Building EU-Mongolia Relations on Agriculture and Rural Development - The Pig Site

Building EU-Mongolia Relations on Agriculture and Rural Development - The Pig Site: "MONGOLIA - The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos will visit Mongolia this week to discuss prospects for increasing cooperation with the Mongolian authorities in the fields of sustainable agriculture, food security and rural development.
"We have a strong interest in enhancing our bilateral relations in the area of agriculture and in discussing ways to address challenges such as ensuring food security while preserving natural resources and fighting soil degradation. We are also ready to share our experience in developing rural areas while preserving communities, protecting rural landscapes and traditional ways of living," said Commissioner Ciolos."

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Mongolian meat exports decline while prices rise

Mongolian meat exports decline while prices rise: "-Why do Mongolian meat prices keep increasing every year despite all the programs and money spent to keep them stable?
-The main reason is inconsistency in the proportion of supply and demand. Also, an increase in the migration of province residents to the capital has caused over population in Ulaanbaatar. Thus, the price of meat has been increasing dramatically in the city as the demand for meat and meat products has greatly increased, while the demand has a tendency to decline in the western and steppe region provinces of Mongolia. Though there are storage facilities with cooling systems, they are mostly outdated. All these [factors] contributed to the meat price incease.
-Why can’t Mongolia meet the demand for meat when we have over 40 million livestock?
-Supply becomes short depending on different meat consumption. For instance, Mongolians don’t eat camel and horse meat that much and we don’t use young livestock or breeding livestock for the meat trade. Thus, the amount and variety of meat being supplied becomes more narrow. By 2017, we will consume 288,800 tons of meat according to our study. But Mongolia is only able to supply 228,000 tons."

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Mongolia: Harsh winter puts harvests under pressure | Ubpost News

Mongolia: Harsh winter puts harvests under pressure | Ubpost News: "The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry warned delegates from 21 aimags (provinces) during a video conference in November that 80% of Mongolia’s territory was covered with snow, saying: “This winter seems already to be harsh and the provinces might suffer from winter drought”. It also cautioned that seven provinces were unable to provide sufficient pasture grass for feeding livestock.
The season, which typically lasts from mid-October until mid-May, can send temperatures plummeting to -30 degrees centigrade, with some farmers known to have lost up to 70% of their livestock in 2009 and 2010 due to dzuds.
Prospects of a harsh winter are likely to increase pressure on the short harvest season, and the ministry has put a number of narrowly missed targets for key crops down to frost in its October yield estimates. Cereals and wheat both fell short of their targets, albeit by just 10,000 tonnes, although the potato harvest of 232,000 tonnes exceeded its 209,000-tonne goal. Preliminary results suggest the country also notched up 100% self-sufficiency in wheat crops this year, while achieving 52% in “other major food items”."

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Readers' great railway journeys: crossing Mongolia - Telegraph

Readers' great railway journeys: crossing Mongolia - Telegraph: "Mongolia is of such epic proportions that it often seems that the curve of the planet is visible over the horizon. Occasionally there's a yurt or a cluster of yurts in the middle of corn farms spanning miles and miles. Horses — sometimes 50 of them — gallop alongside the train before changing direction and melting into the distance. At other times there’s just one, loaded down with a rider and some luggage. Sometimes the horses are in the form of the biggest chalk carvings you can imagine, etched out of the side of miles of rolling hills.
Sizzling hot plates in the shape of a cow are placed before us, and a small mountain of purple sugared cabbage accompanies it. We are in the Mongolian food car and it’s not a million miles away from a moving "

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One Malaysian now calls Darkhan, Mongolia home

One Malaysian now calls Darkhan, Mongolia home: "MALAYSIAN G. Jayamaran and his family will move into their new apartment just opposite the one they are staying in now in the small city of Darkhan in Mongolia, once renovations on their new abode are completed.

