More herders to access weather forecast and pasture information
Economy | AgricultureUlaanbaatar / MONTSAME/ Weather forecast and pasture information SMS system now reaches an additional 21,654 herders in Mongolia to protect their animals and livelihoods. Under the “Leveraging Technology and Tradition for Resilience in Rural Mongolia” (LTT4R) project, an SMS platform providing real-time, on-demand weather information has been extended to Dornod, Sukhbaatar, Arkhangai and Uvurkhangai aimags by People in Need (PIN) and Mercy Corps to expand coverage to all 21 aimags.
The SMS system enables herders in rural areas of Mongolia to
protect themselves and their families proactively by accessing weather forecast
and pasture information. Funded by the European
Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, LTT4R aims to increase
herder’s resilience to drought and dzud, and climate change across rural
Mongolia.
As a part of the LTT4R
project, PIN and Mercy Corps are also conducting training sessions across 38
soums and 200 baghs, building local capacity to build resilience in the face of
disasters. In addition, the project develops and delivers training
for soum and bagh leaders on household dzud preparedness and mitigation; helps local
authorities to create disaster management plans, and increases knowledge of
local leaders on disaster risk reduction (DRR)—to reach a total of 21,654 people with disaster management plans, 6,700
people with the SMS platform and local leaders in 38 soums across the four
target provinces with trainings.
At the national level, management of the SMS system was handed
over to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in spring 2018, which will
coordinate with other agencies to work towards the nationalization of the
system. “One of the things we are most proud of, as a project team is
developing a SMS system that not only really helps the rural populations in
Mongolia, but also is something the Government can run for years into the
future so that herders rely on and use it for years to come” said Laurel
Hanson, Head of Programs at PIN. She added, “Transitioning the platform over to
NEMA and to a public access number means that it will be available long into
the future, with our continued support.”