wolts project mongolia bornuur soum report...

WOLTSProjectMongolia

BornuurSoumReport

June2017

Daley,E.,Lanz,K.,Narangerel,Y.,Lkhamdulam,N.,Driscoll,Z.,Suvd,B.,Munkhtuvshin,B.,Grabham,J.andErdenebat,R.

TheWOLTSProjectMongolia–BornuurSoumReport,June2017,isavailableonlineat:www.mokoro.co.uk/wolts.

Text©WOLTSTeam.Allphotocredits©WOLTSTeam

WOLTS Project Mongolia – Bornuur Soum Report, June 2017 – English Version E. Daley, K. Lanz, Y. Narangerel, N. Lkhamdulam, Z. Driscoll, B. Suvd, B. Munkhtuvshin, J. Grabham and R. Erdenebat

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WOLTSProjectMongoliaBornuurSoumReport

June2017Introduction–theWOLTSresearchandmethodology......................................................................................1Locationandpopulation....................................................................................................................................1

Bornuur’sfourbaghs........................................................................................................................................................3Recenthistoryofeconomicandpopulationchange..........................................................................................3

Transitionfromsocialism.................................................................................................................................................4Livelihoodsandgenderrelations.......................................................................................................................5

Marriageandfamilysituation..........................................................................................................................................5Education.........................................................................................................................................................................7Relativewealthandpoverty............................................................................................................................................7

Housing..............................................................................................................................................................................................7Possessions.........................................................................................................................................................................................8Electricity,waterandsanitation........................................................................................................................................................9Transportation...................................................................................................................................................................................9

Mainlivelihoods.............................................................................................................................................................10Herding.............................................................................................................................................................................................13Cropfarming....................................................................................................................................................................................15

Genderrelations............................................................................................................................................................17Miningcompaniesandartisanalmining..........................................................................................................18

Effectsofmining............................................................................................................................................................19Legalisationofartisanalminers.....................................................................................................................................20Backtoillegality.............................................................................................................................................................21

Landscarcity,landconcentrationandenvironmentaldegradation................................................................21Degradationofpasturelandandwatersources.............................................................................................................22Forests............................................................................................................................................................................23

Landallocationprocesses................................................................................................................................24Housingplots..................................................................................................................................................................26Vegetableandfodderplots............................................................................................................................................28Landdisputes.................................................................................................................................................................29

Pasturelandmanagement................................................................................................................................30Accesstowinterandsummercampsandgrazingareas................................................................................................31Haymakingareas............................................................................................................................................................33Difficultiesfacedbyfemale-headedherderhouseholds...............................................................................................34

Conclusions......................................................................................................................................................34


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AcronymsBI BiographicInterviewFGD FocusGroupDiscussionFUG ForestUserGroupMNT MongolianTugrikMRAMPCCSDC

MineralResourcesAuthorityofMongoliaPeopleCenteredConservationSwissDevelopmentAgency

USDWOLTS

UnitedStatesDollarWomen’sLandTenureSecurityProject


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Introduction–theWOLTSresearchandmethodologyMokoro’s practical and action-oriented long-term strategic research project, the Women’s LandTenure Security Project (WOLTS), is piloting its methodology through a ‘Study on the threats towomen’s land tenure security inMongoliaandTanzania’.Working togetherwithPeopleCenteredConservation (PCC) in Mongolia, we have been investigating the state of women’s land tenuresecurityinpastoralareasaffectedbymininginvestments,throughbothparticipatoryqualitativeandquantitative research to identify the main threats to the land rights of women and vulnerablegroups. The WOLTS project’s aim is to assess possible means to improve gender equity in landtenure governance and secure the land rights of vulnerable people from internal threats withincommunities,aswellas to supportcommunitiesasawhole towithstandexternal threats to theirlandandnaturalresources.(SeeourwebsiteformoreaboutWOLTS:www.mokoro.co.uk/wolts)

This SoumReport sharesour findings fromour research inBornuurbetweenApril andNovember2016,includinginitialfieldvisits,abaselinesurveyandaparticipatoryfieldworkphase.

OurbaselinesurveywasconductedinAugust2016with10%ofhouseholdsinallbaghsofBornuur.It included142households,ofwhom111wererandomlysampledand31wereadditional female-headedhouseholds.Thus78%ofthetotalsurveysamplewasrandomlysampled(including82male-and 29 female-headed households) while 22% comprised deliberately targeted female-headedhouseholds.Thiswasdonetoboostthetotalnumberoffemale-headedhouseholdssurveyedsoasto help uncover critical gender issues for vulnerable groups. Data from the 31 additional female-headedhouseholds haveonly been included in comparative analysis ofmale- and female-headedhouseholds,andnotinallthegeneralbaselineanalysis.

Our participatory fieldwork phase took place in November 2016 and included 14 focus groupdiscussions(FGDs)and11individualbiographicinterviews(BIs),involvingover102people.Differenttypes of social groups and individuals were specifically sought out for these discussions andinterviews, soas to reflectdifferentcharacteristicsand issues thatweconsideredworthexploringfurther after analysing our baseline results (e.g.widows,miners,marriedmen andwomen, etc.).FGDs were structured around standard participatory exercises (including natural resource andmigrationmapping,seasonallabouranalysis,andstakeholderanalysisandinstitutionmapping).BIsfollowedstructuredquestionguidesthatweretailoredtothecircumstancesoftheindividualbeinginterviewedinordertohelpuslearnaboutpeople’slivesandlivelihoodsandthewaybothgenderrelations and access to different resources have changed since their childhoods. All FGDs and BIsincludedfree-rangingdiscussionstoo.

Our research also included interviews with different local government officials as well as withrepresentativesofsomeoftheminingcompaniesandorganisationsworkinginBornuur.

WearedeeplygratefulfortheengagementandhospitalityofallthepeopleofBornuurduringourresearch so far.Weparticularlyacknowledgeand thankall thosewhomwehave interviewedandshared discussionswith – for theirwillingness to participate and their invaluable contributions tohelpinguslearnaboutgender,land,pastoralismandmininginBornuurtoday.

TheWOLTSMongoliaTeamincludesDaley,E.,Lanz,K.,Narangerel,Y.,Lkhamdulam,N.,Driscoll,Z.,Suvd,B.,Munkhtuvshin,B.,Grabham,J.andErdenebat,R.ThisSoumReportistheresultofallourcombinedefforts.

LocationandpopulationBornuursoumislocatedinTuvaimag,115kmnorth-northwestofUlaanbaatar.Itstotallandareais114,687ha,ofwhichapproximately36,000haisforested,68,000haispastureland,and8,100haiscropland.Asat3March2015,18mininglicenceshadbeengrantedinthesoum–sixforproductionand12forexploration.Bornuur’smainmineralresource isgold.Bornuursoumismadeupoffour


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baghs, twoof themmoreurbanised,UguumurandMandal,andtwomorerural,BichigtandNart,wheremostherderslive.

Thetotalpopulationofthesoumasat4August2016was5,059people,livingin1,404households.The distribution of households across Bornuur’s four baghs is given in Table 1 below. Averagepopulationdensityforthesoumasawholewas0.04peopleperha.Geographicallythefourbaghsdifferinsize,butitwasnotpossibletocalculatetheirindividualpopulationdensitiesduetolackofdataonthebaghareas.

Table1. Numberofhouseholdsineachbagh,Bornuur

Bagh NumberofhouseholdsNart 293Uguumur 438Bichigt 359Mandal 314TotalinBornuur 1,404Source:OfficialdatafromBornuurSoumGovernment,asat4August2016.

Themostfrequentnumberofhouseholdsperkhotailamongthoseinterviewedduringourbaselinesurvey was one (in the case of 70 out of 111 randomly sampled households), but Nart had onehousehold which was in a khot ail of 12 households and another which was in a khot ail of 13households.

Atotalof60female-headedhouseholdswereincludedinourbaselinesurvey,ofwhich29fellwithinthe111randomlysampledhouseholds,equivalent to26%of therandomsample.Extrapolatingtothesoumasawholesuggeststhatsome365householdsinBornuurwerefemale-headedatthetimeofoursurvey.

TheaveragesizeoftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinBornuurwas3.96people.Theaveragesizeof all 60 female-headedhouseholdswas 3.93; the average sizeof all 82male-headedhouseholdswas4.28.

There were a total of 440 people (221 females and 219 males) living in the randomly sampledhouseholds,withtheiragebreakdownassummarisedinTable2.

Table2. Agedistributionofpeoplelivingin111randomlysampledBornuurhouseholds

Age(inyears) Numberofpeople Percentageoftotalpeopleineachagegroup5orunder 46 10%6to12 59 13%13to18 60 14%19-24 39 9%25-34 62 14%35-44 59 13%45-54 61 14%55-64 30 7%65-74 15 3%75andover 9 2%Total 440 100%Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=440.

ThedatainTable2suggestbyextrapolationthat37%ofBornuur’spopulationwerechildren(aged18orunder),5%ofthepopulationwereelderly(aged65orolder),and57%ofthepopulationwereworkingageadults(aged19to64).TheyouthfulnessofBornuur’spopulationisunderscoredbythenumberofyoungeradults(aged19-24and25-34),whomadeup40%oftheworkingagepopulationin our randomly sampled households, and by the fact that in total some 60% of people in thesehouseholdswereaged35orunder.


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ThepopulationofBornuurislargelyKhalkh–theethnicgroupof89%(99)oftheheadsofrandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurvey–andBuddhismisthepredominantreligion–attributedto68%(75)oftheheadsofrandomlysampledhouseholds.Twenty-sixpercent(29)oftheheadsofrandomlysampledhouseholdswerereportedtohavenoreligion;theremainderwerereportedtobeeitherChristianorShamanist.Otherethnicgroups found in the soum includedBayad,Durvud,Khotgoid,KhotonandUriankhai.

Bornuur’sfourbaghs

Bornuur soum centre lies in Uguumur bagh, where the government offices, public hospital,secondary school and kindergarten are all located. All settlements in Uguumur are permanenthousesonplotsheldundereitherpossessionorownershiprights.Membersofmanyherderfamilieswithchildrenspendthewholeschoolyear inUguumur,movingtoNartbagh just forthesummer.NartisthemostruralareainBornuur,wherethemajorityofpeoplearetraditionalherders.Mostofitslandisdividedintopasturelandandhaymakingareas,butthemaintouristcampsarealsolocatedin Nart, in a Tuv aimag Local Protected Area which is protected forest in the western part ofBornuur.

WhilemostofBichigtbaghusedtobepastureland,nowadaysmostofitslandisheldunderwintercamppossessionrightsorusedforcropfarmingandhaymaking.MostherdersfromBichigtmovetoNartforgrazinginthesummerandsomehavebecomesemi-intensiveorintensivelivestockorcropfarmers.Golddeposits are also found inBichigt; theonlymines tohaveeverbeenoperational inBornuurarebothlocatedinitsforestedarea.MuchofBichigt’sremainingforest,whichalsoservesas pastureland, has been allocated to threeof Bornuur’s 10 registered forest user groups (FUGs),whohavepartly fenced it and thus excludedherders; six FUGshave alsobeenallocated forest inNart,andoneinMandal.

Mandalisthemostrecentlyestablishedbaghandmainlycivilservantsandteachersworkinginthesoum centre (Uguumur) live there. The soum centrewas established in the 1980s, but up to the1990s almost nobody lived inMandal. There is a riverwith a bridge that dividesnorth and southMandal. Inthenorthernparttherearetwogerdistricts.Allofthegersarepermanentlythereandsituatedinfencedhousingplots(khashaas)heldunderownershiprights.ThehouseholdsinMandalgenerally practice semi-intensive livestock production, keeping their livestock within their fencedplotandmovingthemtopastureinthesummerinthesouthernpartofthebagh.

Therewasalsoanewplannedresidentialareaclosetothemainroadatthetimeofourfieldworkin2016,butitlackedinfrastructure,makingpeoplereluctanttomovethere.

RecenthistoryofeconomicandpopulationchangeWhat is now Bornuur was first established as a soum in 1923 (within the former Tuhseet Khanaimag)and,afterseveralnamechanges,itbecame‘Bornuur’in1959.Insocialisttimestherewasapotato andmilk collective farm inBornuur (inUguumur) and the soumwas famous for supplyingpotatoes nationally. According to information from the soum government, milk and vegetableproduction was supported by government policy from 1955, due to favourable soil and climateconditions, and from 1962 theMongolian government specifically supported the development ofmoderndairy farming, irrigationsystemsandagricultural technology toprovidemilkandpotatoesforUlaanbaatar; Bornuur received several awards for itsmilk and vegetableproductionquality insocialisttimes.AccordingtoparticipantsinourFGDsandBIs,cropfarmingreallybenefitedfromthegoodirrigationsystemandlivestockfarmingwascarriedoutusingequipmentfromGermany.Manypeoplealsomentionedthe800-cowand400-cowfarmsareainBichigt;thefarmswerecompletelymechanisedandhadafodder-processingunitattached.AnEastGermangoldminingcompanyalsooperated in Bornuur, in Bichigt, from approximately 1979 to 1990, but it seemed that nobodyengagedinartisanalminingundersocialism.