Jayamaran, or better known as Raja who was born in the small town of Rantau in Seremban, is happy with his career and life in the place he now calls his permanent home.

The third largest city in Mongolia with a population of only 75,000, Darkhan does not boast fancy skyscrapers and shopping centres like those in Kuala Lumpur.

The choice of food served by the restaurants in this Mongolian city are comparatively limited, the most common being mutton-based dishes, Russian stews and burger."

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Is A Vegetarian Diet Suitable for Mongolia? | Ubpost News

Is A Vegetarian Diet Suitable for Mongolia? | Ubpost News: "By B.KHASH-ERDENE
The Mongolian nomadic culture and animal husbandry has helped Mongols survive through many centuries. Since the Mongol lands are hard and brittle, it was difficult to sustain plantation without modern technology and chemical fertilizers.
Hence the main source for food and sustenance has always been largely based on meat and dairy products. It is believed by the Mongolian elderly and conservatives that Mongolian dishes must contain foods with higher calories and vitamins due to the cold, dry and windy climate and that meat and dairy products are suitable for this. Meat is not only the most suitable staple to the Mongolian diet, but also, historically, the most available.
Although this is the case, in recent years, especially since the revolution in 1990, foreign trade and open information sources such as the internet and TV have prompted many to reflect on their lifestyles – in this case, what they put into their bodies."

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Mongolia is one of top 10 reformers - M.A.D. Investment Solutions

Mongolia is one of top 10 reformers - M.A.D. Investment Solutions: "The Doing Business 2013 report, which covers the period from June 2011 to June 2012 and which uses data for indicators that measure regulation affecting 10 key areas of the life cycle of local businesses, finds that Mongolia eliminated the minimum capital requirement for establishing a local limited liability company, guaranteed the right of borrowers to inspect their own credit data, and enacted new legislation to strengthen disclosure requirements for related-party transactions.
"This year, Mongolia joined the global list of top 10 improvers for ease of doing business in the report,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group. “Mongolia implemented reforms that cut regulatory hurdles and make it easier for local firms to do business.”
Under its Mongolia Advisory Services Program, the World Bank Group has worked closely with the Mongolian government to support the reforms on the Company Laws, Food Safety Law, and business inspections."

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Mongolia in Globalization’s Chokehold - M.A.D. Investment Solutions

Mongolia in Globalization’s Chokehold - M.A.D. Investment Solutions: "Some, education and food supply, is for the better, and a lot – including urban sprawl and rising inequality – is for the worse. Much of the change has to do with globalization. In 1992 Mongolia had just been liberated from communism. The Soviet system provided social services, but eviscerated the traditional Tibetan Buddhist culture and left little room for democratic participation. At that time democracy was in the air. A dean at the National University of Mongolia asked how American professors elected the presidents of its universities, since they would like to copy the model. Sadly, I had to tell him that US university administrators were appointed, not elected, and he seemed surprised. Downtown Ulaan Baatar was quiet and staid then. The rows of faceless stolid buildings had a certain socialist institutional charm."

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FAO honors Mongolian president for food production achievements - NZweek

FAO honors Mongolian president for food production achievements - NZweek: "ULAN BATOR, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has awarded Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj a gold medal for the country’s achievements in promoting food production, local media reported on Friday.

The director general of the FAO, Jose Graziano da Silva, expressed satisfaction with Mongolia’s achievements in agriculture and congratulated Mongolia on becoming a food exporter, the report said.

He said that the FAO would continue providing technical assistance to Mongolia’s agriculture sector."

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Meeting on Mongolia’s Food Security Analyzes Shortcomings | Ubpost News

Meeting on Mongolia’s Food Security Analyzes Shortcomings | Ubpost News: "Kh.Battulga, Minister of Industry and Agriculture, opened a meeting which took place on the weekend with local food producers and importers with a statement on Mongolia’s lack of self-sufficiency. “A country with a population of around [almost] 1.4 billion is able to provide sufficient food material for its entire people and even export the leftovers. But I always found it strange that a country like ours, a country with vast land, more than 50 million live stocks and with a population of only around 3 million isn’t able to supply sufficient food material for its own people. This is disgraceful. I have come to meet all of you today to find a way to not be disgraceful.”"

