CHINA/ MONGOLIA: Extreme cold weather threatens Mongolians with hunger and poverty.

Record ID: 333135

  • Title: CHINA/ MONGOLIA: Extreme cold weather threatens Mongolians with hunger and poverty.
  • Date: 31st January 2010
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JANUARY 28, 2010) (REUTERS) RED CROSS EAST ASIA REGION COMMUNICATIONS OFFICIAL FRANCIS MARKUS WORKING AT COMPUTER MARKUS LOOKING AT SCREEN PICTURE OF YOUNG MONGOLIAN BOY AND GIRL ON BOOKLET (SOUNDBITE) (English) RED CROSS EAST ASIA REGION COMMUNICATIONS OFFICIAL FRANCIS MARKUS SAYING: "Because of the large numbers of livestock that have perished - the latest government official figures are saying over a million, but unofficial reports are saying it could be as high as two million - many of the herder families, especially the poorest, those with herds of fewer than 200 livestock, may face a situation where they simply don't have enough animals left to make their livelihoods sustainable."
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA8C6EP1ZF14DJHIV6XM79O1P5Y
  • Story Text: An unusually severe winter following a summer drought risks pushing almost 200,000 nomadic herders into hunger and deeper poverty in Mongolia, the United Nations and Red Cross warn.
    Extreme cold and heavy snow since late last year threatens to push almost 200,000 people into hunger and deeper poverty in Mongolia, the United Nations and Red Cross have warned.

    Daily temperatures have fallen below -40 degrees Celsius in most of the country - well below habitual winter temperatures of -15 to -35 degrees.

    As a result, more than one million livestock have already died, according to the country's National Emergency Management Agency.

    In addition, stockpiles of livestock fodder are low after the summer drought, the United Nations (UN) said on Monday (January 25).

    According to the UN, the Mongolian government is focussing on seven provinces in which there are 52 villages considered to be in disaster. Within those villages the UN estimates around 177,000 people, including 72,000 children, are affected.

    Francis Marcus, a Beijing-based communications official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said around a third of Mongolia's working population live off livestock herding, and those with less than 200 head would be worst affected.

    "Because of the large numbers of livestock that have perished - the latest government official figures are saying over a million, but unofficial reports are saying it could be as high as two million - many of the herder families, especially the poorest, those with herds of fewer than 200 livestock, may face a situation where they simply don't have enough animals left to make their livelihoods sustainable," Markus said.

    Mr. Baasanragchaa, a 56-year-old nomadic herder from Tsenher County in Arkhangai Province, is getting used to dragging dead sheep out of the pens that enclose his depleting flock.

    Dependent on his flock for a living, Baasanragchaa told the Red Cross he was worried that those still alive may not make it through the winter.

    "This autumn we counted over 400 head of livestock including sheep, goats and cattle. So far, over 200 are lost and there are only around 200 head left. But these survivors look unable to survive until the warmer season comes because they are so skinny, even though we are feeding them with hay and fodder," he said.

    While some major roads have been cleared, Markus said it was still difficult to reach herding communities, with heavy snow that has frozen into ice making travel by car impossible and by foot extremely difficult.

    The road conditions are also preventing medical workers from reaching people in need of health care, particularly worrying in a country with a high prevalence of disease such as Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and a more recent outbreak of the H1N1 strain of flu.

    Frostbite also presents a serious health risk, as does the threat of infection from the rotting carcasses of dead livestock, Markus said.

    With the potential for more extreme weather in the coming month, Markus said the repercussions of the disaster, or 'Dzud' as it is known in Mongolia, are likely to be felt in the country well after the end of winter.

    "There's a kind of risk at least that there could be further plunges in temperatures which could kill off many of the newborn animals which are just starting to emerge now and will do so much more in the next few weeks, so we are seeking to help the most vulnerable families to somehow get through the next few months," Markus said.

    Another consequence of the disaster is the mass migration of people from the grasslands into the capital Ulan Bator, where they often form tent 'shanty towns' and struggle to find employment or receive benefits.

    The Red Cross has already released almost 150,000 U.S. dollars from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, and the Ulan Bator delegation has requested further relief to provide food, medical care, warm clothes and psychosocial support for 1,200 of the most vulnerable households.

    ENDS.
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