Public Needs Assesment Report

Mongolia has one of the harshest climates in the world, characterized by a very brief warm season lasting about 2 months, and a long winter with temperatures reaching down to below -50°C. At the same time, 46% of the country’s 3 million population lives in remote rural areas, and among them the bulk are nomadic pastoralists. For those, livestock is the only source of livelihood, representing their entire cash income and contributing to approximately 30% of the herders´ food source (FAO in PIN 2016). Herder households have traditionally well-developed resilience and coping mechanisms to cope with the harsh environment, including the so called dzud.