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Video: Mongolia Bike Challenge - Stage Six - Pinkbike

Video: Mongolia Bike Challenge - Stage Six - Pinkbike: "The day started off with a nice tailwind as we headed west towards the ancient Altai Mountains. I was nervous and had toiler paper packed in my jersey in case any bathroom stops were required. It was a rough start to the day as bunch of Mongolian riders attacked which left me dangling off the back. The Mongolians here have been the most aggressive riders by far. They giver all they have and put us in the hurt locker on most mornings with their early morning attacks. Endurance has been an issue for these guys as it is seldom they can keep it together to the finish line. This may be partly due to their food tactics of stuffing cornflakes, eggs, tomatoes and meat in there jersey pockets.

When Pau (Team Buff) saw me dangling off the back as a result from the Mongol attacks, he upped the tempo as he has been on a mission to get into the top 3 and has been taking full advantage of anything any of us three Kona riders will give him. Struggling along I managed to get back up to the lead group and would waver there for the next couple of hours as I dreamed about getting to the toilets at the finish line."

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Mongolia: Herders Caught Between Cashmere and Climate Change | EurasiaNet.org

Mongolia: Herders Caught Between Cashmere and Climate Change | EurasiaNet.org: "Batogoo Dorj is a nomad in southern Mongolia’s Bayankhongor Region who makes his living raising cashmere goats. Each spring, Dorj can shear about 300 grams of the valuable, downy wool from each of his 350 goats. Those voracious and sharp-hoofed animals are contributing to the desertification and climate change that is reducing Mongolia’s available grazing land. Yet for Dorj and thousands like him in Mongolia, short-term necessity is eclipsing long-term sustainability.

Cashmere wool is one of Mongolia's most prized animal-product exports. The second-largest cashmere producer (after China), Mongolia accounts for 28 percent of the world's total supply, according to the Mongol Cashmere Association. The wool brings around $180 million annually into the country. For the 36 percent of Mongols who still adhere to a nomadic lifestyle, cashmere is often an integral part of their livelihood.

"Eighty percent of our income is from cashmere. It's the money we earn now [in the spring] that we rely on for the entire year -- to send our kids to school, to stock food, repair things," says Dorj."

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Mongolia : Mongolian cashmere & fur products to get trademark - Textile News Mongolia

Mongolia : Mongolian cashmere & fur products to get trademark - Textile News Mongolia: "Mongolia is set to introduce a ‘Tansag Shirhegt’ trademark for its fur and cashmere wool items to earn recognition for producers of these items in the world market.

About 80 percent of Mongolia’s cashmere and fur products are exported, however, the actual producers are never recognized as these items are exported through international channels.

To address this issue, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MFALI) proposed to develop a trademark and logo for Mongolian fur and cashmere industry, in association with the Mongolian Fur and Cashmere Union and Agricultural Marketing and Brand Development project of the Asian Development Bank.
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Local Fulbright Scholars Research Fish in Brazil, Teach English in Mongolia - Hot Off The Press (Release)

Local Fulbright Scholars Research Fish in Brazil, Teach English in Mongolia - Hot Off The Press (Release): "TUCSON, AZ – Two 2007 graduates of Green Fields Country Day School went on to graduate from Scripps College in Southern California and receive prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study abroad. They are classmates Anna Fiastro and Allison Kupsco. Kupsco is teaching English in Mongolia and Fiastro is headed later this month toMossoró, Brazil.

