Ulaanbaatar
Closing event for Green Gold Animal Health Project held
Environment
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A closing event for Green Gold Animal Health Project, which has been jointly implemented by Swiss Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry for past 17 years was held today.
The Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia has started its support to Mongolia with Humanitarian Aid project during 1999-2000 heavy dzud which was followed up by long-term development cooperation program through the Green Gold Animal Health Project with the aim to contribute to improved livelihood of herder households through sustainable rangeland management, better marketing and a conducive legal and policy environment. Now, the project has grew into a large-scale project that reached out to over 90 thousand herders across Mongolia.
In addition to sharing good agricultural practices and practices in delivering the final products to consumers, local and international researchers presented the latest research on pastureland recovery. Moreover, the participants held discussions on the project’s main legacies, results and lessons learned and roads paved for new development opportunities.
In his remarks, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan stressed the significance of the project which made valuable contribution to the livelihood of herder households and environment, while underscoring that more than 20 million hectares of pastures across the country have been kept in healthy conditions and rehabilitated as a result of concluding agreements with pasture usage groups to collectively use pastures without degrading them.
The closing event was attended by Minister of Food,
Agriculture and Light Industry Z.Mendsaikhan, Member of the State Great Hural
G.Temuulen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to
Mongolia Bernardino Regazzoni, Head of Swiss Cooperation in Mongolia Stefanie
Burri, as well as herders, livestock specialists, pasture users, and suppliers
of livestock raw materials.
