DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL - Key Persons

The rolling landscape is brown and brittle for as far as I can see. A ridgetop observation point allows the view to fold around me in all directions where valleys and ridge tops are capped in snow. The steppe is grazed short by the flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle and yak, and bands of horses. Livestock is scattered in all directions of the compass -- lots of livestock. Estimates range between 62 and 65 million animals, all competing for free forage. There is an alarming trend - there are fewer and fewer herders because some are giving up and heading to the city for employment and a change of life style. One herder told me he was considering selling his livestock and relocating to Ulaanbaatar to find work in construction. Another trend with fewer herders is that they now have larger herds resulting in no net loss of animals - in fact, livestock numbers continue to rise! Herder families rarely encroach on one another. Camps are located in areas of adequate safety from the weather, good drainage, good water, and room to roam. Animal Disease lingers in the form of Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD). There was an outbreak of FMD in the central part of the country in the spring of 2018. The Department of Food & Agriculture (DFA) is responsible for responding to the outbreak and reducing or eliminating the virus by imposing quarantines and selective culling. Our host was contacted by one herder who had all 40 of his cows destroyed by DFA because of the severity of the infection. While this is uncommon, it is a back breaker for the herder who has no insurance and whose government is unable to provide any compensation for destroyed animals - the same government agency that is under-budgeted and under-staffed for such largescale events. This herder could give up and go to the city to find work or he could rely on family and neighbors (if available) to provide a few animals so that he can start all over. The herders are also very familiar with the bacterial disease Brucellosis that is present in the herds and flocks. It infects mammals and causes miscarriages or sterility in animals and in humans. I spoke with a herders wife who was infected early in her married life and was able to birth one a child prior to infection but unable to become pregnant after infection. Cattle and other mammals are affected the same - they seem fine but will not produce offspring. There are no visible symptoms of infection. The herders now know that one way the disease is transmitted is in unpasteurized milk -- so they now typically boil all liquids.

Job Titles:

• Sustainable Public Health