Fiastro will work conduct research on integrated agro-aquaculture systems, with an eye toward making fish farming more sustainable while growing other food crops. She performed similar research on aquaculture at the University of Arizona with professor Kevin M. Fitzsimmons in the Environmental Research Lab in the summer of 2010. She connected with him through her Senior Masterworks project at Green Fields. After graduating from Scripps, she spent time in Trinidad, working on The Guppy Project, a study looking at the relationship between ecology and evolution."

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Mongolia economic policies 'too expansionary' - IMF | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters

Mongolia economic policies 'too expansionary' - IMF | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters: "WASHINGTON Nov 28 (Reuters) - Mongolia's economic policies are "too expansionary" and are creating inflationary pressures, the International Monetary Fund warned on Monday, calling for further rate hikes.

In an appraisal of Mongolia's booming economy, the IMF welcomed recent monetary policy tightening. But it said it was not enough to contain rising inflationary pressures and economic overheating.

It said food price volatility "has disguised" underlying inflationary momentum, firmly in double digits.

A rapid acceleration in bank lending has put Mongolia's financial system "under stress" and the IMF urged the authorities to manage risks proactively to prevent problems from building up."

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Mongolian Meat Export to Rise

Mongolian Meat Export to Rise: "By Ts.Tungalagtseel
The Mongolian population is 2.7 million and the domestic animals number is over 40 million. The numbers are explained because Mongolians are traditionally nomadic and for a very long time the basis of the economy was livestock breeding.
Mongolia also has another reason for the seemingly disproportional number, its neighbors Russia and China, which are the two biggest meat importing countries in the world, according to a report from the Mongolian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry which was made in December 2010. Historically the two neighbors have high requests to import meat and meat products from Mongolia but the requests were limited due to the international hygiene standard. Since this year the meat and meat products export volume to these two countries has increased because Mongolian meat and meat products have improved to meet international hygiene standards."

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Higgins in Mongolia: Goat Hams, Camel Salami and an Introduction

Higgins in Mongolia: Goat Hams, Camel Salami and an Introduction: "Greetings from moonlit Mongolia. You might wonder what an Oregon chef who's obsessed with local, seasonal food is doing in the western Aimag of Khovd.
In two words, it's Mercy Corps. But in reality, it's much more than that. This is an ancient nomadic culture redefining itself in our digital age. I was asked to come here to share my knowledge and skill in making sausage and cured meats with people who have the world's greatest wealth and abundance of grass-fed livestock, yet struggle on many other economic levels.


This is a ruggedly beautiful place—amazing people proud of their heritage, and in transition from being nomadic herders for millennia. Many still live in gers—heavy felt tents—burning coal, dung or wood to heat and cook with."

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Occupy Toronto goes high style with $20,000 yurts - thestar.com

Occupy Toronto goes high style with $20,000 yurts - thestar.com: "Materials: Groovy Yurts are handmade in Mongolia, according to the company’s website. Pieces of wood are latticed together and secured with horse hair to form the walls, which are covered with canvas and insulated with felt. Mongolian gers feature ornate wooden doors; Turkic yurts often use a felt flap. The glass-windowed ceiling peak – toono in Mongolian – is propped up by wooden beams, or baagans.

Design: Dome-shaped and sturdy, Mongolian gers are often embroidered with colourful Buddhist symbols. Kyrgyz and Kazakh versions might have a thatched design, akin to a family crest, in place of the ceiling window. Wong suggested the symbols on the Occupy Toronto yurts represented “peace, love, respect, unity and delicious food.”"

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Monetary Policy Week In Review – 30 Oct 2011

Monetary Policy Week In Review – 30 Oct 2011: "Bank of Mongolia (increased rate 50bps to 12.25%): ”The rapid expansion of budget expense, cash hand-out from the Human Development Fund and the high increase in loans are contributing to higher demand. This sharp increase in demand builds the pressure on core inflation even the total supply and the real capacity of economy have not added on yet. The consecutive growth in prices of non-food products from the beginning of 2011 and the current stand in yoy 11.3% prove that the increase of total demand is bringing the growth of core price.”"

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