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Inthosedays,manyherdersandlivestockspecialistsfromothersoumsweresenttoBornuurbytheMongolianstateto lookafterstate-ownedlivestock;someoutsidersalsoappliedtobetransferredto Bornuur to engage in herding. All land belonged to the state; there were no fences, and themajorityofproducefromherdingandfarminghadtobegiventothestateauthorities.Thenegdel(collective)raneverything,andhouseholdsonlypossessedafewlivestocktosupporttheirindividualneeds.Land for settingupcampswasallocatedorapprovedandmovementwas regulatedby thesoumgovernor,whowoulddecidewhere andwhenevery herder householdwent; vehicleswereprovidedby thenegdel tohelp themmove.Onceherdersmovedaway fromanarea, cropswereplantedthere,soconflictsbetweenthetwolanduseswereminimised.

ManyparticipantsinourFGDsandBIslookedbackonthesocialistdaysnostalgically,asatimewhentheyperceivedthateverybodyworkedhardandtherewasnounemployment.Variouspeoplealsomentionedthatnatureusedtobemorebeautifulinthosedays,withgoodqualitypastureandmanyriversandspringsflowingthroughthesoum.

Transitionfromsocialism

AfterMongolia’stransitiontodemocracyintheearly1990s,privatisationtookplaceverysuddenly.The state-owned assets of the negdel crop farm and two cow farms were allocated to differentnegdelworkersasprivateindividuals;farmemployeeswhohadbeenherdingcowsweregiventhosecows,truckdriversweregiventhetruckstheyhadused,machinerywenttoaccountants,engineersand so on. People were left free to work together or separately, but no management meantbankruptcyandproductioncollapsedasequipmentthatwasconsideredbyparticipantsinourFGDsandBIstohavebeenworkingwellundersocialismwasrundownafterprivatisation.ItseemedthatanumberofwealthyoutsidersfromUlaanbaatarmanagedtoobtainlargetractsoflandinBornuuratthistimetoo.

OrdinarypeopleinBornuurwerehithardbythechangingconditions.Asmanypeoplelosttheirjobsandaspricesincreased,theywereleftstrugglingeventopurchasethebasicprovisionsforlife.Inthepoverty of the 1990s, while many Bornuur citizens who lost their jobs and did not own muchlivestockmovedtoUlaanbaatartotrytofindemployment,peoplefromBayankhongorintheGobiDesertand fromMongolia’swesternaimags started tomove toBornuur toengage inminingandherding, including those seeking to benefit from the good pastures and closeness to the hugemarketformeatandmilkinUlaanbaatar.

To cope with the new situation, many unemployed Bornuur citizens who remained in the soumstartedtoengagein(illegal)artisanalminingintheformerEastGermanmine,afterthecompanyleftBornuur in1992.While itwasmainlymenwhoblastedbigholes intherocksandwentdown intothemtoextracttheore–ahighlydangerousundertaking–womenalsotookpartinwashingtheoreandcookingfortheminers,andsomewomenwentundergroundwiththemen.

ThehighamountsofgoldextractedattractedpeoplefromothersoumstoBornuurtotrytheirluck.Participants in our FGDs and BIs remembered this as a time when there was a lot of fighting,prostitutionandviolence,whichaffectedthewholesoum.Somepeoplealsolosttheirlivesasminesphysically collapsed. The use of mercury and cyanide and the washing of gold in the mountainstreamspollutedBornuur’srivers;thisandminingitselfhadimportanthealthconsequences,whichwerefeltlateronwhenmanyminersstartedtogetlungdiseases.

However, due to themining boom, the local economy in Bornuur developed rapidly and severalsupermarkets were opened in the soum centre. In part, the local economy did so well becauseartisanalminersinBornuurstayedinthesoumanddidnotgoawaytomineinothersoums.Morerecently,wealthypeoplefromthecapitalhavealsobeenattractedtoBornuurtoengageinintensivelivestockfarming,commercialcropfarming(fodderplantations)andtourism–orsimplytoescapeUlaanbaatar’sairpollutionontheirretirement.


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Due to its accessible location– itsproximity toUlaanbaatar, andwith themainpaved roadnorthpassingrightthroughthesoum–aswellasthehistoricalavailabilityofgoodpasture,croplandandhighgolddeposits,Bornuurhas thereforeexperiencedcontinuinghigh levelsof immigrationsincethetransitiontodemocracy.Whileundersocialismpeoplecouldnotmovefreely,asallmovementwascontrolledbythestate,thelaterwavesofimmigrationalsoincludedpeoplevoluntarilymovingto Bornuur in response to difficult living conditions in their home areas, especially fromwesternaimags during major zuds. This has all contributed to increased land scarcity and land-relateddisputesinBornuur.

The high level of immigration of people from different soums during socialist times and since isillustrated by the evidence in Figure 1 below, which shows that less than half of all heads ofrandomly sampled households in our baseline survey were born in Bornuur. Reasons given formovingtoBornuurasanadultincludedmovingwiththeirfamily,gettingmarried,orbeingassignedbythegovernmentforwork(inthesocialisttimes–forexampleteaching,farming,atthehospitalorwiththearmy).ThehighestproportionofhouseholdswhoseheadshadmovedtoBornuurasadultswas inNart, themost rural (herding)bagh,where72% (18)of randomly sampledhouseholdshadheads that had moved to Bornuur as adults. In contrast, 46% (7) and 52% (14) of the heads ofrandomly sampled households in the more urbanised baghs, Mandal and Uguumur respectively,wereborninBornuur.

Figure1. AgeofhouseholdheadwhentheymovedtoBornuur

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=111.

Livelihoodsandgenderrelations

Marriageandfamilysituation

Ourbaselinesurveysuggests that themajorityofadults inBornuurwere legallymarried,but thattherewerealsohighnumbersoffemale-headedhouseholds.Asnotedabove,26%oftherandomlysampled households in our survey were female-headed (29 of 111); 74% (82) of the randomlysampledhouseholdsweremale-headed.AsFigure2belowalsosuggests,therewereahighnumberof widowed female-headed households in Bornuur – 67% of all 60 female-headed householdsincludedinourbaselinesurvey.Eighteenpercent(20of111)ofallrandomlysampledhouseholdswereheadedbywidows–almostonefifthofthetotal.


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Figure2. Marriagestatusoffemale-(left)andmale-(right)headedhouseholds,Bornuur

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Femalechartincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomly

sampled.N=60forfemale-headedhouseholds.N=82formale-headedhouseholds.

Eightpercentofheadsofall60female-headedhouseholdsweresingleandnevermarried,aswere5% of heads of all 82 male-headed households. Divorce rates appeared to be quite low, as wasconfirmed also by our participatory fieldwork, with just 4% (4) of the 111 randomly sampledhouseholdsreportedtohavedivorcedhouseholdheads;threeoutoffourofthesehouseholdswerefemale-headed.Therewasonehouseholdamongalloursurveyedhouseholdsheadedbya legallymarriedfemale;thus98%ofallsurveyedhouseholdsledbyalegallymarriedhouseholdheadweremale-headed (63 out of 64). Among the nine household heads from the randomly sampledhouseholdswhowere living togetherwithapartnerbutnotmarried (ofwhomsixweremaleandthreewere female), seven lived in the soum centre,Uguumur,whichwas also the baghwith thehighest proportion of household heads claiming to be non-religious; a further 4% of all 82 malehousehold heads were reported to be married but only customarily or informally. No divorced,separated, single (nevermarried)or cohabitinghouseholdheadswere reported inNart, themostruralandtraditionalherdingbagh.

Fourteenpercent(15)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyreportedhavingat least one disabled member. Nine per cent of all male-headed households reported having adisabledmember,comparedto27%ofallfemale-headedhouseholds.

Atthetimeofoursurvey,15%ofrandomlysampledhouseholds(17of111)hadatleastoneotherperson living in the house with them who was not part of their household; these were largelygrandchildrenwhowere visiting their grandparents for the summer holidays.On the other hand,fromamong the440membersof the randomlysampledhouseholds,only85% (372people)werereportedtoliveatthehousehold’smainresidenceforthemajorityoftheirtime.Forty-ninepeople(11%)werereportedtooftenliveelsewhere(temporarilyfortheyear),andafurther12people(3%)werereportedtousually liveelsewhereinthemediumtolongerterm.These61peoplewhowerenot livingpermanently in theirhousehold’smain residenceweredistributedacross37households(33%ofall randomlysampledhouseholds).They includedschoolchildrenandstudents,aswellasparents (usuallymothers) staying in soumoraimagcentreswhile their childrenwereat school.Ahandfulofotherpeoplewerereportedtobeawayelsewhereforwork;nonewerehouseholdheads.

Furthermore, only one seven-member female-headed household among the randomly sampledhouseholds reported to sometimes live elsewhere (for the season), suggesting a very low level ofseasonal movement with livestock; a further female-headed household from those additionallysurveyedalso reportedmovingwith livestock indifferent seasons.Ourbaseline survey tookplaceduringthesummer,whensomefamilieswereawaywiththeirlivestockandthereforecouldnotbesurveyed, but participants in our FGDs and BIs in the winter confirmed that traditional nomadicpatterns of seasonalmovement for grazing livestock aremuch reduced and relatively uncommon


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amonghouseholds inBornuurtoday.Whereas insocialisttimes(andbefore)manyherdersmovedasfamiliesbetweenfourseasonalcamps,themainmovementsofherderswerenowadaysbetweensummerandwintercampswithinBornuur;somepeoplehavebecomesemi-intensiveandintensivelivestockfarmersandmanypeoplealsoreportedgivingtheirlivestocktorelativestopasture,ratherthanmovingwiththemthemselves,aswediscussfurtherbelow.

Education

As illustrated in Figure 3 below, only 6% (7) of all randomly sampled households in our baselinesurveyinBornuurdidnothaveatleastonefemaleadultmemberwhoseeducationhadprogressedtosecondaryschoolorbeyond,and50%(56)ofallrandomlysampledhouseholdshadatleastonefemaleadultmemberwhohadprogressedtosomeformoftertiaryeducation(vocationaltrainingoruniversity).Incontrast,13%(14)ofallrandomlysampledhouseholdsdidnothaveatleastoneadultmale member who had progressed to secondary school or beyond, while only 35% (39) of therandomly sampledhouseholdshadat leastoneadultmalememberwhohadprogressed to someformoftertiaryeducation.

Figure3. Highesteducationlevelofadultfemales(left)andadultmales(right)inBornuurhouseholds

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=111.N/A=noadultsofthatgenderinthehousehold.

Therewere generallymore adultswith lower education levels in the rural baghs of Bornuur, andmoreadultswithhighereducationlevelsinthemoreurbanisedbaghs.AsFigure3shows,forfemaleadultmembersacrossallrandomlysampledhouseholds,thetopthreemostcommonresponsesforhighest level of education were ‘high school completion’ (26%), ‘post-school vocational traininggraduate’ (23%), and ‘undergraduate education completed’ (19%). For male adult householdmembersthetopthreewere ‘highschoolcompletion’ (22%), ‘secondaryschoolcompletion’ (16%)and‘undergraduateeducationcompletion’(15%).Takentogether,some42%ofrandomlysampledhouseholds in our survey contained at least one adult female who was either a ‘post-schoolvocationaltraininggraduate’orhadcompletedundergraduateeducation,comparedwithonly29%of households where adult males had reached the same educational level. This all shows clearevidenceofgenderdisparitiesineducation,inlinewithnationaldata.

Relativewealthandpoverty

Housing

Thirty-fourpercent(38)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinBornuurhadager,33%(37)hadahouse,and30%(33)hadboth.Threehouseholdshadnone,andweresharingaplacetolive.Ofthehouseholdsthathadager,theaveragenumberwas1.2;onehouseholdinUguumurhadfour.Themostcommonnumberofwalls forour randomlysampledhouseholds’primarygerswasfive,with


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61%ofprimarygers(43of71)havingfivewalls;onewealthyhouseholdinNarthadagerwitheightwalls.

