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one-third of livestock with a value of nearly USD1 million was

lost. The livelihood of rural people rapidly plummeted, contribut-

ing to an increase in unemployment and poverty. The latest NSO

(National Statistics Office) statistics showed that poverty in the

rural population was 43.4 per cent, compared to 36.1 per cent

nationally. Current climate hazards are threatening not only the

livelihoods of the herders and rural population, but also

Mongolia’s economy.

Population density in rural Mongolia is less than one person

per square kilometre. Here, the telecommunications network has

a high cost and a low income, resulting in an increased digital

divide and a poor application and uneven penetration of infor-

mation and communication technology (ICT). Current public

service telecommunication facilities have been operating since the

1960s and consist of aged analogue PBX switches connected to

province centres that are switched through open-wire transmis-

sion links. There are less than two telephone lines for every 100

inhabitants. A mobile telephone service has been started in a few

counties.

Recent developments in the telecommunication infrastructure

with fibre-optic cable, VSAT and wireless technologies have

created an opportunity to bridge the digital divide to the settled

centres of the counties. But reaching herders living in or migrat-

ing for better pastures with their animals, often 40–150

kilometres away from county centres, is still highly problematic.

Mongolia’s efforts to reach the rural herders

The Mongolian Government gives the utmost significance to ICT.

In 2004 it established the Information and Communication

Technology Authority (ICTA) under the Prime Minister’s office, as

this institution is responsible for overall policy formulation, plan-

ning, implementation and the coordination of all ICT-related

activities throughout the country.

Recently, the parliament of Mongolia approved a government

action plan (2004–2008) to implement a nationwide programme

called ‘e-Mongolia’ for 2005–2012

1

. This would create an

Information Society that would apply ICT in all political, social and

economic sectors, enhance the quality of public services, bridge

the digital divide and establish a favourable legal environment.

The Government has set goals to create a broadband backbone

network throughout the country, a high speed connection to the

international backbone gateway, increase overall public services

utilizing ICT as a tool for improving quality of life, and imple-

ment e-government, e-commerce, e-industry, e-education,

e-citizen, e-health, e-democracy and e-business projects. The

Government hopes to achieve the following goals by 2012:

• increase the telephone density rate in rural areas by 15 per cent

• create mobile connections in 65 per cent of counties

• create Internet connections in the centres of all counties.

At present public hydro, a meteorological service, provides nation-

wide weather and climate information. But this is not downscaled

to local areas where the livestock pastures and the herders live.

There is a need to improve disaster risk reduction and early warning

systems with accurate predictions of hazards designed to assist the

herders, farmers, rural communities and local governments. But

the current density of meteorological stations is too low to provide

more detailed information and Mongolia cannot afford to increase

them at this point. The official weather prediction system does not

provide monthly or seasonal forecasts localized to the county level.

Since 2000, the National Agency for Disaster Management, the

National Agency for Meteorology, Hydrology and Environmental

Figure 2: Vulnerability assessment – pasture and livestock

Pasture vegetation resources and livestock

bodyweight is highly correlated with each

other. Better pasture condition – higher vegeta-

tion index – more forage resource, and animals

accumulate more fat and have more weight,

and become less vulnerable to cold and windy

weather and shortage of forage.

Sheep, goat average weight, kg

Control points