The future of the pastoral nomad in the steppes of Mongolia are clearly in danger. With farming and animal husbandry being privatized the traditional family or clan herds and land cannot compete with the yields and stock output of commercialized farms. It is a viscous cycle where the government supports and provides incentives for higher yields, but traditional extensive herding techniques cannot compete. The trend to use land in a more intensive and profitable way is very alluring and although less sustainable tends to offer more immediate benefits. With globalization becoming more prevalent Mongolia cannot hope to stay off the global market for long. With privatization and increased industrialization the Mongolian government relies on tax and trade money for roads, hospitals and public work projects but how can you tax a nomadic peoples? The author notes "developments have had noticeable impact on the living conditions of pastoral households. In general, the economic restructuring process taking place in these countries has led to a fall in the living standards of the population." Also the nomadic lifestyle of these people lack a fixed address, and it is nearly impossible to regulate trade between clans. The nomad is truly in danger.
http://www.fao.org/sd/rodirect/ROan0009.htm
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I find this very sad but culture change happens all the time. Do you think that there are any possible solutions to this problem?
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to adapt to the changing culture but it doesn't seem like therre is much the Mongolian nomads can do. It definitely seems like they should be able to stick to their own culture without conforming to outside expectations.
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