Mongolian milk for health and wealth

Mongolia, 14 Mar 2007 -- When a country makes the dramatic shift from a state-run economy to one driven by market forces, the transformation is often jarring. Jobs can disappear, populations become displaced and entire industries collapse.During the 1990s, Mongolia underwent such a shift. Many of the changes were painful, and one industry that was nearly destroyed was the dairy industry. That spelled disaster for two reasons. First, Mongolia is a nation of herders and farmers; 42 percent of its people earn their living in this manner, and many of the country’s 2.6 million population depend upon milk and dairy production for their livelihoods. “Milk is sacred in Mongolia,’’ says Dendev Terbishdagva, Minister of Food and Agriculture. Second, lack of dairy products, and milk in particular, contributed to under-nutrition among 25 percent of the country’s children, and a drop in nutrition among a growing population of vulnerable, low-income people.

More information at:
http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/highlights_detail.asp?event_id=36094