LocationsIn Mongolia, Herders Are Preparing Before Disaster Strikes
October 13, 2026
In Mongolia, Herders Are Preparing Before Disaster Strikes
The climate is changing, and so are Mongolia’s herders. For herder families, resilience no longer means rebuilding the same livestock system after every shock. It means changing how animals, pasture, water and income are managed before the next emergency.
When a severe hailstorm struck Sukhbaatar province in 2020, Bunchin lost around 300 goats. His family rebuilt, only to face further losses during the severe winter or dzud of 2023-2024, when the province lost 1.8 million livestock. For Bunchin, the repeated shocks exposed a difficult truth: recovering after each disaster was not enough.
His family now acts earlier. They move animals to better autumn pasture, rotate grazing areas, monitor conditions and prepare sheltered winter enclosures. They combine knowledge passed down through generations with climate information and new livestock management practices. Bunchin is also reconsidering the long-held emphasis on increasing herd size.
“A smaller herd of healthy, productive animals is better than a large herd that produces less,” he says.
For more herders to make this shift, they need practical support that helps them act before the next shock.
Herder Bunchin from Sukhbaatar province
Making earlier action possible
Making earlier action possible is at the heart of the Improving Adaptive Capacity and Risk Management of Rural Communities in Mongolia project, known as ADAPT, led by the Government of Mongolia with financing from the Green Climate Fund and support from UNDP. Across four climate-vulnerable provinces, the project brings together climate information and practical investments in water, pasture, fodder systems and livestock value chains.
In Sukhbaatar, UNDP is working with provincial and local authorities and herder communities to put this approach into practice. Support focuses on securing water, restoring degraded pasture, improving preparedness for severe winters and expanding livelihood opportunities.
Grazing land in Sukhbaatar province
Protecting the resources herders depend on
Declining precipitation and more frequent droughts are drying up springs and rivers in Sukhbaatar, making safe drinking water and reliable supplies for livestock harder to secure. The result is greater pressure on families, herds and the remaining natural water sources. In Bunchin’s village, fencing protects a spring from trampling and blockages, giving the water source time to recover. This simple measure helps secure water for herders and their livestock. It is one of 22 springs protected across the province. Together with well systems, they serve nearly 1,000 herder families.
“Protecting this spring means protecting water for our children and future generations,” Bunchin says.
Water security is being paired with pasture recovery. In Sukhbaatar, the project has restored 22 hectares of degraded land around springs and fenced and protected a further 200 hectares of grazing land to support hay production and fodder reserves. These measures help restore degraded landscapes and safeguard resources resources that herder families depend on, particularly during winter. By reducing grazing pressure, the protected areas are given the opportunity to recover rather than becoming yet another resource lost to repeated climate shocks.
Creating new livelihood opportunities
Building resilience also means ensuring that adaptation makes economic sense for herder families. Bunchin is a member of the Bat Bekh Nairamdal Cooperative. Following project-supported training, the cooperative established a livestock slaughter and meat-processing facility in 2025. A year later, it prepared around 30 tonnes of lamb for export to Algeria, sourcing livestock from 68 members and herders across six neighbouring villages.
This emerging market allows herders to sell spring-born lambs between September and November instead of carrying them through another winter and grazing season. This brings income earlier and reduces demand for scarce fodder and pasture when risks are highest.
UNDP also provided cold-storage equipment to strengthen the cooperative’s capacity to safely store and supply food products. The equipment is already being used to support food storage and school meal supplies in three neighbouring villages, while helping the cooperative build the capacity needed to reach larger markets.
Processing, storage and market access make Bunchin’s preference for fewer, more productive animals an economically realistic choice.
Bunchin and cooperative members during a training
Building resilience before disaster strikes
The experience in Sukhbaatar shows that resilience is built through connected solutions that protect the natural resources herders depend on while opening new economic opportunities.
By bringing together water, pasture, winter preparedness and market access, this work is helping communities move from repeated recovery towards lasting resilience.
For Bunchin, the difference is simple but significant: his family is no longer waiting for the next disaster to shape their future. They are preparing for it now.
