Growing Security
The rural dwellers of the Mongolian steppe have, for centuries, eaten little else than meat and dairy products. This is particularly so in the northern parts of the Zavkhan province where their primary means of survival is herding. But in extreme winters of recent years, many families lost their livestock, resulting in loss of their only income and food source. ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency)–Mongolia’s food security project is helping the farmers of Zavkhan develop a stable food supply through vegetable-growing cooperatives.
What ADRA is doing is encapsulated in the experience of Namsrai, a Zavkhan farmer. Namsrai lives in the village of Ider, with his eight children. This is his second year of involvement in the bio project.
“Before I became involved with this project, we had a very difficult life,” he says. “During the dzud (the extremely heavy snows, cold weather and drought) of 2000-02, we lost all of our animals except for two goats. They gave us just half a litre of milk a day, but it wasn’t enough for even my children.”
With no work to supplement their food supply, their plight worsened, and Namsrai and his wife began to suffer depression. Then ADRA came to Ider.
“Our lives changed,” says Namsrai. “Although we were at first sceptical, we agreed to be involved. We couldn’t believe that a tiny seed could grow. In the middle of the first summer, my family was happy; we could see the plants growing and flowering. In August we picked our first cucumbers. It was amazing.”
“By the end of summer, we pickled 40 jars of cucumber, harvested 40 kg of potatoes, 35 kg of turnips, 10 kg of carrots, and some dill and lettuce. Those vegetables lasted us the whole winter—enough food for the first time in years. Even the two goats benefited, as we gave them vegetable scraps.”
“We really appreciate the ADRA project. My older children are learning how to grow vegetables. Before this, they had nothing to do. Now they’re busy planting and harvesting. Next year, I’ll sell vegetables. ADRA gave us all hope for the future.”
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has classified Mongolia as a low-income, food-deficit country. ADRA’s vegetable-growing cooperatives are allowing families to reap the benefits of improved food security and nutrition and, as a result, improved health. The project includes training in growing vegetables and cooperative development, including business training, and the provision of loans to begin successful commercial vegetable growing.
For many of the families involved, vegetables are a completely new experience, which adds the challenge of learning how to cook vegetables. So the program includes cooking demonstrations, which have attracted huge interest.
In the past year the project produced an abundance of vegetables, with their producers simply amazed: they didn’t believe vegetables grew from small seeds! Others, although more knowledgeable, were disbelieving that the harsh conditions would allow vegetables to grow. They are now significantly less dependent on their tiny herds for food security.
The effects are manifold. Nutrition surveys before and after the first growing season showed that the nutritional benefits of eating vegetables are having concrete, measurable impacts on health, especially for ultra-poor families.
But the significance of the Food Security project goes beyond that, and is seen in the tearful gratitude of some of the project’s participants.
Home - Archive - Topics - Podcast - Subscribe - Special Offers - About Signs - Contact Us - Links
 |
 |
Copyright © 2004-2009 Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ACN 093 117 689
