The animals are weak after extreme winter and dying now. We mitigate the tragedy of dzud in Mongolia
Published: Jun 9, 2016 Reading time: 3 minutes
Last summer, major fires affected the steppe in the Dornod province, Mongolia, and burned down large pasture areas. Thousands of cattle, the main source of living in Mongolia, died due to lack of hay and the following dzud – severe winter with the night temperatures hitting -40°C. The food-kit humanitarian support, provided by People in Need and European Commision’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO), is now crucial. Read three stories of families hit by dzud.
The animals are weak after dzud and dying now
Dolgor Gulda (58) lives in Bajangol in Dornod province of Mongolia. Her family of three owns 50 animals like goats, sheep and seven cows. Her main income is pension and during the summer she sells mainly milk products.
This winter was extremely hard for her because dzud came to pastures in Dornod province. "In the winter all pastures were covered by snow. We had some hay stored, some we received from state but it was not enough," Dolgor explains. "It was impossible to leave our yurt during the winter, fortunately we had some dried and some frozen meat from autumn," she adds.
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During dzud Dolgors family lost 18 out of 50 heads of livestock. "Remaining animals are very weak, because new grass did not sprout out yet and the old grass in the steppe is dry and not nutritious enough," Dolgor describes current problems. "This is why the animals are dying right now," she adds.
Ganzoring Gochoo (38) is going through similar experience. 12 heads of livestock out of his 50 – 60 died during the winter. The main income for him and his family of five is out of selling wool and cashmere. Apart from that, they had to use children allowance in order to survive. “From that money we bought food during winter," says Ganzoring.
This year, dzud has affected 16 out of 21 Mongolian provinces and killed more than 200 000 heads of livestock. People in Need is helping people affected by the tragedy in four Eastern-Mongolian provinces. Thanks to the funding of the European Commision’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) the food kits are being distributed to the most vulnerable people. PIN together with ECHO already provided aid to 2450 families hit by dzud in Mongolia.
It is better to be herder than to sit in an apartment block
Humanitarian aid is vital also for Odmandakh Yazgurt (36), who has lost 38 out of his 188 heads of livestock. "Animals are still so emaciated that they are still dying. If there will be more snowing it will be difficult for us. We have no more hay," says Odmandakh, who takes care of his wife and two children, 12 and 7 year old.
Moving to the city is not solution for him. "We moved here two years ago from Choijlbasan where we lived to let our children attend better school. At that time my brother took care of my animals," says Odmandakh. "But I did not find work in the city. It is better to be herder than to sit in block of flats doing nothing," he explains.
People in Need together with ECHO provided aid to 2450 vulnerable families hit by dzud in Mongolia.
PIN began working in Mongolia during the dzud in 2010, when the country was hit by an unusually severe frost, which killed nearly 9 million heads of cattle. Herdsmen families were provided with financial and material assistance, allowing them to resume their agricultural trade and prepare for the next hard winter. Since 2011, PIN has a permanent mission in Mongolia. PIN in Mongolia conducted aid in cooperation with Caritas Czech Republic with the support of the European Commission (ECHO). The support of the Czech public who contributed through Club of Friends of People in Need was also extremely helpful. People in Need would like to thank all donors for their support.
