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By APD writer Alice
The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved a 30 million loan for Mongolia to implement its Livestock Commercialization Project.
The 5-year project will be implemented by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia. It is expected to help improve the health and productivity of livestock and increase value of products such as meat and dairy by commercializing targeted value chains in selected locations.
With over 70 million livestock, the Mongolian livestock sector has a huge potential to drive the economic diversification and is a key source of broad-based employment, according to the WB.
World Bank’s Country Manager for Mongolia Andrei Mikhnev emphasized that livestock productivity is the key to increase the competitiveness of this sector. Moreover, improving livestock health and productivity through the commercialization of value chain will help diversify the economy, create jobs, increase incomes in rural areas and improve food security..
As of today, about 56 percent of Mongolian herders own 200 or fewer livestock. Animal disease, coupled with poor food hygiene and inadequate nutrition, limit the output and quality of meat and dairy products. As a result, Mongolian meat exports have stagnated at less than 10 percent of their potential despite the country’s proximity to the region’s largest markets for meat imports.
According to a census conducted this year, livestock heads in Mongolia totaled 70.9 million, increasing 4.5 million or 6.8 percent. Among them, 4.2 million horses, 4.7 million heads of cattle, 472.4 camels, 32.2 million sheeps, and 29.2 million goats were counted.
In 2018, the total number of livestock in Mongolia reached 66.5 million, increasing by 241,2 00 or 0.4 percent compared to the previous year./.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
