Mongolia, an East Asian country bordered by China and Russia, has been controlled by each of these countries in turn but has been an independent democracy since 1990. It is an upper middle-income East Asian economy according to the World Bank Group (2024) with a population of just under 3.3 million. The World Bank most recently noted Mongolia’s national poverty rate as 28.4% (2018), reduced by just over 1% from 2016. However, only 0.5% of the population fell below the international poverty line. Although the rural poverty rate was higher than the urban poverty rate, rural poverty was decreasing at a faster rate than urban poverty. The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic affected employment and income and contributed to food insecurity, especially for the poor. 

Food Insecurity and Health

In 2018, the U.N. reported that 65% of households in Mongolia suffered from food insecurity, with 23% severely food insecure. However, in 2024, the Global Hunger Index ranked Mongolia 26 out of 127 ranked countries, with a level of hunger considered low. This compares to an assessment of moderate in 2008 and serious (the third highest category) in 2000. Components of the GHI are percent of the population undernourished; percent of children under five who are wasted, or stunted; and percent of children who die before their fifth birthday. In 2024, less than 2.5% of the Mongolian population was undernourished. The one area of concern was child stunting—children with low height for their age, indicating chronic undernutrition—which was 11.5%. Even so, stunting had dropped over 18% since 2000, although there was an increase between 2016 and 2024. 

The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization similarly reported improvements in the three-year averages for food availability and food access in Mongolia since 2019. That includes protein supply, dietary energy supply adequacy and average value of food production. Food access was increasing until 2019, but then declined in 2020 and 2021, probably because of COVID supply chain issues, but began slowly rising again in 2022. Not as favorable is an increase in prevalence of anemia among women of reproductive age since 2017, after a decade of decline, and a steady increase in the prevalence of obesity in the adult population, doubling from 10.7% in 2000 to 24.1% in 2022.

Mongolia’s Unique Weather

A critical factor impacting Mongolia’s food availability is the dzud phenomenon and its disproportionate impact on herding, and thus on food production. A dzud is when a summer drought leads to inadequate production of hay, followed by lower-than-normal temperatures with very heavy snow and winds in winter. This leads to a loss of livestock, which cannot access pasture or adequate food. The country suffered three dzuds between 1999-2002, and another in 2009-2010, the latter killing 22% of the country’s livestock. (Approximately 20% of the population are nomadic herders.) 

Food Insecurity and Responses to the Climate Challenge

The winter of 2023-2024 saw the highest recorded snowfall in Mongolia in 49 years, covering 90% of the country. This led to a February 2024 government resolution declaring a “heightened readiness level” until the middle of May. 

• WHO. The World Health Organization, along with international partners and other U.N. agencies, provided support to the Mongolian government for months, particularly in maintaining health services. By March of 2024, it was reported that over 5.9 million head of livestock—9% of the country’s total—had perished. 
• OCHA. OCHA (the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) developed the Dzud Response Plan for 2023/2024, to complement the Mongolian government’s response plan, targeting 76,000 people—38% of those identified in need. The long-term goal was to shift from a “life-saving response to one of resilience under the humanitarian-development nexus.” Included sectors were Food Security and Agriculture, Health, Education, Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and Protection (Gender-Based Violence and Child Protection). 
• UNICEF. UNICEF announced similar efforts in April 2024. 
• SCALA. And in September 2024, SCALA (Global Support Programme on Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture) offered a two-day training workshop in Mongolia to address the development of “actionable and transformative climate actions in land-use and agriculture.” These actions will address climate challenges with interventions that simultaneously will improve production impacting herd size, grazing and feed management and overall animal health, and therefore, ultimately food supply. 

All told, the issues of hunger and food security in Mongolia are being effectively addressed by multiple players and are closely tied to meeting climatological challenges.

– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr
Updated: December 5, 2024