Livestock is the main livelihood and source of wealth in Mongolia and the country's economy substantially depends on the production and development of this sector. Approxifrom their livestock. Numbers of livestock per family differ significantly.
Some 41.3 per cent of Mongolia's territory is comprised of semi-desert areas (Gobi), which are frequently affected by natural disasters - Dzud and drought. One of the features of agricultural production is that almost half of the total population runs extensive livestock and non-intensive crop production activimately 49 per cent of the total labour force is engaged in this sector. As a result of privatisation processes some 97.2 per cent of the total livestock is now privately owned.
Some 41.3 per cent of Mongolia's territory is comprised of semi-desert areas (Gobi), which are frequently affected by natural disasters - Dzud and drought. One of the features of agricultural production is that almost half of the total population runs extensive livestock and non-intensive crop production activimately 49 per cent of the total labour force is engaged in this sector. As a result of privatisation processes some 97.2 per cent of the total livestock is now privately owned.
256.6 thousand families owned livestock, some 72.3 per cent of which (18 5.5 thousands households) are dependent solely on income generated ties, which are highly dependent on the nature and climate. Recent weather patterns have had a very negative impact on agricultural production, following global wanning of the climate. Mongolia is getting dryer and very prone to hazardous natural disasters - drought and dzud have recently taken place frequently in Mongolia. Over the last four years, Dzud and drought caused major damage to agricultural production, and seriously impacted on the well being of the rural population.
Supplies of raw materials to national factories and for export sales have also been adversely affected. In particular, the livestock sector which produces 90 per cent of gross agricultural production is facing considerable constraints. Although the total livestock population grew up considerably from 1994 to 1999, huge numbers of livestock died in the last two years' Dzud. The number of livestock by five types (horse, camel, cattle, sheep and goat) was reached 25307,8 thousand at the end of 2003, showing an increase of 1.5 million or 6.4 percent compared with 2002.
