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July/August 2006

Announcement of a publication

Pastoral risk management in Qinghai Province, China

Strengthening capability of risk management of the animal husbandry sector and promoting sustainable development in the grazing area of Qinghai Province

Final report

by Jeremy Swift,
Consultant

Stephan Baas
Rural Institutions and Participation Service
FAO Rural Development Division

and Yongong Liu
Center for Integrated Agricultural Development (CIAD)
China Agricultural University

This joint publication of FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai Province reports on the FAO-China Technical Cooperation Project-TCP : TCP/CPR/2902 (A)

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 disasters, 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 long-term development objective of the FAO-China Technical Cooperation Project TCP/CPR/2902 (A) was to reduce the regular animal losses of pastoral herders in Qinghai due to recurrent natural disasters, and to build up their own capacities to prevent damage from natural calamities. The project should also contribute to the overall improvement of herders’ future livelihoods, reduced environmental degradation and an increased capacity for risk prevention and management at local and provincial levels.

Immediate objectives 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;
• To develop 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.

Click here to view the document.

Please note that the pdf version is divided into multiple files and has internal bookmarks.

For related information, please see:

• The role of local level institutions in reducing vulnerability to natural disasters and in sustainable livelihood development. Disaster Risk Management: A dimension of Sustainable Development