Figure 4 and Figure 5 illustrate our data on housing type andmaterials, where we recorded thehighest-order (i.e. most expensive) wall and roof materials of each surveyed household’s mainresidence.

Figure4. Percentageoffemale-andmale-headedhouseholdswithdifferentwallmaterials,Bornuur

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Chartincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.

N=60forfemale-headedhouseholds.N=82formale-headedhouseholds.

Figure5. Percentageoffemale-andmale-headedhouseholdswithdifferentroofmaterials,Bornuur



Whilegerswere constructedoutof timberand felt, timberalonewas themost commonbuildingmaterial forhouses inBornuur.Asthesetwofiguresshow, ‘timber’and‘timberandfelt’werethemost common highest-order housing materials in both female- and male-headed households.Overall,50%(56)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyreported‘timber’and34% (38) reported ‘timberand felt’ as thehighestorderwall constructionmaterialof theirhouseand/orger. Female-headedhouseholdswere slightlymore likely thanmale-headedhouseholds tohavewallsmadefrom‘burntbricks’or‘concreteblocks’.Conversely, ‘timber’and‘timberandfelt’roofs weremore prevalent amongmale-headed than female-headed households, with the lattermore likely to have roofs of ‘metal’, ‘tiles’ or ‘lead or slate’. This all suggests that female-headedhouseholds were slightly more likely to have a house than a ger as their main residence, whichwould be in line with the lesser involvement of female-headed households in herding that wediscussfurtherbelow.

Possessions

ThevastmajorityofoursurveyedhouseholdsinBornuurhadtelevisions,refrigeratorsandwashingmachines,and100%ofthemhadmobiletelephones.Thiswasparticularlyhelpfulforherders,whocould then access weather forecasts and prepare themselves accordingly. However, with theexceptionofsilvercups,therewaslittledifferencebetweenthepossessionsoffemale-headedandmale-headed households. As Figure 6 below illustrates, a higher proportion of male-headed


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householdsreportedhavingsilvercupsthanfemale-headedhouseholds.Sincesilvercupsaremainlyheldbyherdersasa traditionalstoreofwealth, thissuggestseither lesser involvementof female-headed households in herding and/or relative poverty of female-headed herder householdscomparedtomale-headedherderhouseholds.

Figure6. Percentageoffemale-andmale-headedhouseholdswithdifferentpossessions,Bornuur



Electricity,waterandsanitation

Ninety-ninepercent (110)of therandomlysampledhouseholds inourbaselinesurvey inBornuurhad electricity; the sole household without it wasmale-headed. The vast majority had access tomainselectricity,including97%(32)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinUguumur,96%(26)ofthoseinMandal,and81%(22)ofthoseinBichigt,whilemanyoftheremainderreliedonportablesolar panels. In Nart, only 56% (14) of the randomly sampled households had access to mainselectricity,but40%(10)reliedonportablesolarpanels.

There was little difference between male- and female-headed households in terms of access towater. Throughout the year in Bornuur, themainwater source of 49% (29) of all female-headedhouseholdsinoursurveywasanopendeepwellnearby(paid-foraccess).Insummer,49%(40)ofallmale-headedhouseholdsalsousedthissourceofwater,risingto50%(41)inspringand52%(43)inwinter. The second most common source of water in Bornuur was an open deep well nearby(communal or shared access), used by 17% (14) of all male-headed and 25% (15) of all female-headed households across all seasons. Water kiosks and traders were only used by three male-headedhouseholdsinUguumur,MandalandNart,inspringandsummeronly.Fourfemale-headedand 11male-headed households reported having privatewells on their khashaas, both deep andshallow,andthesehouseholdsusedtheirwellsacrossallseasons.Riverwaterwasonlyusedby4%(4)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinwinter,6%(7)inspringand9%(10)insummer–morebymale-headedthanbyfemale-headedhouseholdsandmainlybyhouseholdslivinginNart.

Concerning sanitation, 78% of the randomly sampled households in our baseline survey had anexternaltoiletwithoutaflushtank(along-drop).Internaltoiletswereveryuncommon,reportedbyjustone female-headedhousehold.Only5%ofall 60 female-headedhouseholdsand4%ofall 82male-headedhouseholdsdidnothaveatoiletatall,andno-oneinMandal,thenewestsettlementarea,didnothaveatoilet.However,female-headedhouseholdswereslightlymorelikelytorelyonpublictoiletsthanmale-headedones–8%ofallfemale-headedhouseholdsdidso,comparedto4%ofallmale-headedhouseholds.

Transportation

HandcartswerethemostcommonformoftransportinBornuur,usedby59%(65)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyforseasonalmovesandfortakingvegetablesanddairyproduce tomarket,and four-wheel-drivecarswere the leastcommon,usedbyonly5%(6)of the


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randomly sampled households. Surveyed households in Uguumur, the soum centre, reported alowerincidenceofallthemechanisedmodesoftransport.

Across all modes of transport – lorries, tractors, four-wheel-drive cars, two-wheel-drive cars,motorcycles, bicycles, hand carts, horses and trailers – more male-headed households reportedhaving them than female-headed households, as Figure 7 below,where respondents reported allmodesoftransportthattheyhadaccessto,shows.Forexample,35%ofallmale-headedhouseholdsreported having a two-wheel-drive car, whereas only 12% of all female-headed households did.Given the importance of access to transport in herding communities, this apparent inequalitybetween male- and female-headed households points to the relative poverty of female-headedhouseholds,aswellastotherelativedifficultiesfemale-headedherderhouseholdsface.

Figure7. Percentageoffemale-andmale-headedhouseholdswithdifferentmodesoftransport,Bornuur



Overall, our WOLTS baseline survey data on housing type and materials, ownership of certainpossessions, and access to electricity, water, sanitation and transportation provided someindications of relatively higher poverty rates among female-headed households in Bornuur, andsuggestions of potential areas of vulnerability, particularly for female-headed herder households.This was supported by the findings from our participatory fieldwork phase, which revealed thedangersofslippingintopoverty,particularlyforwidowedwomenwithyoungchildren,aswediscussfurtherbelow.

Mainlivelihoods

Due to rapid urbanisation in the soum centre, land privatisation and perceived degradation ofpastureland, some people in Bornuur had given up traditional nomadic herding and becomeintensiveorsemi-intensivelivestockfarmers,andsometimesalsocropfarmers,cultivatingmedium-sizedfodderplantationsaswellasvegetableplots.Unliketheintensive(modern)livestockfarmers,whokepttheiranimalswithintheconfinesoftheirkhashaasmostofthetimeandthereforereliedtotallyonfodder, traditionalherdersstill reliedmainlyonpasture insummerandhay inwintertofeedtheiranimals.Whilefodderwasplantedonplotsheldunderpossessionoruserights,haywasmadeintheautumnfromthenaturalvegetationoccurringoncommonpastureland.However,thereseemed tobea lackofgoodqualitypastureland inBornuur,andofhaymakingareas,whichwereincreasingly being fenced off, leading to numerous disputes over these valuable resources, aswediscussfurtherbelow.Meanwhile,itemergedinourFGDsandBIsthatmanyyoungpeoplewerenotinterestedinherdinganymore,butlittleemploymentwasavailablefortheminBornuur;somehavemoved toUlaanbaatar in thehopeof findingwork, others haveengaged in (illegal) artisanal goldmininginthesoum.

OnbalancethereseemedtobequitehighlevelsoflivelihooddiversificationinBornuur,withmanyhouseholdsengaginginbothherdingandcropfarmingand/orhavingahouseholdmemberinformalemployment.Inourbaselinesurvey,56%(62)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsmentionedthat


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theirhouseholdincluded‘herdersherdingownlivestock’and18%(20households)included‘peoplewithformalemployment’.Sixty-threepercentofallmale-headedhouseholdsinourbaselinesurvey(52 of 82) included herders herding their own livestock and 18% (15 of 82) included peoplewithformalemployment,whereasonly37%ofallfemale-headedhouseholds(22of60)includedherdersherdingtheirownlivestockbut23%(14of60)includedpeoplewithformalemployment.Onlyfouroftherandomlysampledhouseholdsincludedmemberswhofarmedcropsforothersforcash,andonly two included members who carried out livestock-related activities for others for cash. Thissuggestsgenerallylowlevelsofcasuallabourandastrongrelianceonfamilylabour(and/orlabourinkind)withinagricultureinBornuur.Onlyafewhouseholdssaidthattheyincludedpeoplerenting-inlandtofarm,allmale-headed,buttherewerebothmale-headedandfemale-headedhouseholdsreportingtoincludelarge-scalecommercialcropfarmingamongtheactivitiesoftheirmembers.

Overall, 23% of the randomly sampled households in our baseline survey had relied on only onesource of cash income in the previous 12months, 25%had relied on two sources, 31%on threesources,12%onfoursourcesand6%hadreliedonatleastfivesourcesofcashincome.Therewerenolargedifferencesbetweenmale-andfemale-headedhouseholds,asTable3shows.

Table3. Numberofsourcesofcashincomeamongallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur

Numberofsourcesofcashincome None 1 2 3 4 5ormore TotalFemale-headedhouseholds 1(2%) 17(28%) 17(28%) 19(32%) 2(3%) 4(7%) 60(100%)Male-headedhouseholds 0 16(20%) 21(26%) 26(32%) 15(18%) 4(5%) 82(100%)

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Tableincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.N=60forfemale-headedhouseholds.N=82formale-headedhouseholds.

Only33%(37)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveygaveherdingastheirtopsourceofcashincomeintheprevious12months,andin41%ofthese37householdsthehouseholdhead had moved to Bornuur as an adult. Fifty-nine per cent (16) of the randomly sampledhouseholdsinBichigtand56%(14)ofthoseinNart,thetwomostruralbaghs,gaveherdingastheirtopsourceofcash income.However, inbothMandalandUguumuronly12%reportedherdingastheir top source of cash income. Seventeen of the randomly sampled households (15%) reportedcropfarmingandtworeportedminingastheirtopsourceofcashincomeintheprevious12months;20 (18%) reliedona statepension.Table4provides thegenderbreakdown in top sourceof cashincomereportedbyalloursurveyedhouseholds.

Table4. Topsourceofcashincomeforallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur

Topcashincomesource Female-headedhouseholds Male-headedhouseholdsHerding 12(20%) 31(38%)Pension 21(35%) 10(12%)Crop-farming 1(2%) 16(12%)Governmentemployment 8(13%) 6(7%)Privatebusiness(typenotspecified) 3(5%) 9(11%)Disabilityallowance 4(7%) 1(1%)Farmer(typenotspecified) 2(3%) 3(4%)Mining 1(2%) 2(2%)Fostercareallowance 2(3%) -Shopassistant 1(2%) 1(1%)Cook 1(2%) -Fieldworker 1(2%) -Milktruckdriver - 1(1%)Ownbusiness(autosparepartsshop) 1(2%) -Privatebusiness(restaurant) - 1(1%)Privatebusiness(supermarket) 1(2%) -Unknown - 1(1%)Noincome 1(2%) -Totals 60(100%) 82(100%)Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Tableincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.N=60forfemale-headedhouseholds.N=82formale-headedhouseholds.


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AsTable4shows,38%(31)ofallmale-headedhouseholdsreportedherdingastheirtopsourceofcash income in the previous 12 months, compared to only 20% (12) of all female-headedhouseholds. Among the 29 female-headed households in our randomly sampled group, 6households (21%) reported herding as their top source of cash income. Extrapolating from thissuggests there were some 77 female-headed herder households in Bornuur at the time of oursurvey, which is not an insignificant number of potentially very vulnerable families in a ruralcommunity.

It emerged from our FGDs and BIs, however, that female-headed householdswere generally lessreliant on both crop farming and herding for their main livelihood activity, linking to prevalentnotions that these are both traditionally male activities. Adult women were instead more ofteninvolved in government employment and other types of formal employment (e.g. in schools andhospitals),whichcanbelinkedtotheirhighereducationlevelascomparedtomen,notedabove.Ofinterest here is also that 51% of the female members (women and girls) of randomly sampledhouseholdshadreceivedacashincomeinthe12monthspriortoourbaselinesurvey,comparedtojust42%ofthemalemembers(menandboys).

Thefullrangeofcashincomesearnedbypeopleacrossalloursurveyedhouseholdsintheprevious12monthswasfromjustMNT32,000(USD15)rightuptoMNT33,900,000(USD15,550),both inmale-headed herding households. Four of the top five highest cash incomes earned in the 12months prior to our baseline survey were found in male-headed herding households, with thehouseholdheadearningorreceivingthemoneyinthreeofthesehouseholdsandhiswifeearningorreceivingthemoneyintheother.Thefifthhighestcashincomewerecordedwasinafemale-headedhousehold from a supermarket business; this was an additionally surveyed female-headedhousehold,notahouseholdfromtherandomsample.

