On 15 April 2021, the European Union Ambassador to Mongolia Traian Hristea, the Country Director of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Daniel Passon, the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Mongolia Vinod Ahuja, and GIZ Project Manager Dr. Michael Trockenbrodt signed a Multi-Partner Contribution Agreement to implement a new cooperation project.

The new cooperation project is called “Sustainable Resilient Ecosystem and Agriculture Management in Mongolia” or “STREAM” in short. STREAM aims at increasing the capacity of Mongolian communities to implement innovative and sustainable long-term landscape management to address food system challenges and climate stresses. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and will be implemented by GIZ and FAO in cooperation with the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

Expressing the European Union commitment to support Mongolia in the environmental sector, the European Union Ambassador to Mongolia Traian Hristea said: Today’s signature marks an important milestone for Team Europe in Mongolia together with our international partners. We are committed to support Mongolia in the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments under the umbrella of the European Union funded joint initiative of the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) and Development-smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA). Using the support of BMZ and the expertise from the EU Member States and FAO we will work with the Mongolian Government to foster innovation through climate-related practices in sustainable agriculture and landscape management of forest resources.

GIZ Country Director Daniel Passon highlighted that “GIZ will use its expertise of more than 25 years of capacity development in the natural resource area in Mongolia to make the STREAM project a success. We are especially pleased that we can do this for the first time in a project that is jointly financed by the European Union and the German Government in the spirit of the Team Europe approach and we are looking forward to jointly implementing STREAM with FAO and continuing our long-term cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the forestry sector.”

Referring to FAO’s long-term cooperation with the Mongolian Government in the agriculture and forestry sectors FAO Representative in Mongolia Vinod Ahuja said: “FAO has a long history of working with partners to integrate actions for the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of biological diversity across agricultural sectors at all levels. In this project, we particularly aim at promoting agro-ecological value chains to build climate resilient food systems and improving capacity of national research institutions, producers and their organizations to adopt agro-ecological practices, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and GIZ. FAO also acknowledges the support of the European Union in this and a number of other projects in Mongolia”.

Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Mongolia Jörn Rosenberg also expressed his appreciation of the fact that the STREAM project is a joint effort of the European Union and its member states: “Germany has been successfully engaged in the field of biodiversity and environmental protection in Mongolia for many years. We are thankful that the collaboration with the Mongolian Government has brought about solid and sustainable results. I am very pleased that this joint project will use the expertise available within the EU member states in an important priority area of the EU development policy by commissioning the GIZ as one of the implementation agencies.”

The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Mongolia Jiří Brodský highlighted his support for the STREAM project: Sustainable Resilient Ecosystem and Agriculture Management in Mongolia (2021 – 2024), where the international University consortium led by Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic, will be covering research, educational and management aspects in forests of selected aimags: “Through its well-established Mendel University, the Czech Republic has been working with Mongolian institutions for many years on forest management planning and providing education for Mongolian experts in forest and landscape ecology. The expertise that will be provided by the Consortium in collaboration with Mongolian institutions will strengthen the research and educational component of the STREAM project”.

The Ambassador of France to Mongolia Philippe Merlin expressed that “France has a long experience in the field of Geographical Indications which were developed since the beginning of the 20th century. France has initiated a strong cooperation with Mongolia in 2014, aiming at supporting the development and registration of new Geographical Indications at the national level, such as the Uvs sea buckthorn. While the recognition of Geographical indication strengthens the export potential of a product, it also recognizes the specificities linked to a certain territory (modes of production, cultural value, etc.). In the framework of the STREAM project, France will continue to provide its expertise in this field in order to accompany Mongolia in the identification and recognition of Geographical indications, which will support in turn Mongolia's exports and sustainable economic development.”

Project Background

GIZ and FAO will implement the STREAM project which is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and which aims at increasing the capacity of Mongolian communities to implement innovative and sustainable long-term landscape management to address food system challenges and climate stresses. To achieve its objective the STREAM project will work in two fields of action. FAO will focus its support on mainstreaming climate change adaptation into the agricultural landscape management to increase agricultural productivity, sustainability and value addition. GIZ’s will concentrate its support on improving capacity for sustainable landscape management of forest resources and conservation of biodiversity. On the local level the project will be implemented in three soums of Selenge aimag and three soums of Khentii aimag. STREAM will be implemented over a three-year period from May 2021 until April 2024.