Linking the improvement in nomadic herding practices to sustainable cashmere production in the Gobi Desert

Bayankhongor Province is located in south-west Mongolia, the Great Lakes region, in the far north of the Gobi Desert. It is characterized by a semi-arid  territory mainly covered by a desert steppe with sparse vegetation, and by the presence of lakes and rivers, which can dry up certain years when there is a low level of rainfall. The area has a continental climate and experiences extreme temperatures (in both winter and summer). Average annual rainfall stands at 100 mm. 

The project comes in addition to the “Sustainable Cashmere” project financed by the European Union on the baghs of Jinst er Bogd and implemented by AVSF from 2014 to 2016, by adding 3 soums: Shinejinst, Bombogor and Baatsagaan. 

 

The project area covers 5 soums (Mongolian territorial unit equivalent to a French department), especially selected for their complementarity in terms of agroecological areas and issues related to raising cashmere goats: 

- Bombogor: 3,044 km² - 2,584 inhabitants 

- Baatsagaan: 5,395 km² - 3,599 inhabitants 

- Jinst: 5,313 km² - 2,023 inhabitants 

- Bogd: 3,993 km² - 2,900 inhabitants 

- Shinejinst: 16,501 km² - 2,187 inhabitants 



The total surface area of the zone stands at 34,246 km², i.e. over 3 million hectares. The project creates pilot areas, where local actors are more interested and have greater potential than elsewhere, with the ultimate goal of replicating the models developed by the projects, on the basis of successful examples, in each soum. 



The project is based on 4 components:

• Implementation and dissemination of improved nomadic herding practices
• Capacity building for local non-state actors, in order to promote sustainable agriculture and agricultural production
• Creation of a sustainable cashmere sector
• Project management and dissemination of results