The Gobi Initiative Phase II Update
Mercy Corps International and PACT

SO1: PRIVATE SECTOR-LED ECONOMIC GROWTH
posted by Skip Waskin on Thursday, May 18, 2006, 3:09AM

Passing of Dr. Jerry Stuth. The sad news for all of us in April was the untimely passing of Dr. Jerry Stuth of Texas A&M University. Jerry was the inspiration and knowledge behind our Gobi Forage project, and he became its Director and leader after coming to Mongolia in 2003 to design the project. More broadly, Jerry was the mastermind behind USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS), the remote sensing and crop forecasting technology that has saved thousands from starvation in the Horn of Africa over the years.

Non-herding clients project 2006 sales of more than $375,000. Twenty non-herding clients have now finalized their business plans with project assistance. The combined sales from these businesses will be over MNT 450 Million (~$375,000), and external financing will total MNT 108 Million (~$91,750) in 2006. The businesses include compressed coal fuel production, sausage production, hotel and restaurant services, dairy and milk processing, wood carpentry, auto repair and garage services, and bakeries.

Veterinary labs receive equipment from Gobi Initiative. Aimag (provincial) veterinary laboratories in Uvurhangai, Bayanhongor, Dundgovi, and Umnugovi have now received all the equipment purchased under the Gobi Initiative and a consultant has completed the installation and provided training to the veterinary laboratory staff on use of that equipment. The laboratories in these aimags are now fully operational, having been renovated, equipped, and the staff trained. Opening ceremonies attended by aimag government officials, laboratory staff, media. and Gobi Initiative representatives were held in Bayanhongor and Uvurhangai in late April.

Subgrant for tourism project to promote herder business diversification in Dundgovi Aimag. Under the Gobi Initiative, Mercy Corps has issued a subgrant to a Mongolian non-governmental organization (NGO), Mongolian Alternatives Center, to implement its Ger-to-Ger Tourism Project (www.gertoger.org) in Dundgovi Aimag. The subgrant will focus on herder business diversification into tourism, and will complement existing herder business diversification activities in the region. The sub-project will be implemented amongst the famous rock formations of Ikh Gazariin Chuluut and the neighboring soums (counties). Initial field assessments have been completed, and seven herder families and three businesses have been identified to provide Ger-to-Ger tourist routes and services in the aimag.

Gobi clients to be trained to produce certified potato seed. The Gobi Initiative signed an agreement in April with the Revitalization of Mongolia’s Potato Sector Program (RMPSP), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Work under this agreement will complement and increase GI's efforts to improve the quality of potato seeds for local growers. The primary objective of the RMPSP is to improve the productivity of potato producers at the national and regional levels by supporting the re-establishment of an efficient and sustainable potato seed production sector and a decentralized supply system of high quality potato seed. GI has selected six clients that will be involved with RMPSP to build their skills and capacities to produce and sell certified potato seeds in their aimags. In addition, RMPSP has supplied a total of eight tons of high quality potato seeds to GI herder clients in Bayanhongor, Govi-Altai, Uvurhangai and Umnugovi aimags. The improved seed will enable herder clients to increase production levels.

Impediments to rural business development discussed on radio call-in shows. Rural Business News (RBN)/Pact organized a first-of-its-kind radio call-in show in Umnugovi, Dundgovi, and Gobi-Sumber aimags. The radio call-in shows were organized in cooperation with private aimag radio stations. The shows picked up important issues that hinder rural business development and provided a live forum for the public on radio. The program in Dundgovi and Gobi-Sumber raised land tenure issues, while the program in Umnugovi also focused on land tenure and debated how businesses can engage with and apply for health and safety certificates from the professional inspection agency. The general public was actively engaged during the programs, and callers made a number of suggestions on how local government should change to better serve the business community and support economic development in the aimags.

The Gobi Initiative Phase II Update
Mercy Corps International and PACT

SO1: PRIVATE SECTOR-LED ECONOMIC GROWTH
posted by Skip Waskin on Monday, April 17, 2006, 4:05AM

New Record-Keeping Book: A new "Herder Business Record-Keeping Book" was distributed to all Gobi Initiative (GI) herder clients in March to facilitate better records of sales, expenses, and production details on a timely basis.

Client Sales and Loan Applications: Herder client sales during March totaled about $27,500, including sale of some stored products from 2005. A total of 32 vets and herder groups applied for commercial loans totaling about $74,800 to finance their 2006 business plans.

New Client Focus: The selection of larger, non-herder business clients was completed in March. Twenty new non-herders are to receive long-term technical assistance from the project to implement their plans. The businesses include compressed coal fuel production, sausage production, hotel and restaurant services, dairy and milk processing, wood carpentry, auto repair and garage services, and bakeries.

Crop Production Planning: GI organized a regional meeting in March for agricultural program officers and Aimag (province)-based vegetable consultants to discuss vegetable and fodder crop production plans for 2006. Ten participants discussed the coordination and provision of technical assistance to 42 herder clients that have developed business plans for vegetable and fodder crop production. The participants also discussed new appropriate technologies for soil cultivation and irrigation systems related to vegetable production in the Gobi.

Veterinary Brochures and Video: Veterinary and animal health brochures covering pertinent topics in parasitology and infectious diseases, including zoonotic threats to public health (anthrax, brucellosis, echinococcus), were distributed to all program aimag offices for distribution to herder clients in March. Each client will receive a set of 13 brochures for their continuing education. In collaboration with PACT, a training video to complement the "veterinary training for herders" curriculum was developed. The video demonstrates proper techniques for assessing animal health, including physical examination, vital parameters, recognizing signs of disease, and the importance of preventative health care. It also emphasizes the importance of utilizing professional veterinary services. The video had a trial run in March, and will be finalized in April.

RBN News: Eight thousand copies of the first new quarterly Rural Business News magazine were printed and distributed nationally, and a new bi-weekly TV program, Learning Business, was launched in cooperation with TV-9. RBN also aired two scheduled programs; one highlighted a souvenir-making business, and the other focused on a dairy business operator. Effective the end of March, RBN radio increased its air time by shifting to 20 minutes on Monday-Thursday, 25 minutes on Friday, and repetitions twice per day. The radio programs include: For Your Health, a livestock health program covering timely animal health issues related to the season; Price Review, a market watch program; and Business Guide, which provides listeners with tips on business topics such as establishing a cooperative and how to register a business.