ThosereceivingcashincomefromcropfarmingreceivedannualamountsrangingfromMNT140,000(USD64)uptoMNT8,000,000(USD3,670);allweremale-headedhouseholds.Therewasonemale-headed household from Uguumur who reported receiving an annual income ofMNT 10,000,000(USD4,587)from(illegal)artisanalminingintheprevious12months–thelargestreportedamountearned from mining by any of our surveyed households. Households involved in gold mininggenerallyhadannualtakingsfromtheirgoldminingactivitiesrangingfromMNT100,000(USD46)toMNT3,000,000(USD1,376).Theonlythreefemale-headedhouseholdsreportingcashincomesfromgoldmining fell into the lowerendof thisspectrum,earningbetweenMNT180,000 (USD83)andMNT 500,000 (USD 229) frommining in the previous 12months, and all thesewere additionallysurveyedfemale-headedhouseholds,nothouseholdsfromtherandomsample.TherewasjustonehouseholdinourwholebaselinesurveyinBornuurthatreportedtohavereceivednocashincomeatall,arandomlysampledfemale-headedhousehold.

Asnotedabove,sinceMongolia’stransitiontodemocracy,artisanalgoldmininghashelpedtooffsethighunemployment inBornuur, so that it seemedduringour fieldwork in2016 thatalmosteveryhouseholdinthesoumhadatleastonememberwhohadengagedorwasstillengaginginartisanalmining.However,thiswasdespitetheverylowreportingofminingasatopsourceofcashincomeinourbaselinesurvey,notedwithTable4above.Only14%(16)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsreported that they included members who were involved in artisanal mining, the majority (14households)ineitherlegalorillegalartisanalgoldmining(workingasso-called‘ninjas’).Figure8setsoutthebreakdownofdifferenttypesof involvement inminingthatwerereportedbyfemale-andmale-headedhouseholdsinourbaselinesurvey.


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Figure8. Typesofinvolvementinminingbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur



As this figureshows,20%ofall female-headedhouseholds reported tohaveat leastonememberinvolvedingoldmining(12of60),comparedto16%ofallmale-headedhouseholds(13of82).Formost households, thismeant artisanal or illegalmining rather than either formal employment orcasual labour with mining companies. However, during our FGDs and BIs we detected muchevidenceofsignificantinitialunder-reportingofhouseholdinvolvementinartisanalmining,becauseofitshistoryofillegality,whichwediscussfurtherbelow.Incontrast,45%ofallfemalerespondentsinourbaselinesurvey(40of88)and33%ofallmalerespondents(18of54)saidtheyagreedwiththestatementthat:“Themajorityofpeopleinthiscommunitydependonminingfortheirsurvival”.While undoubtedly contributing to household income in Bornuur, mining has nonetheless alsobrought increasedviolenceandalcoholism,aswellasmanyhealthproblemsandcasualties–as isthecaseelsewhereinMongolia,andasweelaboratebelow.

Herding

Table 5 below sets out the different types of cash incomes from herding and livestock farmingreceivedbyall63householdswithinourrandomsamplewhoreportedreceivingmoneyfromtheseactivitieswithin their top five cash incomesources in the12monthsprior toourbaseline survey,wheremanyofthemreportedmorethanonespecificincomesource.Amongthis56%ofrandomlysampledhouseholdswhoreceivedsomeformofcashincomefromherdingandlivestockfarmingintheprevious12months,76% (48households) soldmilk,52% (33households) sold cashmere, and29%(18households)soldmeat.

Table5. Cashincomefromherdingandlivestockfarmingamongrandomlysampledhouseholds,Bornuur

Sourceofcashincome Numberofhouseholds

Aspercentageofhouseholdsreceivinganycashincomefromkeepinganimals

Herding-milk 48 76%Herding-cashmere 33 52%Herding-meat 18 29%Herding-wool 7 11%Herding-unspecified 3 5%Herding-horsetrade 1 2%Herding-livestocktrade 1 2%Herding-sellingfodder 1 2%Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=63.


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Other households were involved in keeping animals for their own consumption but had notgenerated any cash income from this activity in the previous year. Some, such as those whointensivelyorsemi-intensivelyfarmedafewlivestockontheirkhashaasinMandalandUguumur,orleft animals with relatives in the countryside, did not even consider themselves herders. AcrossBornuur there were a high proportion of households using livestock and other animals forsubsistence in general – thus75% (83)of the randomly sampledhouseholds inour survey, at thetime the surveywascarriedout, compared to just51% (57households) that reported sellingmilkand dairy products, and 29% (32 households) that reported using livestock formeat sales at thattime.Thedataarebrokendownseparatelyforallmale-andfemale-headedhouseholdsinFigure9below,where respondents reportedallusesof their livestockandotheranimals thatapplied. It isnotable thatahigherproportionofmale-headed than female-headedhouseholdsappeared toberelianton livestock for their livelihoodsacross theboard,whether for subsistenceand/or forcashincome.Moreover, very few female-headed households reported sellingmeat, due to traditionalsocialnormsthatprohibitwomenfromslaughteringanimals,discussedshortlybelow.

Figure9. Useoflivestockandotheranimalsbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur



Themost common typeof livestock keptbypeople inBornuurwas cattle,which72% (80) of therandomly sampled households in our baseline survey kept, although only four of themhadmorethan50 cattle. Sheep and goatswere also relatively common, kept by 45%and43%of randomlysampledhouseholds(50and48households),respectively.ThelargestsingleherdwecameacrossinBornuur belonged to a male-headed household that reported to have between 251-350 sheep.Patternsofherdingalsoreflectedthecharacteristicsofthedifferentpartsofthesoum,asshowninTable6below.InNart,forexample,92%(23)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdskeptcattle,68%(17) kept goats and 60% (15) kept sheep. In Mandal, where semi-intensive cattle keeping isconcentrated,69%(18)keptcattle;inUguumur(thesoumcentre)just45%(15)did.

Table6. Numberandpercentageofrandomlysampledhouseholdskeepinganimals,Bornuur

Bagh Cattle Sheep Goats Horses

Numberofhouseholds

Aspercentageofhouseholdsinbagh

Numberofhouseholds


Numberofhouseholds


Numberofhouseholds


Bichigt 24 89% 17 63% 16 59% 13 48%Mandal 18 69% 13 50% 11 42% 5 19%Nart 23 92% 15 60% 17 68% 14 56%Uguumur 15 45% 5 15% 4 12% 3 9%Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=27inBichigt.N=26inMandal.N=25inNart.N=33inUguumur.

Threemilkcompanies fromUlaanbaatarhaveestablishedmilkcollectionpoints inBornuur,whereherdersandlivestockfarmerscouldselltheirmilk;vegetablesandmeatwereoftenalsosolddirectlyinUlaanbaatar.Whilewomenmainlysoldmilkinthesoum,mentendedtodrivetoUlaanbaatarto


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sell agricultural produce there. However, women generally organised these trips and they alsoseemedtotraditionallykeepalltheirhousehold’scashincomeandbeinchargeoflookingafterthehousehold’sfinances,aswediscussfurtherbelow.

Our baseline survey produced specific data on the division of tasks betweenmen andwomen inherding.In50%(56)ofallrandomlysampledhouseholdswomenwereinvolvedinmilking,whereasmenwere involved inmilking in just 14% (15 households). Likewise for processing and preparingmilkproducts,thiswasdonebywomenin46%(51)ofallrandomlysampledhouseholdsandbymenin just5%(6households).Childrenhelpedwithherdingtaskswhennotatschool,andoutsourcingtook place too – in 23% (26) of all randomly sampled households non-householdmemberswereinvolvedinmilkingandin14%(16households)non-householdmemberswereinvolvedinprocessingandpreparingmilkproducts.Conversely,nowomenatallwerereportedtoslaughteranimalsinourbaselinesurvey;thosewomenwhosoldmeatorusedanimalsfordomesticfoodconsumptioneitheraskedamaleneighbourorrelativetocarryouttheslaughteringorsoldtheiranimalslive.

Cropfarming

Fifty-sixof the randomly sampledhouseholds inourbaseline survey (50%) reported tohavebeenfarming agricultural land in Bornuur at the time it was carried out. The average size of theircultivatedlandwas3.25ha,anditincludedvegetableplotsof1-2haeachinthemuchsought-afterformer collective irrigated farm area (of around 1,000 ha in total) in Uguumur that had beendistributedtoBornuurhouseholdsunderusecontractsandpossessiontitleswithlandprivatisationinthe1990s,aswellasfarmsoutsidetheirrigatedarea,inBichigt,andintheformerirrigatedareainNart,whose irrigationsystemhadbeenoperationalundersocialismbutwasno longer; farmers inthesenon-irrigatedareasreliedonwellsandriverwater.OurdataonthescaleofcropframingatthetimeofourbaselinesurveyarebrokendownbybaghinTable7,whichindicatesthatthelargestamountsofcultivatedlandweretobefoundamonghouseholdslivinginNart.

Table7. Averageareaundercultivation(hectares)byrandomlysampledcropfarminghouseholds,Bornuur

Bagh Averageamountoflandundercultivation(ha)Bichigt 2.6Mandal 2.85Nart 8.43Uguumur 1.97AverageforBornuur 3.25Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=56.

Atotalof182hawerereportedasbeingundercultivationbythe56crop-farminghouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyatthetimeitwascarriedout.ExtrapolatingtoBornuuroverallsuggeststhattherecouldhavebeensome2,275haundercultivationforcropfarmingintotalinthesoumatthattime,farmedbysome708Bornuurhouseholds.

Although therewere a variety of crops grown by the householdswe surveyed, potatoes, carrots,fodder and onionswere themain crops grown. As noted above, government policy had stronglypromoted potato production in Bornuur in socialist times, but this had since extended to includecabbages,carrotsandonions.Eighty-twopercent(46)ofthe56randomlysampledhouseholdsthatreportedgrowingcropsinourbaselinesurveygrewpotatoes,57%(32)grewonions,36%(20)grewfodder,and28%(16)grewcarrots.Ofall fourbaghs,households inUguumur,where the irrigatedfarmareawas,demonstratedthelargestvarietyofcropsgrown,asshowninFigure10.


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Figure10. NumberofhouseholdsgrowingdifferentcropsineachbaghinBornuur


The most common use of crops in Bornuur was for subsistence. Forty-four per cent (49) of therandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyweregrowingcropsfortheirownsubsistence;33%(37households)soldtheircropsforcash;19%(21)usedtheircropsasfodderforlivestock;and49%(54)werenotgrowingcropsatall.Onehouseholddidnotrespondtothisquestion,butofthe56randomlysampledhouseholdsthatdidgrowcropsinBornuur,85%usedtheircropsfortheirownsubsistence.

Commercialcropfarming(mostlyofpotatoes,onionsandcarrots)wasperceivedbyparticipantsinourFGDsandBIstobeamaleactivity,sinceitwaslargelymechanised,thusrequiringheavylabourandhandlingofmachinery,andthereforeconsideredhardforfemale-headedhouseholdstoengagein. This was confirmed in our baseline survey, which found that 75% of all 60 female-headedhouseholdsreportednotevengrowinganycropsatall,comparedtoonly41%ofall82male-headedhouseholds.OurdataareprovidedinFigure11below,whererespondentsreportedallusesoftheircropsthatapplied.Whatalsostandsoutasinterestingfromthesedata,aretheseeminglyverylowlevelsofmultiplecropusebyfemale-headedhouseholdscomparedtomale-headedhouseholds.

Figure11. Useofagriculturalcropsbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur



Participants inourFGDsandBIsreportedthatcommercialcropfarmers inBornuurhired incasuallabourduringtheplantingandharvestingseasons if theyhadvegetableplotsthatweretoobigtomanage with just the labour of household members. Seasonal casual labourers fell into severaldifferentcategories,includingitinerantlabourerswithnofixedabode,theverypoor(i.e.thosewithno other sources of employment or cash income, including alcoholics), and students and young


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adults seeking cash incomesduring the summer.Work for this last groupwasoftenorganisedbyschooladministrations,contractingwithlarge-scalefarmers.

Genderrelations

While itseemedthatwomeninBornuurweremostly inchargeofhousekeeping, lookingafterthechildrenandmilkinglivestock,mendidmostofthemorephysicallychallengingandoutdoorsworkofherding,slaughteringanimals,haymaking,collectingfirewood,fixingfencesandundertakinganymechanised farm work. In our baseline survey, for example, cooking for the family and washingclotheswerereportedtobedonebywomenin90%and91%ofourrandomlysampledhouseholds(100 and 101 households), and by men in only 29% and 27% (32 and 30) of these households,respectively.

