The Pasture Solutions project pilot-tests climate-resilient solutions to pasture degradation together with nomadic herder groups in Bayankhongor and Khuvsgul aimags of Mongolia (2025–2029).
Overview
The project is a USD 1.0 million technical assistance (TA) grant of the Asian Development Bank, attached to ADB’s sustainability-linked loan to Gobi JSC that supports sustainable cashmere procurement and production. While the loan strengthens the processing side of Mongolia’s cashmere value chain, the TA addresses the supply side: declining pasture productivity, declining fibre quality, and the rising vulnerability of herder households to climate shocks such as dzud.
The official project name is TA-10226 MON: Gobi JSC: Pilot-Testing Climate-Resilient Solutions to Pasture Degradation with Nomadic Herder Groups (57156-002) — known in everyday communication as the “Pasture Solutions” project (Mongolian: «Бэлчээрийн шийдэл»).
The project works in two aimags with contrasting geographic settings — Bayankhongor (desert-steppe) and Khuvsgul (forest-steppe) — in five target soums: Jinst and Bayan-Ovoo in Bayankhongor, and Alag-Erdene, Arbulag and Ikh-Uul in Khuvsgul. Its approach is iterative prototyping: candidate solutions are field-tested with herder groups, refined, and progressively narrowed down to those that prove technically feasible, economically sustainable and institutionally suitable. Pilots are anchored in existing herder community platforms — the Pasture User Group (PUG) network and the Jinst Savings and Credit Cooperative — and in newly forming Herder Household Associations where no platform yet exists.
Implementation
The TA is implemented by Ochir Consulting LLC (contracted by ADB), with the Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS) as research partner, BEAR – UC Berkeley providing economic advisory services, and the Khuvsgul Aimag Federation of Pasture User Groups (AFPUG) as local partner. The implementation period is 60 months from Notice to Proceed (2025–2029).
Project outputs
| Output | Description | Indicator |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasture-management solutions prototyped in Bayankhongor (desert-steppe) | ≥3 solutions with ≥3 herder groups; ≥1 recommended by 2029 |
| 2 | Pasture-management solutions prototyped in Khuvsgul (forest-steppe) | ≥3 solutions with ≥3 herder groups; ≥1 recommended by 2029 |
| 3 | Functional financial literacy and gender-equality training | ≥200 herders trained; ≥80 women; ≥40 youth |
| 4 | Pasture-management and ecology training | ≥200 herders trained; ≥80 women; ≥40 youth |
| 5 | High-resolution predictive climate model integrated with Outputs 1–4 | Operational climate model usable for winter-preparation decisions |
Outputs 1 and 2 are the core technical experiments of the TA, carried out through three pilot categories: institutional (A), pasture and ecology (B), and cashmere quality and herd economics (C). Outputs 3 and 4 are the principal capacity-building deliverables that broaden the TA’s reach beyond the pilot herder groups. Output 5 is the analytical product that, once operational, integrates into the pilot solutions.
Why this project
Mongolia’s cashmere value chain depends on more than 20 million goats grazed by nomadic herder households on pastures that show widespread signs of overgrazing and climate stress. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of dzud; springs arrive later and heat waves and droughts have intensified. The national herd grew from about 25 million head in 1990 to over 70 million in 2022, while the diversity of pasture plant species has sharply declined. Support structures for herders — winter fodder, water access, affordable veterinary services, functioning herder collectives — remain weak, and value is lost in the raw-material chain as cashmere is no longer sorted by quality. The project tackles these interlinked pressures at the herder-group level, where practical solutions can be tested, proven and scaled.
Partners
| Asian Development Bank | Financier |
| Gobi JSC | Partner organisation · Borrower |
| Ochir Consulting LLC | Implementing consultant |
| Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS) | Research partner |
| BEAR – UC Berkeley | Economic advisory services |
| Khuvsgul AFPUG | Local partner |