29 Jan 2010

MONGOLIA / HERDERS

The UN says that the extreme winter weather that killed more than 1 million livestock in Mongolia is likely to harm the country’s food supply and worsen poverty. World Bank Programs now underway in the country are helping those who will be most affected. WORLD BANK

Posted at: January 29, 2010 12:37 pm

Duration: 02:25

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: MONGOLIA / HERDERS
TRT: 2.25
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: MONGOLIAN / NATS

DATELINE: NOVEMBER 2009, BAYANKHONGOR, MONGOLIA / FILE

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, herder riding horse among livestock
2. Med shot, herder at well
3. Med shot, heads of horses
4. Med shot, camels
5. Wide shot, herder with horses
7. Med shot, Batbayar walking
8. SOUNDBITE (Mongolian)   Batbayar,   Herder:
"In 2002, there was a terrible dzud, and because of this many herders including me we have lost livestock, and it hit hardest the herders in our area, I have lost 30 percent of my livestock, but some lost even more."
9. Wide shot, Batbayar walking
10. Med shot, horses running
11. Med shot, camels running
12. Tracking shot, Batbayar and family entering geer
13. Various shots, Bayanmunkh walking
14. Wide shot, livestock
15. SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) Bayanmunkh, herder: 
"Pastoral management has helped us overcome the crisis, for example, because of the fencing we can keep the livestock close to us." 
16. Tilt up, Bayanmunkh exiting his house
17. Med shot, Bayanmunkh checking fodder
18. Wide shot, telephone pools stretching across plains covered in snow
19. Wide shot, house from outside
20. Wide shot, solar panels and wind turbine
21. close up, panels
22. Med shot, woman inside geer
23. Close up, woman stocking fire
24. Med shot, woman on cel phone
25. Med shot, child in front of tv
26. SOUNDBITE (Mongolian)   Batbayar,   Herder: 
"I can get connected everywhere and speak to my relatives and to people while staying right at home!"
27. Med shot, Batbayar on cell phone
28. Wide shots, horses

STORYLINE:

The majority of rural Mongolians make their living by herding horses, camels, goats, cattle and sheep for milk, cashmere, meat and other livestock products.

It's a risky business in a country with a fragile environment where severe and freezing winters are the norm, which in some years can be extremely harsh.

Such weather, called "dzud" in Mongolian, has in the past killed millions of livestock, leading to great economic losses for herders, as 36-year old Batbayar  knows only too well,

SOUNDBITE (Mongolian)   Batbayar,   herder: 
"In 2002, there was a terrible dzud, and because of this many herders including me we have lost livestock, and it hit hardest the herders in our area, I have lost 30 percent of my livestock, but some lost even more."

To better manage such risks, Batbayar is now receiving help.

Under a government partnership with with local insurance companies, Batbayar and more than 4 thousand other herder families have bought insurance which protects against losses to livestock under an innovative pilot project:

SOUNDBITE (Mongolia)   Batbayar,   Herder: 
"Of course this is very important because the livestock is insured from natural disaster so even though we have harsh winters, I am insured and that is important!"

The Index-based Livestock Insurance Project is one of several   supported by the World Bank that Mongolia has undertaken to help herders and their families,  which make up the single largest group among the country's poor.

Another is the Sustainable Livelihoods Program which is helping herder families throughout the country to improve pastoral management skills.

Under the project, 30 year-old herder Bayanmunkh, a father of three, learned to avoid risks to his 200 heads of livestock by creating his own pastures and fencing the animals in.

SOUNDBITE (Mongolia) Bayanmunkh, heder 
"Pastoral management has helped us overcome the crisis, for example, because of the fencing we can keep the livestock close to us."

The project also taught Bayanmunkh and other herders the benefits and means of storing fodder so that livestock always have something to eat, even in the harshest of winters.

Additional government projects with the Bank support aim at improving herder access to energy sources, by connecting their homes to town grids or , in the most isolated areas , by providing the herders solar panels and small wind turbine   systems as sources of renewable energy.

Herder families say the new amenities, including recently acquired cell phone service supported by the Bank ICT project jointly with local private service provider companies- have improved their livelihoods and their   lives:

SOUNDBITE (Mongolia)   Batbayar,   Herder: 
"I can get connected everywhere and speak to my relatives and to people while staying right at home!"

A home increasingly better equipped for any harsh weather ahead.