms of its capacity to supply meat, which is the main food of Mongolians, for the rapidly increasing population.
TABLE 4
Population growth
1956 |
1961 |
1969 |
1979 |
1989 |
1991 | |
(thousands) | ||||||
Total |
845.5 |
1017.1 |
1197.6 |
1595.0 |
2054.0 |
2187.2 |
Urban |
183.0 |
408.8 |
527.4 |
817.0 |
1166.1 |
1235.6 |
Rural |
662.5 |
608.3 |
670.2 |
778.0 |
887.9 |
951.6 |
TABLE 5
Productivity per head of pastoral livestock
1960 |
1980 |
1991 | |
Average live weight sold to the state (kg) |
|||
Cattle |
248 |
217 |
245 |
Sheep |
36 |
33 |
39 |
Goat |
28 |
26 |
33 |
Wool per livestock head (g) |
|||
Sheep |
1 186 |
1 390 |
1 243 |
Camel |
4104 |
5034 |
4365 |
Goat down |
200 |
275 |
291 |
Milk yield per cow (litres) |
344 |
292 |
323 |
Another very crucial problem connected with pastoralism is social conditions for herders. Current Mongolian pastoralism does not differ much from its original conditions and the living standard of herders is one of the lowest in the world. The country's past experience proves that any effort to solve the social problems of pastoralists cannot provide significant changes in their lifestyle if they continue to move the whole year. At the end of 1991, only 10.7 percent of herders' households had electricity, 3.6 percent had television sets and 0.2 percent had a telephone (Table 6).
The relatively high level of education, together with development of European medicine, has been a major social achievement in Mongolia even if the communist system has had little effect on the development of pastoral production.
As a result of privatization, at the end of 1992, 70 percent of livestock was under the private ownership of 301 000 households. The size of herds owned by households is summarized in Table 7.
The total number of households for which pastoral livestock husbandry is the main source of livelihood (professional herders) is 171 300. These households, which now own 81 percent of total private livestock, are divided in turn into two groups: individual entrepreneurs with an average of 110 livestock per household (25.7 percent) and members (shareholders) of agricultural share companies (former cooperatives and state farms) with 77 livestock per household (74.3 percent). The percentage of` herders in the 16 to 35 age group is 56.5, while 31.2 percent are 36 to 60 years old and 12.3 percent are over 60 years old.
TABLE 6
Social characteristics of herders
Aimag |
Percentage of households is with: | ||
Electricity |
Television |
Telephone | |
Arkhangai |
5.6 |
2.7 |
|
Bayanolgii |
9.6 |
0.8 |
|
Bayanhongor |
16.6 |
3.8 |
|
Bulgan |
16.6 |
5.1 |
|
Govaltai |
11.0 |
3.0 |
|
Dornod |
24.6 |
3.5 |
|
Dornogobi |
18.3 |
1.8 |
|
Dundgobi |
11.1 |
2.1 |
|
Zabhan |
5.1 |
1.6 |
|
Ovorhangai |
4.2 |
1.9 |
|
Omnogobi |
17.3 |
0.6 |
|
Suhhbeatar |
15.2 |
3.9 |
|
Selenge |
32.3 |
14.5 |
|
Tov |
20.5 |
8.7 |
0.2 |
Uvs |
8.3 |
4.4 |
|
Hovd |
8.7 |
4.4 |
0.2 |
Hovspol |
7.3 |
0 7 |
|
Hentii |
13.8 |
7.6 |
0.0 |
Total |
10.7 |
3.6 |
0.2 |
TABLE 7
Herd size by household
Number of stock (head) |
Households (percentage) |
1-10 |
19.5 |
11 -30 |
23.0 |
31-50 |
16.7 |
51-100 |
22.0 |
101-200 |
14.2 |
201-500 |
4 5 |
501-1 000 |
0.1 |
The decentralization of livestock production was a necessary consequence of privatization, and the organization and management of production indicate a reemergence of the customary institution on which Mongolian pastoralism was organized until full collectivization in 1959. The negative effect of this situation is that current individual herds are too small in size, which means that households have an extremely limited potential to make savings. There has also been a sharp decline in market involvement which, in turn, puts pressure on the procurement of livestock products for urban areas.
In addition, the small size of households and their sparse distribution over a huge territory complicates the provision of services (transport, communication, marketing, fodder preparation, veterinary), the implementation of which requires some cooperation of capital and labour. Consequently, it is imperative to develop an improved form of organization for pastoral livestock production, with an appropriate combination of customary institutions and contemporary methods of intensive production.
In spite of difficulties connected with the collection of livestock products and their transport to market and the existence of a few monopolies in the processing industries, the implementation of price liberalization in 1991-92 is becoming the most important step to have been taken towards a market-oriented economy.
Privatization and price liberalization are encouraging herders to increase production. The question is how to channel this enthusiasm in the right way and how to change the interest of herders from increasing livestock numbers to the immediate intensification of production. This seems to be the essential problem of pastoral reform.
