EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. There are multiple perceptions and expectations of the livestock sector in Mongolia. One common perception evokes a romantic vision of nomads preserving timeless cultural practices living off the land. An alternative view of the sector regards herding as an outdated, unsustainable activity and that herders represent the outcasts from a modernizing economy, destined to remain on the land pursuing vulnerable livelihood strategies that trap them in poverty. Yet another view sees opportunities for rapid intensification of the sector and significant scope for increased productivity, increased trade and increased herder incomes in a modern livestock sector.
2. While there are elements of truth in all these perceptions, there are also many misperceptions and the true nature of the sector is harder to pin down. Some facts: first, the livestock sector has never been less important to the overall economy as it is today, with a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) down to around 20 percent. The contribution is likely to continue to decline, especially as mining revenues increase in coming years; second, approximately 40 percent of the work force is directly dependent on the livestock sector, and despite the decline in share of GDP, the sector is likely to continue to be the single most important sector to the economy in terms of employment; third, the livestock sector is dominated by an extensive livestock production system dependent upon access to grasslands and which is therefore inherently vulnerable to climatic and natural resource management risks; fourth, the sector is in a state of flux, as it has been since the breakup of state farms and rural collectives in the early 1990s, and where this will take the sector is unclear.
3. The purpose of this synthesis report is to try and draw together recent work on the sector to understand in greater detail what is driving the sector, and how these drivers and trends may play out in the future and what options are available in response. This is not a strategy for the sector, but rather an attempt to provide some clarity to the development of the sector as a basis for stimulating discussion to inform strategy and specifically, to inform government policy and expenditure in the sector. The report draws upon five working papers (WPs) that were commissioned by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 2006 and 20071. These papers tried to fill gaps in current knowledge of drivers in the sector rather than provide a comprehensive study of the sector, and their findings have been supplemented by other work in the sector.