However,ourFGDsandBIsalsorevealedastrongsenseofcomplementarityasmanyactivitieswerereportedlyundertakenbyhouseholdmemberstogether,i.e.mencutthehay,womenandchildrenmake bundles, andmen load themonto the truck;womenmilk,whilemen clean the dung;menworkon the farm,whilewomencookat thebackof the field;mengodown intoartisanalmines,whilewomen stayupandwash the soil and cook for themen.Bothwomenandmenseemed toworkhard,butwomen’stimeandworkburdenstendedtobegreaterthanmen’sduetochildcareand household chores. Women also tended to be the ones chasing after bank loans or landcertificationdocuments,whichwereverytime-consumingandtedioustasks.

Even thoughmenwere regarded traditionallyas theheadsof theirhousehold,womenseemedtohaveastrongroleinhouseholddecision-makinginBornuurandmostparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsagreedthatitwaseitherwomenwhotookdecisionsorthecoupletogether,apartfromdecisionsrelatingtoslaughteringandsellingof livestock,whichtendedtobetaken justbymen.Whilementookthesekindsofmajorfinancialdecisionsrelatingtoherdingbythemselves,allparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsconfirmedthatwomengenerallymanagedhouseholdfunds.Thereasoninggiventouswasthatmenusuallyherdthelivestocksotheyhavemoredecision-makingpowersoverwhattodowith them, but they let women manage the cash income they bring into the household fromslaughtering or selling livestock becausewomen are perceived to know better thanmenwhat isneededforthechildrenandforhouseholdmaintenanceandalsotohavebetterbudgetingskills.

Women (especially married women) also tended to be the ones who attended bagh and soumkhurals, and several bagh leaders and khural representatives were women at the time of ourfieldwork in2016,eventhoughthemostpowerfulpoliticalpositions inBornuurwereoccupiedbymen. Female household heads who had children, however, found it difficult to attend bagh andkhuralmeetingsduetotimeconstraintsandwerethusoftenonlylaterinformedofimportantthingshappeninginthesoum,indicatingalowerlevelofpoliticalparticipationbythesewomen.

Forthemostpart,bothwomenandmenwhotookpartinourFGDsandBIsdidnotperceivethereto be any obvious gender-based discrimination in Bornuur, but rather spoke about natural andcomplementary rolesof the twosexes,withmenengagingmore inheavyworkandwomenbeingmoreinvolvedinhousekeeping,asdescribedabove.However, itwasclearthatmanyproblemsforwomenaroseinthecaseofthedeathoftheirspouse,asfemalehouseholdheadsthenhadtotakeonbothmaleandfemalerolesandwereoftenunabletocopewiththeheavierworkload.Thiswasparticularly the case inherdingand farming,which, asnotedabove,wereperceived tobe largelymale activities requiring heavy labour. Female-headed households also seemed to have moredifficultiesinaccessinglandandwererelativelymoreofteninvolvedinlanddisputes,aswediscussfurther below. Evidence from our BIs suggests that widowhood is a time when women becomeparticularly vulnerable to poverty and land tenure insecurity, with several widows reporting thattheyhadtosellagriculturallandand/orlivestock,aswellashousingplotsandwintercamps.

DuringourresearchinBornuurnumerouspeoplealsoraisedtheissueofincreasedmalealcoholismas a result of mining, which affected household budgets as men spent their money on alcohol.


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However, itwasnotablethatthedomesticandgender-basedviolencethat is linkedtominingandalcoholism in much other research on Mongolia was not openly discussed during any of ourfieldwork in2016.Asaresult, it isverydifficult forustoassesstheextenttowhichgender-basedviolenceposesproblemsforgenderrelationsinBornuurtoday.

MiningcompaniesandartisanalminingMining activities in Bornuur nowadays mostly take place in Bichigt, in Sujigt and Kharganamountains. At the time of our fieldwork in 2016, Khargana Mountain was used particularly byartisanalminers,whoused the tailings fromoperationsonminingcompany landandhadno self-establishedminesinthesoum.ParticipantsinoneofourFGDsexplainedthatthebestconditionsformining were in winter, when the soil was frozen; in summer and spring it was more dangerousbecauseofthelikelihoodoffloods.

After the closure of the former East Germanmining operation in Bornuur noted above, the highlevels of gold deposits in Bornuur attracted other corporate investments, and at the time of our2016fieldworktherehadbeen18mininglicencesissued,ofwhich12wereexplorationlicencesand6wereminingoperation/productionlicences;nonewlicenceshadbeenissuedsince2012followingendorsement of the 2011 Law on Prohibiting Mineral Exploration and Extraction near WaterSources, Protected Areas and Forests (the Long Name Law). Two of the 18 licences were formolybdenumwhilealltherestwereforgold.Table8belowgivestheapproximateareascoveredbytheselicencesfromtheavailabledataforthesixproductionlicencesandfor11ofthe12explorationlicences;dataononeexplorationlicencewasunclear.Accordingtothisdata,thetotalarealicensedunderbothformsofmininglicencewasatleast23%ofBornuur’stotalterritory.

Table8. Smallestandlargestareas(hectares)underindividualmininglicence,Bornuur

Smallestarea Largestarea Averagearea TotalareaExploration 42.22 8,469.72 2,173.64 23,910.04Production 4 2,174.58 479.3 2,875.78

26,785.82Source:OfficialdatafromBornuurSoumGovernment,asat3March2015.

Fourexploration licences fornew (unmined) areaswereheldby SelengeMinerals, covering some14,879ha.Thisincludedthelargestsingleholdingof8,497hainNartMountain,andthreelicencesheld inKharaa-gol,ArangatandSairMountain.Exploration licencesalso included2,786haheldbyCenterra GoldMongolia in UndurMountain. Of the six production licences held in Bornuur, GunBilegt and Zuun Mod Ull each controlled two, with the remaining two being held by TunshanShiandonandCenterra’sBorooGold.However,onlythreeofthesesixproductionlicenceswereeveroperational:GunBilegtinKharganaandSujigtMountainsinBichigt,andCenterraGold’sBorooGoldMine, located inUnjinMountain intheforestedareaofBichigtandwheresome1,000employeesand contractorsworkedwhen itwas fully operational.GunBilegt appears tohaveoperated from1998to2012,whiletheBorooGoldMine,whichonlystartedoperatingin2003,continuedtoextractgoldfromlow-gradeorewithcyanideuntil itsoperationsfullyceasedin2016.MostparticipantsinourFGDsandBIssaidthattheyhadneverbeeninvitedtoanymeetingstodiscussthesecompanies’miningoperationsinBornuurandtheyseemedtoknowlittleaboutthem.Mostpeopledidnotevenknow who the companies were, but complained that only foreigners (Chinese) or people fromUlaanbaatarhadbeenhiredbythem.

Itwasunclearatthetimeofourfieldworkin2016whetherthesetwominingcompanieswouldeverresumetheiroperationsinBornuurandwhethertheothercompanieswithlicenceswouldstartnewexplorationorproductionactivities.However, inbothoftheformerlyoperationalminingsites,thecompanies had hired security guards to protect their property from artisanal miners, whonevertheless seemedto findways toeither sneak into theseareasatnightorbribe theguards toallowthemtocarryonmining.Accordingtooneparticipant inour fieldwork,approximately30-40


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artisanalminerswereworking illegally in both areas in November 2016, ofwhom just five or sixwerereportedlywomen.

Effectsofmining

InourFGDsandBIs,manypeopleclaimedthatmininginvestmentshadnotbroughtanybenefitsorworkopportunities toBornuur,but insteadhad just reducedandpollutedwater in the riversanddestroyedthelocalenvironment.Thiswasaparticularworryforherderhouseholds,whodependedonriverstowatertheirlivestockandcouldonlykeeplivestockiftheyhadaccesstocleanwater.TheonlypositiveaspectofminingmentionedinourFGDsandBIswasthatpeoplecouldgetcashincomefromartisanalmining.However,formanypeoplethecoststheypaidintermsoftheirhealthandtherisksincurredtoengagein(illegal)artisanalminingoutweighedthebenefits.

Duringourbaselinesurvey,28%(31)oftherandomlysampledhouseholdsreportedthatmininghadaffectedtheirhouseholdintheprevioustwoyears,rangingfrom42%ofthe33randomlysampledhouseholdsinUguumur,to12%ofthe25randomlysampledhouseholdsinNart.Thiscomparestojust 4% and 6% of randomly sampled households across Bornuur overall reporting that nationalparks and large-scale land acquisitions, respectively, had affected their household in the previoustwo years. As Figure 12 below shows, 14% (16) of the randomly sampled households in Bornuurreportedthatmininghadincreasedtheirhouseholdincome,while2%(2)reportedthatmininghadreducedtheirhouseholdincome;6%(7)reportedthatmininghadnegativelyaffectedthehealthofhouseholdmembers.Therewereonlyafewdifferencesinreportedeffectsfromhouseholdslivinginthe different baghs. For example, 24% of the 33 randomly sampled households in Uguumur, and19%of the26households inMandal reported thatmininghad increased theirhousehold income,compared to none of the 27 households in Bichigt. There were greater differences, however,accordingtothegenderoftherespondent.Thirty-eightpercentofallfemalerespondents(33of88)reportedthatmininghadaffectedtheirhousehold,comparedto just24%ofallmale respondents(13of54).

Figure12. Reportedeffectsofminingonrandomlysampledhouseholds,Bornuur


As Figure 12 also shows, our baseline survey brought out specific worries about the impacts ofmining on local natural resources, including that ‘mining makes dust and degrades the land’(reportedby 11% (12) of the randomly sampledhouseholds in Bornuur), that ‘mining is shrinkinglocalwatersources’and‘increasedpressureoncommunalgrazingland’(bothreportedby12%(13)),and that ‘miningmakes roads everywherewhich disturb the pastureland and creates dangers forlivestock’(reportedby9%(10)).

Natural resource issues aroundmining are not restricted to Bornuur, and similar concerns aboutcontaminationofwatersourcesandenvironmentaldegradationhavebeenraisedinplacessuchasneighbouring Mandal soum in Selenge aimag and in Shariin Gol. However, in interviews with


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CenterraGold’sstaff,thecompanyexpressedprideinitsenvironmentalreclamationpolicies,aswellas in theUSD250,000peryearpaid to the localcommunitiesaffectedby itsBorooGoldMine.Ofthis,USD9,785wasreportedtohavebeenspecificallyallocatedforenvironmentalreclamationworkthatwasduetocontinuethroughto2020,employinglocalcasuallabourersinseeding,treeplantingandwatering.

Legalisationofartisanalminers

While the mining boom in the 1990s helped to offset the high unemployment and poverty thatresulted from the collapse of socialism, it also created multiple problems. The high numbers ofpeoplefrombothwithinandoutsidethesoumthatwereengagedinartisanalmining,aswellasthethen unregulated and illegal nature of it, resulted in high levels of violence, prostitution andaccidents, as well as environmental pollution and health effects from the unrestricted use ofmercury. In order to find solutions for these growing problems, a multi-stakeholder meeting,facilitatedbytheSwissDevelopmentAgency(SDC)Mongolia’sSustainableArtisanalMiningProject,was held in Bornuur in 2007, involving artisanal miners, the then soum governor, the MineralResources Authority of Mongolia (MRAM), Centerra Gold, and representatives of the soum andnationalcitizenkhurals.Asaresultofthismeeting,andthebroadereffortsoftheSDCproject,theMineralsLawofMongoliawasamendedin2009withResolution308,whichstipulatesthatartisanalminerscanminelegallyiftheycreateanassociationandenterintoatripartiteagreementwiththesoumgovernmentandaminingcompany.

AccordingtoparticipantsinourFGDsandBIs,thefirstumbrellaorganisationofartisanalminersinMongoliawasestablishedinBornuurin2008throughtheSDCproject.Eachartisanalminerjoinedanukhurlul(asmallgroupofminerswhopayanannualsubscriptiontotheirgroup),whoalltogetherformedanumbrellaartisanalminers’associationthatincludedmorethan800people.Theartisanalminers’ association then entered into a multi-stakeholder agreement with the Bornuur soumgovernment,CenterraGoldandSDC,wherebyCenterraGoldprovidedsomelandoutoftheirlicenceareas inBornuurtotheartisanalminers’association.ThesoumgovernmentcontributedMNT120million (USD 55,046) and SDC contributed MNT 220 million (USD 88,707) to establish anenvironmentally friendly gold processing unit – one that did not require the use of harmfulchemicals.While SDC played a crucial role in helping to get the law amended tomake artisanalmining legal and in providing money and equipment to the miners, the Mongolian nationalgovernmentdevelopednewregulationsforcoordinatingtheartisanalminersandtheirpartnerships.

