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STORY: IFAD / MONGOLIA CLIMATE NOMADIC HERDERS
TRT: 02:59
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT IFAD ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / MONGOLIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 21- 23 APRIL 2025, KHENTII PROVINCE, MONGOLIA
1. Various shots, aerial views of the landscape, ger, and livestock shelter
2. Wide shot, horses entering paddock
3. Med shot, horses in paddock
4. Med shot, sheep, and goats in paddock
5. Various shots, Badma milking cow
6. Wide shot, Bold on horseback
7. SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) Badma, Herder:
“In the past two years, Mongolia has experienced heavy snowfall, and some households lost a large number of livestock. Our losses were minimal, and we managed to get through the winter without significant casualties.”
8. Various shots, feeding hay to sheep
9. Various shots, herding sheep
10. Wide shot, Si King meets with Badma and Bold outside the ger
11. Wide shot, Badma preparing milk in the ger
12. Med shot, Badma offering milk to Si King
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Si King, Chef:
“So I've just found out that normally they don't release the livestock out of the stockade until the temperature comes up. Then they'll move them to greener parts of the pasture. So, they manage the pastureland as well—very skilled.”
14. Various shots, sheep drinking at the water well
15. SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) Bold, Herder:
“When I was a child, this valley had a flowing river and a lake.”
15. Aerial shot, water well
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jing Pacturan, Country Director, Mongolia, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
“One of the things we're going to do is to put up collection centres—where, in a certain locality, herders can bring their goods, and there will be a centre for aggregators.”
17. Wide shot, horses running
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Si King, Chef and Author:
“I've been struck by their willingness—given that these people have been herding livestock for thousands of years in this landscape—their willingness to learn, to relearn, to adapt, and to find new ways of making sure that their culture and their future are as secure as they can make it. Because that is to the benefit of us all as a global community. The diversity of people in our world is enormously important.”
19. Aerial shot, landscape.
British TV chef and author Si King, best known as one half of the Hairy Bikers, went to Mongolia to see how the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is working with the government to support herders to adapt to extreme temperatures at both ends of the scale.
While many parts of the world are dealing with increasing temperatures, herding families in Mongolia are struggling to cope with increasingly harsh winters, hot summers, and degraded pastureland.
In the vast sparse plains of central Mongolia, Badma and her husband Bold have raised three children, while caring for their animals—a task that grows more difficult every year as winters get colder. Last winter alone, Mongolia lost more than seven million animals to temperatures which plummeted to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Mongolia is one of the most sparsely populated countries on Earth, with just 3.5 million people spread across a landmass six times the size of the UK. Livestock outnumbers people by around 20 to 1, and about a third of the population are pastoral herders.
SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) Badma, Herder:
“In the past two years, Mongolia has experienced heavy snowfall, and some households lost a large number of livestock. Our losses were minimal, and we managed to get through the winter without significant casualties.”
Their survival was partly due to support from the Project for Market and Pasture Management Development, financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in partnership with the Government of Mongolia. The family received training in pasture management, animal breeding, and fodder preparation, crucial for surviving the long, harsh winters.
King visited the family as part of IFAD’s Recipes for Change series, which features well known chefs from around the world learning to cook local dishes while also learning about local contexts and challenges.
SOUNDBITE (English) Si King, Chef:
“So I've just found out that normally they don't release the livestock out of the stockade until the temperature comes up. Then they'll move them to greener parts of the pasture. So, they manage the pastureland as well—very skilled.”
Hot, dry summers are also forcing herders to travel further for grazing. The landscape has changed since Bold was a child.
SOUNDBITE (Mongolian) Bold, Herder:
“When I was a child, this valley had a flowing river and a lake.”
Now, IFAD-financed water wells have been built. Bold brings his livestock to one every day. For him and six other herding families, the well is a lifeline.
Herders also face challenges getting their products to market and accessing finance. Si King met with IFAD’s Country Director for Mongolia, Jing Pacturan to learn how the project is addressing these issues.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jing Pacturan, Country Director, Mongolia, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):
“One of the things we're going to do is to put up collection centres—where, in a certain locality, herders can bring their goods, and there will be a centre for aggregators.”
The project also provides access to microfinance and improved breeding, helping farmers raise healthier animals, reduce herd sizes, and cut methane emissions.
SOUNDBITE (English) Si King, Chef and Author:
“I've been struck by their willingness—given that these people have been herding livestock for thousands of years in this landscape—their willingness to learn, to relearn, to adapt, and to find new ways of making sure that their culture and their future are as secure as they can make it. Because that is to the benefit of us all as a global community. The diversity of people in our world is enormously important.”
Next week climate experts and leaders gather in Bonn, Germany for the UN Climate meetings to discuss the way forward on climate action and preparing for COP 30 taking place in Brazil in November.
This comes just two weeks after the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, which forecast that global average temperature could rise to almost 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels in the next five years for the first time.
Scientists expect a range of knock-on effects from such a climb to near the 2C mark, including a fall in crop yields and more than a third of the world’s population being exposed to extreme heat.
IFAD is an international financial institution, and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
