The causes of this is that a lot of people move into the cities (urbanization) , mainly Ulaanbaatar, to search for new income. As there are barely enough jobs to those already living here this creates unemployment and alcohol abuse. People go into business as illegal mining and other move abroad in search for work. This kind of development will happened to fall under the category "unsustainable development" from my point of view.
What do I mean with that? I think sustainable development is more about believes, philosophy, religion and lifestyle more than anything else. It is not about sorting garbage or turning off lights, it is a certain way of thinking of other human beings, its connection and coexistence with nature and other living creatures on this planet.
In Mongolia`s case; there are many aspects of how the development can be more sustainable. I will mention a few: I think a more sustainable development would be to try to sustain the nomadic lifestyle as it starts to die out. In that sense I mean to develop the nomads as they want, and from their perspective. It is clear and not surprising that the nomads want to develop, and I am not against that. And; with development I DO NOT only think about monetary development, but also development of communities, skills, social interactions, technical tools and education. I think the state and the people should be better so build on what already exist in the culture and tradition. One of the things that really can be done; is to tool/educate the nomads in a way where they can develop their products further, instead of selling the sheep wool straight to the producer. In this chain the nomads "loose a lot of money" and they would first of all, learn to know different processes of generating products from their dairy- and animal products and advance the technology and knowledge on how they can proceed with their base products.
Another suggestion is that they cluster together and make a community with more Ger`s cooperating, this will make it easier for them to cooperate with the Soum (district) and maybe get small loans to start own business. By doing it this way, they do not need to send stuff to China for them to process it and send it back. In this way they have advanced their lifestyle, increased income and contributed for a more self-sustained resource base in Mongolia.
There are Mongolians saying that the nomadic lifestyle is "long-gone" and that I have to let go off the believe that we can sustain it. "We want to develop as you! We want to reach your level of welfare!" I understand that people think in this way. (And who am I to say that the Chinese cannot have one car each, we in Norway have that!) But then first of all, there has to be created JOBS to them before they let go off the nomadic lifestyle. There has to be another way out, apart from the street...
Secondly, based on the over-consumption, eating disorders, suicide rates, garbage, food waste, oil dependency, energy consumption and in general the unawareness of how our lifestyle harms or degrades others lives. And how hard it is to live a life today without getting "dirt on your hands". It is too hard to say: Well, as we in the "West" have lost the basis of what is the meaning of life, lost our believes, lost our values of taking care of others, of what creates a good community...of what makes others happy. We have turned too individualistic. And; you should develop as us, but after doing that - you will see that there is no easy going back.
Well, the other side says that; Norway is one of those countries that have the most artificial countryside. The norwegian state has put money in these rural areas longer than most other countries to sustain them, so they do not die out, as they cannot make this without support from the state. How can I then argue for keeping the nomadic culture, when our own country cannot base its agriculture without major input from the state (that Mongolia does not have)
Also, how can I say that we should keep the nomadic lifestyle, as contemporary Norway is so far away from the original lifestyle as compared to 100 year ago. In comparisons with Mongolians that are much closer to their original way of life.
Well, this is the heart of the dilemma. This is the thousand dollar question.
Obviously I can not answer this question and I do not have a clear answer to it, but I think it is most important to discuss it. Some of my suggestions are above for how to advance and sustain the nomadic culture. On the other hand, there are various initiatives on a nation-basis that can be done, and that I know they are working with at the moment. For example de-centralization (more power to the local provinces and districts), land management plans and capacity building. But with the rate of corruption, it is hard to see progress on what policies already made.
Just one example of the bad impact of globalization (as I also saw in India, with the debt of the farmers in Andra Pradesh), is that the nomads now get more and more goats. This is due to the increased global cashmere prize. So, the farmers get more goats and this leads to degradation of land, because the goats eat the seed/root of the plant (whereas the sheep only eats the top). This leads to that the plant to not regenerate and there will be less grass the next year. As each nomad has around 800 animals (increased: 20 years ago there was 20 million animals, now there are 44 million animals in Mongolia), and 30 percent of the country are nomads, increased industry/mining, AND there is only 1 % arable land due to high mountains in the west and desert in the south, it is not weird that the nomads have troubles finding good grazing areas for their livestock. On top of this, the desertification in the south is increasing and this causes more nomads to move from south to north and the fight for resources increases.
As the globalization invades and increase power every day, it is important to have leaders that fight for the people that most needs it. We have to have leaders that stand up for the poor and speak the weakest rights. Today, there are no leaders that really dear to take a stand, "to think outside the box" and to be radical in their believes. I hope and wish for leaders that can follow Gandhi`s example and can really make a change that will lead us to a healthier relationship with nature, end poverty and most important of all; "believe in the change within you"
