Mongolia : Capacity Building for Food Safety and Traceability

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural policy, institutional and capacity development

Technical Assistance will support Output 3 of the proposed project and include training, awareness raising, and preparation of technical guidelines and the establishment of a livestock management and animal health information systems at the local level.

Output 3: Livestock sector regulatory framework and capacity enhanced. The TA will support the government of Mongolia by:

(i)Establishing a pilot livestock management information system (LMIS) in the project aimags and soums and organizing workshops and meetings at the national- and aimag-levels to inform systems development and roll out use of the LMIS. The geographic information system (GIS) based system will include (a) quantitative, qualitative, and spatial information related to livestock production, pastureland use, pasture reserve land, water points, animal shelters, and herder communities; and (b) geographic data on the establishment and operation of herder groups and rangeland use agreements, other relevant herder communities, water points, pasture reserve areas, and livestock and fiber outputs. Initially data will be collected on a pilot basis for the project area. The system will be linked to data and information on rangeland monitoring and ecological recovery collected at 1,550 points of the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring through a line point method, and at 4,000 points of the Agency for Land Management and Administration, Geodesy and Cartography through a photo-monitoring methodology. The system will integrate data on livestock from the National Statistical Office. The system will enable analysis of an integrated pasture use management system and enable implementation of subprograms. The system will create pastureland use and cadastral maps by region, aimag and soum, determine the number and types of livestock that can be supported in the area in a sustainable manner and create a database to incorporate all of this information. The system will generate information that can be used to develop targets, to monitor progress and to report on livestock productivity and livestock carrying capacities consistent with sustainable systems and natural resource conservation. The system will provide information that can contribute to the estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and estimates of soil carbon capture.

(ii)Establishing a system of carcass quality, traceability, and feedback to suppliers, including animal identification systems and animal health compliance. It will enable suppliers and processors to comply with market requirements. The TA will support a series of stakeholder workshops and meetings at national- and aimag-levels to inform systems development, and to rollout use of the system. It will support consultants to (a) develop the carcass quality, traceability and feedback systems; (b) develop livestock identification systems; (c) to develop the animal health systems; and (d) conduct field study of currently operating supplier-processor linkages to inform the systems development process.

(iii)Strengthening the capacity of the General Authority of Veterinary Services (GAVS) in the traceability of livestock and livestock products through the establishment of the Mongolian Animal Health Information System (MAHIS) in the project area. The MAHIS will improve the quality of local veterinary services to meet with food safety standard. The MAHIS integrates several subsystems, which assures animal health, quality and hygiene products, and traceability. Establishment of the MAHIS also involves enrolment of processors. This activity supports the rollout and use of MAHIS in the project areas and support trainings and meetings to support the use of the system in the field.

In support of the sovereign loan, the proposed transaction technical assistance (TA) will provide capacity building to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MOFALI) particularly at the local level, including through training and awareness raising and technical guidelines. The TA will support the establishment of a functioning livestock management and animal health information systems, and food safety and traceability system along the value chain from herders to meat markets.

While the sovereign loan will finance investments in facilities and equipment to improve climate resilience of livestock, pasture, and water management, and improve livestock value chains, the TA will provide knowledge and enhance skills in the government of Mongolia. These activities cannot be performed under the sovereign loan because of its difficulty to monetize or structure on a cost recovery basis. This TA is listed in the current country operations business plan.