Theartisanalminers’processingunitwassetupon the ruinsof theprocessingunitof the formerEastGermanmine.SeveralartisanalminerswhotookpartinourFGDsandBIsclaimedthatthethenleaders of the umbrella organisation took themoney and set up the processing unit, which theyregisteredasaprivatecompany(Khamo,anabbreviationofkhuviaraaashigtmaltmalolborlogchid,whichmeans‘privateartisanalminers’inMongolian),withoutconsultingallthemembernukhurluls.Khamothenmadeagreementswitheachnukhurlulconcerningthepanning,crushingandprocessingof thegoldore.Theorewasusuallypanned two to three times,and theagreementwas that thegoldcomingoutinthefirstpanningbelongedtotheindividualminersinthenukhurlulandthegoldcomingout inthesecondandthirdpanningbelongedtoKhamo;butwith30%oftheprofits fromthesecondandthirdpanningtobedistributedamongallnukhurlulmembers.Khamoalsostartedtobuygolddirectlyfromindividualartisanalminersattheminimummarketrate.

While the use of harmful chemicals such asmercury has been reduced and artisanalmining hasbecome more organised and less violent in Bornuur, many artisanal miners we spoke with stillexpressed worries about environmental issues created by Khamo, especially groundwatercontaminationanddustcreation,andsaidthattheyfeltcheatedbyKhamo,whichtheyperceivedtobemakingahugeprofit fromthemandnotdistributingmoney in linewith theagreementsmadewith thenukhurluls.According to theMonitoringDirectorof the localminers’association, the taxrecordofKhamoindicatedthatithadmadeaprofitofoverMNT2billion(USD917,431),butonly


21

distributedMNT60million(USD27,523)toitsmembersinthenukhurlulsin2015.AlthoughKhamohad temporarily stopped operating at the end of 2015, by the end of 2016 it had becomeoperationalagain.

Backtoillegality

Asnotedabove,nobigminingcompanieswereoperationalinBornuurduringourfieldworkin2016,and the proportionof gold in the soilwas perceived to be reducing,making artisanalmining lessprofitablethanithadbeen.SomeparticipantsinourFGDsandBIssaidthatthelandthathadbeenallocatedtotheartisanalminers’associationfromtheBorooGoldsiteunderthemulti-stakeholderagreementwas sold to another company (GunBilegt)without theartisanalminers’ knowledgeorconsent.Weweretoldthateventhoughthenewmineownerwasnotyetoperatinginthatarea,ithadputinplaceheavysecuritytotrytopreventartisanalminersfromenteringontothatland.Asaresult,manypeopleinBornuurwhohadbeenmininginpreviousyearshadstopped,andthosethatcontinued were doing so illegally again. Meanwhile, Khamo was reported to be processing the‘illegalgold’providedby thoseminers thatwerecontinuing tomine,anddespite theircomplaintsaboutKhamo,artisanalminersthusdependedverymuchonthecompanyfortheirlivelihoods.

Whileartisanalminersthereforeseemedtobesuffering(again)fromtheirillegalstatus,whichoffersthemnosocialprotection–anddespitetheeffortsoftheSDCprojecttohavebrokeredalong-termsolutiontothis–fromacompanyperspective(ashighlightedininterviewswithstaffofBorooGold),enteringintoatripartiteagreementwithartisanalminersandasoumgovernmentmightnotbeveryadvisable,asthecompanymightbecomeliableforanyaccidentsand/orenvironmentaldamagethatoccurredintheartisanalminingoperationsinitslicensedarea.

Whatseemedclearasaresultofourresearchwasthatwhereaspreviouslybothmenandwomenhad engaged in artisanal mining, it was by then mostly unemployed young men doing it out ofnecessity,oftengoingatnightorbribingthesecurityguardstogetaccesstothemountain.Anycashincomealsoseemedmore likely tobespentonalcohol, rather than tobeput towardshouseholdexpensesaswasreportedtohavebeenthecasewhenmenandwomenengagedinartisanalminingtogether. Some women, particularly from female-headed households, also continued to mineillegally.Whentheywerecaught,policeandrangerscouldconfiscatetheirequipment;somefemaleminerstoldusthatthesecurityguardsalsoaskedthemtowashtheirclothes.

Apartfromgrowingalcoholismamongmaleminers,healthproblemswerealsoreportedtobemoreprevalent among both current and former miners, with some participants in our FGDs and BIsreporting that a recent recruiter had found no young men in Bornuur who were fit to join theMongolianArmy.AccordingtotheMonitoringDirectorofthelocalminers’association,27artisanalminers in Bornuur had died from lung cancer by the time of our 2016 fieldwork, and another 82wereinaverybadcondition;noneofthemhadaccesstocompanyhealthinsurancebecausetheyhadbeenworkingillegally.

Landscarcity,landconcentrationandenvironmentaldegradationThe overall picture to emerge from our fieldwork in 2016 in Bornuurwas one of increasing landscarcity, land concentration and environmental degradation. Yet the necessity that unemployedyoungmenfelttoengageinartisanalminingwasexacerbatedbytheirdifficultiesingettingaccesstoland for housing, farming and haymaking.We were told that there were nomore housing plotsavailable forallocationbythegovernment in thesoumcentreandnomorevegetableplots in theirrigatedfarmarea,asallavailablelandhadalreadybeenallocated.However,alandmarketseemedtohavebeen rapidlydeveloping, so thatpeoplewithmoneycouldnowpurchaseor rent land fordifferent purposes. For example, due to high demand for sites for tourist camps, of which therewerealreadysixinthe16,500haLocalProtectedAreainNart(DuganaKhadarea)atthetimeofourfieldworkin2016,somepeopleinNarthadsoldtheirlandtoindividualandcorporateinvestorsfrom


22

Ulaanbaatar; 400 ha was also sold to investors in tourism through aimag and soum governmentauctionsinaccordancewiththe2002LandLaw,withmoneyraisedatlandauctionsgoingintotheirlocal budgets. According to the Soum LandOfficer, these auctions take placewhenever someonewantsmorethan0.07haofland;thesoumgovernmentcanacquireanyunusedlandandauctionitofftothehighestbidder,andthisiswhenoutsidersareabletocomeinandbuylandinthesoum.

Increasinglandscarcityandthedevelopmentofalandmarkethaveledtoariseinlandcertification.Property ownership titles and possession licences could be obtained for housing plots, aswell asvegetable and fodder plots, but access to pasture continued to be regulated mainly throughcustomaryarrangementsandhaymakingareashadonly recentlybeenallocated tohouseholdsonthesoum’scadastermapwithouttheissuanceofpossessionlicencesorusecontracts,aswediscussfurtherbelow.

Formal land ownership was widely perceived by participants in our FGDs and BIs to be highlyunequal,with a few rich individuals said tobeholding (possessingor renting) very large tracts ofland for tourism camps, mining sites, haymaking and farming – notably vegetable and fodderplantations in the pastureland in Nart, contributing to particular conflicts between farmers andherders there. Meanwhile, other, poorer people were unable to obtain any property titles,possessioncertificatesorusecontracts. Inkeepingwithwidernationalconcernsaboutcorruption,therewasalsosomeunhappinessexpressed in relation to thebelief thatpoorerhouseholdswerediscriminatedagainst.

As noted above, many more outsiders have come to Bornuur since Mongolia’s transition todemocracyandseveralparticipants inourFGDsandBIsnowdoubtedwhethersoumcitizensweregivenpreferencewhenapplyingforland,astheyshouldbebylaw.Instead,thecommonperceptionwas that itwas outsiderswho had been granted large areas of land in Bornuur.We heardmuchexpression of resentment in particular towards wealthy outsiders and foreigners. Some hadsubsequentlysoldorrentedoutsomeparcelsoftheir land;otherswereleavingpartsoftheir landfallowbut fencingtheboundariessoasnot toallowanybodyelsetoenter.Aselsewhere inothercountries, this general increase in fencing which has accompanied the transition to a marketeconomy is likely tobea resultofpeoplebecoming increasinglyawareof the (growing)monetaryvalueof land.However, in somecasesoutsiderswereusing land thathadbeenallocated to localpeople but which they were not using and had made private arrangements to lend or rent outinstead. Soum government officials shared that when land certification started from 2003,manylocalpeopleweretoofocusedonartisanalminingasasourceofcashincometoseeanysignificanceinhavingland;itwasonlymuchlaterthattheynoticedoutsidersusingandbenefitingfromhavinglandthatmoreandmorelocalpeoplestartedtoapply.

Despite all these resentments, or perhaps a cause of them, we also detected a general lack ofknowledgeandinformationregardingthelargelandholdingsofbothforeignersandoutsiders,withpeopleclaimingtooftenbesurprisedtofindanewareahadbeenfenced.Thiswasreflectedinourbaselinesurvey,where47%ofall femalerespondents (41of88)and50%ofallmalerespondents(27 of 54) agreed to the following statement: “In your community, companies have been able tocomeinandtakepeople’s landwithoutconsultingordinarypeople.”Specificconcernswereraisedaboutonelandparcelthathadbeenallocatedtoanironoresmelter.Becauseitsoperationswerehighly toxic,many herders had demonstrated against it and it shut down.However, peoplewereworriedthatthesmeltermightrestartitsoperations.

Degradationofpasturelandandwatersources

Mining,increasingfarmingactivities,aswellasageneralincreaseinthesoum’slivestockpopulationthatwasexacerbatedbyoutsiderscomingtoBornuurwiththeiranimals,wereallperceivedtohavecontributed to the degradation of pastureland and water sources in Bornuur. People from othersoumsneedtoapplyforaresidencepermitwiththesoumgovernorbeforetheyareallowedtouse


23

pasturelandinthesoum.However,accordingtoparticipantsinourFGDsandBIs,someherdersfromneighbouring Jargalant and Zuunkhara soums were using Bornuur’s summer pastures withoutpermission and without paying local taxes. The summer pastures were reported to be badlydegraded,withpeopleconsideringthatcarryingcapacityhadbeenexceeded.Waterresourceswerealso shrinking, creating a precarious situation for Bornuur’s traditional herders but one that alsoreflectedthewidernationalcontext.

Wewere told thatmanyof the immigrants fromthewesternaimagscame firstwithout livestock,and then brought larger herds as soon as they received their residence permits, creating furtherresentmentsagainstoutsiderswithinthe localpopulation.However, thosemigrantswhostill livedwith their relatives, notably in Nart, had no secure rights to land, and feared that they could bechased away anytime, thusmaking thema very vulnerable groupof peoplewithinBornuur. Theycame to staywith relativeswhohad settledearlier in the soum, attractedby the companies thatcametoBornuurtobuymilkfromlocalherdersfortheUlaanbaatarmarketandhopingtogetlandforthemselves,buttheystilllivedwiththeirrelativesbecauselandwassoscarceanddifficulttoget.

Inadditiontothedegradedwaterqualityduetomining,notedabove,participantsinourFGDsandBIs also complainedabout large landholdersdiggingdeepwells,which increasedwater scarcity inthesoum,aswellasabouttouristcampscreatingalotoflitterandwaterpollutioninthemainriverleft in Bornuur, which was affecting water quality and was dangerous for livestock. The overallextent to which people perceived their local environment to be degraded is indicated by ourbaselinesurveydatasetout inTable9below.Eightypercentofall femalerespondents(70of88)and 85% of all male respondents (46 of 54) reported that there were issues of environmentaldegradationaroundnaturalresourcesinBornuur,with63%(55)ofallfemalerespondentsand54%(29)ofallmalerespondentsconcernedaboutwaterpollutiontoo.

Table9. Perceptionsaboutthelocalenvironmentbygenderofrespondent,Bornuur

True(aspercentageofrespondentsby

gender)

False(aspercentageofrespondentsby

gender)

Don’tknow(aspercentageofrespondentsby

gender)

F M F M F MInyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundenvironmentaldegradationofnaturalresources. 80 85 15 9 6 6

Inyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundwaterpollution. 63 54 32 43 6 4Inyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundaccesstowatersources. 52 57 40 39 8 4

Inyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundaccesstoforestresources. 39 50 23 28 39 22

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Tableincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.N=88forfemalerespondents.N=54formalerespondents.