TABLE 8
Central procurement of livestock products
Product |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
Livestock, live weight ('000 tonnes) |
|||
Cattle |
51.5 |
51.6 |
38.9 |
Sheep |
102.0 |
94.3 |
49.3 |
Goat |
21.8 |
20.9 |
10.8 |
Milk (million litres) |
48.1 |
38.3 |
25.0 |
Wool ('000 tonnes) |
|||
Sheep |
20.0 |
18.7 |
12.6 |
Camel |
2.3 |
2.3 |
1.9 |
Goat down |
1 5 |
1.5 |
1.3 |
Butter('000 tonnes) |
4 41 |
2.82 |
0.85 |
Connected with all the problems mentioned above and, most important, the implementation of pastoralism reform is the allocation of pasture land to herders for their possession and use, based on leases of up to 60 years which are subject to certain conditions. The lease agreement between landowners and leaseholds stipulates the basis on which pasture land is leased; the purpose of use; the extent, fertility and characteristics of the land; the length of the lease; and the obligations and responsibilities of the contracting parties, including grazing fees and other conditions. The Constitution of Mongolia (1991) made it possible for the state to transfer plots of land to Mongolian citizens for private ownership (arable land, urban and pert-urban building plots, etc.) but specifically excluded pasture land from this provision.
The privatization of pasture land has been the subject of considerable public debate, owing mostly to the need for maintaining flexibility of access to different pastures in the face of climatic variability and other risks. Pasture land has remained under public ownership as it was in the old system with all lands. The appropriate leaseholding groups or units of households could be the re-emerging customary institutions such as the khot-ail and neg nutgiinhan.
The main customary institution is the khot-ail, the basic independent social and economic unit. It comprises from one to eight households which camp together for at least one season and cooperate in production activities such as herding, shearing, transport, fodder preparation, etc. Households in the khot-ail are mostly related by blood or marriage but they have a loose internal structure and flexible composition from year to year, depending on the number and kind of animals, pasture capacity, water availability and topography.
The next social unit is generally known as neg nutgiinhan (people of one place), although there are regional variants such as neg jalglinhan (people of one valley), neg usniihan (people using the same water source) and neg goliinhon (people of one river). Households included in neg nutgiinhan organize themselves informally to coordinate their use of pasture land, water and other natural resources. This kind of group varies considerably in size (three to 30 khot-ail) and member families may have lived close to one another for at least a generation or two.
It is vital that the groups of herders to whom lard is leased are sufficiently large to allow for the usual level of seasonal mobility between pasture areas and to provide a margin of flexibility to cope with ecological nsks. Adze appropriate scale of a viable resource unit vanes considerably across Mongolia, with larger resource units in the desert and semi-desert regions and smaller units in mountain areas where there are greater possibilities for vertical mobility between seasonal pastures. In order to overcome the psychological bander of herders who are accustomed to move as they like, the allocation of pasture land for possession should begin at the `'neg nutgiinhan" level with the distribution of winter and spun" shelters to each khot-ail, including surrounding pastures where possible. In lease agreements, it is important to secure access to key resources (feed, salt, etc.) and another person's pasture in case of emergencies. It is also important to allot inter-soum and inter-aimag reserve pastures for emergency purposes.
The allocation of pasture land for possession undoubtedly will:
- be an essential mechanism to make productive and sustainable land management a matter of self-interest for herders;
- create the possibility of increasing the degree of responsibility and control over sustainable use of a particular pasture by devolving pastures to individual leaseholders;
- create the possibility of finding financial resources to protect and improve pasture and facilitate livestock husbandry in case of natural disasters;
- be an important mechanism to encourage herders to intensify their production by controlling stocking rates on leased pasture (the intensification of pastoral livestock production can be implemented in two main directions: the development of feed supply, including improvement of natural pasture, and the improvement of animal productivity):
- help to secure equity in terms of pasture allocation between production units as a result of market-based incentives (different grazing fees according to land qualify:
- be the first essential step towards transferring herders to a settled style of life:
- be an appropriate means of improving production organization in pastoral livestock husbandry based on an appropriate combination of customary institutions with intensive methods of production.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bazaggur, D., Chinbat. B. & Shlirevadya, S. 1989. Malchdiin Nuudel (Nomadic movements of Mongolian herders). Ulan Bator, Mongolian National Printer. (in Mongolian)
Coffey MPW Pty, Ltd. 1992. Livestock Feeds Improvement Project. Interim report for AsDB.
Danagro. 1992. Mongolia livestock sector study Phase 1 report. Danagro Adviser for DANIDA. Copenhagen.
Enkhamgalan, A. n.d. Mongoliin Gazriin Nuutsiin Ediin Zasgiin Unelgee (Economic evaluation of agricultural land in Mongolia). Ulan Bator, Russian Printer. (in Mongolian)
Enkhamgalan, A. 1992. Gazraa yah he (Land problem). Ulan Bator, Mongolian National Printer. (in Mongolian)
Government of Mongolia. 1991. National economy of the MPR for 70 years. 1991. Anniversary statistical yearbook. Ulan Bator.
Mearns, R. 1993. Pastoral institutions. land tenure and land policy reform in post-socialist Mongolia. Policy Alter-relatives for Livestock Development (PALD) Project. Institute of Development Studies (UK), Research Institute of Animal Husbandry (Mongolia) and Institute of Agricultural Economics (Mongolia).
Ministry of Food and Agriculture. 1993. Huduu Ad Attain Salbariin Yil Ajillaguand Barimtlah Yndsen Chiglel (Agricultural Policy). Ulan Bator, Mongolian National Printer. (in Mongolian)
Moyobuu, D. 1974. Mal Aj Ahuin Ediin Zasgiin Asuudal (Economic problems of animal husbandry). Ulan Bator, Mongolian National Printer. (in Mongolian)