Forests

RapiddeforestationanddegradationoftheforestedareasinBornuur,duetoalotofuncontrolledandillegallogging,wasidentifiedasafurtherissuebymanyoftheparticipantsinourFGDsandBIs;inourbaselinesurvey,39%ofallfemalerespondents(34of88)and50%ofallmalerespondents(27of 54) identified access to forest resources as amajor issue in the soum. However,most peopleseemedtowelcometheintroductionofForestUserGroups(FUGs),whichhavepartlyoffsettheseproblems.

FUGshavebeenformedtoprotect,useandrehabilitateforestssincetheForestLawwasamendedin2012,byenteringintoacontractwiththesoumgovernortopossessandprotecttheforest.Bythetime of our 2016 fieldwork, 10 FUGs (with 214 members) had been established in Bornuur and22,000haofthesoum’s36,000haofforestedareaswereundertheirmanagement,atlocationsinNartandBichigtbaghs.Approximately40%ofmembersofthese10FUGswerewomen;oftenbotha


24

husbandandwifebelongedto thesameFUG,butmostFUG leadersweremen.AllFUGmembersweresupposedtobelocalcitizensand50%ofmembersshould liveneartheforest.However,thiswasnotpreciselydefinedinBornuuranditseemedthatmanyFUGmemberscamefromthesoumcentre, Uguumur, rather than living near the forest – even when soum centre residents weregenerally considered better-off than themore remote-living herders.Wedetected concerns fromparticipants in our FGDs and BIs who were not involved in FUGs that information about theestablishmentofFUGshadnotbeensharedwidelyenough,thatFUGmembersoftenhadgoodlocalconnectionswhichbroughtthemtangiblebenefits,andthatthebenefitsofFUGmembershipshouldbemorewidely distributedwithin the soum; a few concernswere also raised that illegal loggingmightnothavecompletelystopped.

Atthetimeofour2016fieldwork,anyindividuals(includingFUGmembers)whowantedtocollecttimber from an area controlled by a FUG had to get a permit from the Soum EnvironmentalInspector.TheyhadtopayMNT9,000(USD4)pertruckloadforfirewoodandMNT30,000(USD14)per truckload for timber for housing, but the pricewas reduced for FUGmembers. Itwasmainlymenwhocollectedfirewoodandtimber,sinceitwasconsideredtobeheavylabourandtheforestsweresometimesfarfrompeople’shomes.Wewerealsotoldthatfemale-headedhouseholdsusedtogetadiscount,butthatthiswasnotthecaseanymore.FUGmembersweresupposedtocheckpeople’spermissionandmakesuretheydidnotengageinillegallogging

FUGs were also supposed to work to prevent bushfires and to clean the forest, for example bypickingupfallentreesandbranches;theyalsoengagedinthinningtheforestandreplantingtrees.TwogroupsinBornuurhadestablishedbee-keepingintheforestandweresellingthehoney.Othersorganisedactivitiessuchasberry-pickingandjam-makingfortheirmembers.WeweretoldthatFUGmembers generally saw potential to increase the profits that they could make from non-timberforest products, since they were not yet making much profit and instead were using their ownmoney to protect the forest. Members of FUGs drew our particular attention to conflicts withherders,whotheyaccusedoflettingtheiranimalsgrazeintheforestandeatsmalltrees.Asaresult,someFUGshadalreadyfencedtheirforestmanagementareasandotherswerealsohopingtoputupfences.This,inturn,wasresentedbylocalherders,whowouldloseaccesstotheirpastures.

LandallocationprocessesIt seemed from our FGDs and BIs that there were some unresolved issues around formal landallocation processes in Bornuur.Many participants said that the process of applying for differenttypesofregisteredlandwasverycumbersomeandnottransparent.Peopletoldusthattheyhadtoapply several times for their certificates, as their applications got lost in the system. Therewerestoriesofpeoplebeingsenttoseedifferentofficials,witheachoneaddingadifferentformthattheyneededtofillout.Asnotedabove,itseemedtobegenerallywomenwhoengagedinthisverytime-consumingapplicationprocess,eventhoughlandcertificateswereoftenjustissuedinmen’snames.MostparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsexplainedthisstateofaffairsasbeingduetotheperceptionofwomen as more patient and persistent, and therefore the ones who should engage in thiscomplicatedprocess,whiletheirhusbandsshouldhavetheirnamesputonthecertificatesbecausetheywerethefamilyheads.However, inoneofourwomen-onlyFGDs, theparticipantsexpressedthewishformentoparticipatemoreinsuchtime-consumingtasksaschasingafterlandcertificatesandbank loans;onewomanarguedthatapplicationsweremoresuccessfulwhenhusbands joinedtheirwivesindealingwiththem.

MostpeopleseemedtohaveanadequateunderstandingoftherelevantMongolianlaws,asshownin Table 10 below. For example, 83% of all female respondents (73 of 88) and 89% of all malerespondents(48of54)inourbaselinesurveycorrectlyknewthatwomenwereallowedtoownland.Ninetypercent(79)ofallfemalerespondentsand94%(51)ofallmalerespondentscorrectlyknewthatdiscriminationbetweenmenandwomenasregardslandownershipwasillegal.However,51%


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(45) of all female respondents and 39% (21) of all male respondents believed, incorrectly, thathavingrightstothelandalsomeanthavingtherightstothemineralsundertheland;afurther26%(47)ofall142respondentsdidnotknowwhetherthatwasthecaseornot.Moreover,38%(33)ofallfemalerespondentsand26%(14)ofallmalerespondentsthoughtthataccordingtoMongolianlawmen’srightstolandtookprecedenceoverwomen’srights.Thiscouldbelinkedtoindicationsinthelawthatcertaintypesof landwerefor ‘householduse’,which,asnotedabove,participants inourFGDsandBIsgenerallyequatedwith registering them in thenameof the (male)householdhead.Relatedly,andasTable10alsoshows,only33%(18)ofallmalerespondentsinourbaselinesurveyand27% (24)of all female respondents thought thatwomenplayedabig role indecision-makingabout natural resources in Bornuur, while 52% (28) of all male respondents and 32% (28) of allfemale respondents thought that all people were involved and consulted in decisions aboutcommunitylandmanagement.

Table10. PerceptionsaboutMongolianlandlawsbygenderofrespondent,Bornuur


gender)


gender)


gender)

F M F M F MInyourcountrythelawdoesnotallowwomentoownland. 5 4 83 89 13 7Inyourcountrythelawsaysthatmen’srightstolandtakeprecedenceoverwomen’sandthathusband’srightstolandtakeprecedenceovertheirwives’.

38 26 53 65 9 9

Inyourcountryitisillegaltodiscriminatebetweenmenandwomenasregardslandownership. 94 90 6 6 5 0

Inyourcountry,ifyouhavetherightstotheland,youalsohavetherightstothemineralresourcesonorundertheland. 51 39 24 33 25 28

Inyourcommunityallpeopleareinvolvedandconsultedindecisionsaboutcommunitylandmanagement. 32 52 50 44 18 4

Inyourcommunitywomenplayabigroleindecision-makingaboutnaturalresources. 27 33 48 46 20 25


DuringourFGDsandBIs,whilemanypeopleclaimedthatbothpoorpeopleandnewcomerstothesoum (including poor newcomers) were discriminated against when it came to land applications,mostdidnotperceivetheretobeanydiscriminationbygenderwithregardtotheactualregistrationandcertificationofland.Peopletoldusthatitwasequallyeasyordifficultforwomenandmentogettheirnameregisterediftheywantedittobedone,andthat,incaseofdivorceorwidowhood,itwouldbeeasyforawomantochangethenameonthehouseholdlandcertificatestoherown.

However, in caseofdivorce (which,asnotedabove,wasnotvery common inBornuur), the issuewould likely be settled in court. In that case, the person whose name was already on the landcertificate (i.e. usually the husband, if only one namewas recorded)might have an advantage inwinningthecase.However,severalparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsmentionedthattheyhadneverthoughtaboutdivorce,andhencehadneverthoughtaboutwhatwouldhappentotheirhousehold’slandincaseofdivorce.Theyalsodidnotknowofanycasesofdivorceandwhatthecourtrulinghadbeen,sowereunsurewhattheoutcomemightbe.Instead,itwasgenerallyagreedthatthepersonwholeftthehousemighthavedifficultiesgettingaccesstoanewhousingplot,duetothegeneralshortageoflandforhousinginthesoum–andthishasclearimplicationsforpeople’soptionsandbargainingpowerinsituationsofdomesticviolencethatmightitselfcontributetodivorce.

During our FGDs and BIs, women from female-headed households were more likely to identifygender-baseddiscriminationasanissueinlandallocationprocessesinthesoum,astheprocessofapplyingfor landseemedtobeparticularlyburdensomeforthem.Wewerealsotoldthatfemale-headed households found it very difficult to get access to pastureland and haymaking areas, and


26

that the rights of widows were often not respected because of the perception of herding as atraditionallymale-ledactivity–aswediscussfurtherbelow.

Housingplots

The increasing land concentration and land scarcity discussed above have led many people inBornuurtostartapplyingforformalcertificationofa0.07hahousingplot,inaccordancewiththeirrights underMongolian law. According to the Soum Land Officer in November 2016, 47% of theadult population of the soum had received an ownership certificate for a housing plot, ofwhom54.5%werewomen.However,asnotedabove,thefindingsfromourFGDsandBIssuggestedthathouseholds were more likely to title land in the man’s name (as the household/family head). Itappearedthenthatmanyhouseholdsfirsttitledtheplottheylivedonintheman’sname,butinasecondstepalsoappliedforahousingplotinthewoman’sname–asthelawallowseveryindividualMongoliancitizentohavetheirownplot.Somehouseholdsputboththehusband’sandthewife’snameontheinitialhousingplotcertificate,butsomeparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsclaimedthatthiswasabadstrategy,as itwouldprevent thewife from latergettingherownseparatehousingplotinlinewiththelaw.Ontheotherhand,participantsinoneFGDexpressedarealfearthatsincethere was no more land left to be allocated by the soum government in fulfilment of the law,womenwereactuallynowlosingoutintermsoflandownershipandcertification,astheywouldbeunabletogettheirownhousingplot–oratleasttobegivenaplotinthelocationtheywanted.Thismeantthatgettingtheirnamesregisteredonajointlytitledhouseholdplotmightbetheonlywaytoensuretheirlandtenuresecurityinthelongerterm.

Seventy-sevenper cent (86)of the randomly sampledhouseholds inourbaseline survey reportedthattheyownedoneormorehousingplots–anywhereinMongolia,notnecessarily justBornuur.Sixty-nine households owned one housing plot and 17 households owned two, equating to 103housingplotsownedbyall111randomlysampledhouseholds,asTable11shows.

Table11. Housingplotownership/possessionamongrandomlysampledhouseholds,Bornuur Numberofhouseholds

notowningahousingplot

Numberofhouseholdswith1plot

Numberofhouseholdswith2plots

Didnotrespond

Totalnumberofplotsownedbyall111randomlysampledhouseholds

Numberofhouseholds 24 69 17 1 103Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.N=111.

Sixty-ninepercent (77)of the randomlysampledhouseholds inourbaselinesurvey reported thathouseholdmembersownedorpossessedthehousehold’smainhousingplot,khashaaorcampsiteinBornuur, i.e. the place where the majority of household members usually lived, while 29% (32households)reportedthathouseholdmembersborrowedorusedthemainhousingplot,khashaaorcampsitewithoutpayinganyrent.Twohouseholdsdidnotrespond.Ownershipandpossessionwasmore common inMandal, the newest settlement, and lowest in rural Nart. Therewas almost nodifferencebygenderofhouseholdhead,asFigure13shows.


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Figure13. Meansofaccesstomainhousingplotbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur

WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Chartincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.N=60

forfemale-headedhouseholds.N=82formale-headedhouseholds.

With respect to the main housing plot, khashaa or campsite of the 111 randomly sampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurvey,82%werereportedtobesolelyowned(for91households)and17%were reported to be jointly owned (for 19 households); one household did not respond. Insomecaseswherehouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyreportedsoleownershipofthemainhousingplotwheretheylived,thiswasnotinthenameofeitherthefemaleorthemalehouseholdhead,butin the name of employers, relatives or friends. In five male-headed households reporting soleownershipofthemainhousingplot,ownershipwasregisteredinthenameofthewife.Theseresultstally well with the findings from our FGDs and BIs, where we encounteredmany different livingarrangements and much variety in land certification, and when households held several housingplots,thesewereoftendivided(undersoleownership)betweenhusbandandwife.

Thehighestproportionofjointownershipofhouseholds’mainhousingplots(i.e.oflanddocumentsrecording more than one name for the owner) was seen in Uguumur, where 21% of randomlysampledhouseholds(7of33)reportedthatthehousingplottheylivedonwasjointlyowned.Thiswas also the bagh where the biggest gender differences were seen, with 35% of female-headedhouseholds inUguumuroccupyinga jointlyownedhousingplotcomparedto19%ofmale-headedhouseholds, as Table 12 below shows. We elicited two contributing factors to this distinctivesituation inUguumur.First,people in thesoumcentreappeared tobemore informedabout lawsandregulationsandlesslikelytomakedecisionsbasedontraditionalgenderednormsandcustoms– thus joint certificationof husbandandwifemight bemore common. Second, our FGDs andBIsrevealed that female-headed households often included the names of their children, particularlysons,ontheirlandtitles,andthusnotallcasesofjointownershipwerebetweenspouses.Althoughon thedeathof a spouse, landwasusually inheritedby thewidoworwidower, therewere caseswhere,inlinewiththeMongolianCivilCode,itwasinheritedjointlybyawidowandherchildrenandtitledassuch,orsometimesevenjusttitledinthenamesofthechildren.

Table12. Ownershipstatusofmainhousingplotsoccupiedbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur Occupyingajointlyownedhousingplot Occupyingasolelyownedhousingplot Percentageofall

female-headedhouseholdsinthebagh

Percentageofallmale-headedhouseholdsinthebagh

Percentageofallfemale-headedhouseholdsinthebagh

Percentageofallmale-headedhouseholdsinthebagh

Bichigt 11% 19% 89% 81%Mandal 10% 18% 90% 82%Nart 13% 9% 88% 91%Uguumur 35% 19% 65% 81%Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Tableincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlysampled.N=19forfemale-headedhouseholdsinBichigt.N=16formale-headedhouseholdsinBichigt.N=10forfemale-headedhouseholdsinMandal.N=22formale-headedhouseholdsinMandal.N=8forfemale-headedhouseholdsinNart.N=22formale-headedhouseholdsinNart.N=23forfemale-headedhouseholdsinUguumur.N=21formale-headedhouseholdsinUguumur.Onemale-headedhouseholddidnotrespond.


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Eighty-three of the randomly sampled households in our baseline survey reported that they haddocuments for at least some of their land. In total, 177 documentswere reported to be held bymembersofthesehouseholds,asdetailedinTable13.

Table13. Typesoflanddocumentationfoundamong111randomlysampledhouseholds,Bornuur

TypeofDocument Apartment Hayfield

House Springcamp

Vegetableandfarmingplot

Vegetableplot

Wintercamp

Totaldocuments

Ownershipcertificate - - 73 - - - - 73Possessioncertificate - 1 7 1 1 59 16 85Purchaseddocument 1 - - - - - - 1Rightsdocument - 1 - - - - - 1Usecertificate - 6 - - - - - 6Userightdocument - 6 - - - - - 6Userightpermission - 5 - - - - - 5Totaldocuments 1 19 80 1 1 59 16 177Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.

ThetypesofdocumentsrecordedinTable13wereastoldtousbyrespondentsduringthebaselinesurvey. By far the most common were ownership certificates for housing plots and possessioncertificates for vegetable plots and winter camps. The table shows particular variety in thedescriptiongiventodocumentsforhayfields,which,aswediscussfurtherbelow,wererecordedinthe soum’s cadaster map but had not been formally certificated (being all located in thepastureland). The reported documents included items such as tax receipts and copies of recordsfromthecadastermap;somewereusecontractsandothersseemedtobepossessioncertificatesthatshouldnothavebeenissuedbylaw.Thevarietydependedontheyearofissueandtheofficialwhohadissuedthem,andsomedocumentswerenolongerevenvalid.

Many participants in our FGDs and BIs complained about what they perceived as a lack ofcompetition and the high cost involved in hiring the surveying company approved by the soumgovernmenttoproducecadastralmapsoftheirland,withfeesreportedtohaverisenrapidlyfromMNT10,000 (USD5) toMNT 40,000 (USD18). Concernswere expressed that if another companywereused,theresultingmapwouldnotbedeemedvalid,butthatevenwithavalidcadastralmap,theprocessingofownershipandpossession titlescouldstillbesubject todelays.Asnotedabove,thegeneralperceptionwasthatinsufficientimportancewasgiventotheneedsofpoorpeopleandtheprocessingoftheirapplicationswasnotcarriedoutasquicklyasitmighthavebeen.However,there were also many problems for local officials to resolve to ensure correct processing ofapplications,particularlyinthesoumcentrewheredifferenthouseholdswouldsometimesclaimthesamepieceoflandwithcadastralmapsthatoverlapped.Furthermore,accordingtotheSoumLandOfficer, early attempts to organise cadaster mapping had not been profitable for the companyinvolved,whichhadthenleft,sopeoplehadturnedtoacompanythathadnotbeenauthorisedbytheaimag;yetcadastermappingmustbeapprovedandfollowcertainstandardsif it istosecurelyunderpinlandcertificationinafairanduniformway.

Vegetableandfodderplots

In total some70% (78)of the randomly sampledhouseholds inourbaseline survey reported thattheyhad land fornon-residentialpurposes inBornuur,undereitherownership,possessionoruserights. Fifty-five per cent of this land was located in the bagh the household lived in while theremaining45%waslocatedinadifferentbaghwithinthesoum.Thus,no-oneinourbaselinesurveyreported having any land for non-residential purposes anywhere else inMongolia. In 95% of thehouseholds with non-residential land in Bornuur (74 of 78), the land had been obtained byapplicationtothegovernment;twohouseholdssaidthattheyhadboughtland,whilethemeansofaccesswasunknowninthecaseoftwofurtherhouseholds.


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In addition to land for housing, local people in Bornuur were allowed to apply to the soumgovernment to be allocated up to 5 ha of farmland for household purposes, to be held under apossessionlicencefor60years(long-termlease),andupto100haforcommercialpurposes,tobeheldunderausecontract(short-termlease).Atthetimeofour2016fieldwork,theannualfeewasMNT1,000(UScents46)perhaintherain-fedareaandMNT2,000MNT(UScents92)perhaintheirrigatedfarmarea.Companiescouldgetaccesstothislandforcommercialcropfarmingonatenderbasis,whereasindividualhouseholdscouldjustapply.

Aswithhousingplots,certificatesforvegetableandfodderplotswereusually issued inthe(male)householdhead’sname.Again,whilemostwomenandmendidnotidentifythisasaprobleminourFGDs and BIs, since the cash income from the plots was seen to benefit the whole household,potential problems could arise for women’s tenure security over this land upon divorce orwidowhood,not leastbecausecommercialcropfarmingtendedtobeamale-ledactivity,asnotedabove.

ManyparticipantsinourFGDsandBIsfeltthatoutsidersandcompaniesheldmuchlargertractsoflandthanindividuallocalhouseholdswereabletoaccess,astheyhadgreaterresourceswithwhichtobidforlandatgovernmentauctions,andthatitwasthereforedifficultinpracticeforlocalstogetmore than2ha forcrop farming.Fifty-sixof the78randomlysampledhouseholds inourbaselinesurvey with non-residential land were those who reported that they were cultivating land – thevegetable and fodder crop-farming households discussed further above; the remaining 22householdswerenotcultivatingtheirnon-agricultural landatthetimeofourbaselinesurvey.Thetotalareaofnon-residentiallandrecordedamongthese22householdswas214ha–anareagreaterthan the 182 ha cultivated by the 56 crop-farming households. According to local governmentregulations, in linewith the general provisions of the 2002 Land Law that land should be put toefficientandrationaluse,ifavegetableplot(heldunderpossessionlicenceforhouseholduse)isnotusedfortwotothreeyears,itshouldbereallocatedbythesoumgovernment.Yetasnotedabove,people told us that many large landholders leave parts of their land fallow or rent out theirvegetableplotsintheirrigatedarea,forwhichtheychargeuptoMNT150,000(USD69)perhaperyear.We also detectedmany cases of smaller landholderswith unused vegetable plots, some ofwhom lent them to relatives or rented them out. Many poorer households, as well as peopleengagedinartisanalmining,werehopingtogetaccesstotheirownvegetableplot,astheythoughtthatthiscouldimprovetheirlivesandprovideagoodsourceofcashincome.However,mostoftheformercollectiveirrigatedareahadalreadybeenallocated,asnotedabove,andtheprocesstogetavegetable or fodder plot elsewhere in the soum was considered as equally time-consuming anddifficultasforhousingplots.

Landdisputes

Eighteenpercentofall female-headedhouseholds inourbaselinesurvey(11of60)reportedthattheir household had been involved in a land or property dispute in the previous 12 months,comparedtoonly11%ofallmale-headedhouseholds(9of82).Intotal,13outofthe111randomlysampledhouseholdsreportedlanddisputes,withtherangeofdisputetypesillustratedinFigure14.


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Figure14. Typesoflanddisputesreportedbyrandomlysampledhouseholds,Bornuur

Source:WOLTSbaselinesurvey2016.N=13.

Typical landownershipdisputesrecordedinourbaselinesurveyincludeddelays inapplicationsforhousingplot certification; typical disputes about croplandcentredon issues in the landallocationprocess forvegetableplotsandhay fields.Ahandfulofdisputeshad involvedviolenceorphysicalfights,whilesomealsoinvolvedmistakesinlandallocationprocessesthathadresultedinincorrectrecordingoflandboundariesorhouseholdlandownershipdetailsinthesoumcadastermap.

In our FGDs and BIs, the allocation of large areas of pastureland for vegetable farms and fodderplantations also emerged as a cause ofmany conflicts betweenherders and farmers, as livestocktrespassedontotheallocatedland.ThiscanbeseenclearlyinTable14,below,whereby70%ofallfemalerespondents(62of88)and76%ofallmalerespondents(41of54)feltthatdisputesbetweencrop farmers andherderswere a problem in their community, and amuch greater problem thandisputeswitheitherminersorinvestors.Table14alsoprovidesourdataonpeople’sconfidenceinthe local justicesystemtoresolve landandnatural resourcedisputes,withalmosthalfofallmaleandfemalerespondentsagreeingthatitwasnoteasytogetajustresolution.

Table14. Perceptionsaboutlocalnaturalresourcedisputesbygenderofrespondent,Bornuur


gender)


gender)


gender)

F M F M F MInyourcommunitydisputesbetweenminersandcommunitymembersarenotaproblem. 24 39 44 43 32 19

Inyourcommunitydisputesbetweeninvestorsandcommunitymembersarenotaproblem. 24 44 32 28 44 28

Inyourcommunitydisputesbetweencropfarmersandherdersarenotaproblem. 19 20 70 76 10 4

Inyourcommunityitisnoteasytogetajustresolutiontoyourlandandnaturalresourcedisputes. 49 48 24 37 27 15


PasturelandmanagementAsnotedabove,only33%ofrandomlysampledhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveyreportedherdingas their top source of cash income in the 12months prior to the survey. Twenty per cent of allfemale-headedhouseholdsand38%ofallmale-headedhouseholds identifiedherdingas their topsourceofcashincome,reflectingacleargenderdifference.However,92%ofallfemalerespondents(81 of 88) and 98% of all male respondents (53 of 54) in our baseline survey agreed with thestatement that: “Themajority of people in this community depend on herding livestock for theirsurvival”,asTable15belowshows.Thiscanpartlybeexplainedby the fact thatmosthouseholds


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seemedtoownatleastsomelivestock,aswesawabove,evenifitwasnottheirmainsourceofcashincome–orindeedprovidinganycashincome–andbecauseherdingstillseemedtoprovideaverystrongsenseofculturalidentityformanypeopleinthesoum.Thelossofpasturelandwasthereforeamajorworry,with64%ofallfemalerespondents(56of88)and80%ofallmalerespondentsinourbaselinesurvey(43of54)agreeingwiththestatement:“Inyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundaccesstograzinglands”,asTable15alsoshows.

Table15. Perceptionsaboutpastoralismbygenderofrespondent,Bornuur


gender)


gender)


gender)

M F M F M FThemajorityofpeopleinthiscommunitydependonherdinglivestockfortheirsurvival. 98 92 2 7 0 1

Inyourcommunitythereareissuesaroundaccesstograzinglands. 80 64 19 15 2 22


Accesstowinterandsummercampsandgrazingareas

AccordingtotheSoumLandOfficer,therewere69,000haofpasturelandavailableinBornuurwherewinter and summer camps could be set up. 260households had a possession certificate for theirwinter campsat the timeofour2016 fieldwork, covering the campsiteand immediately adjacentpastures, and usually registered in the name of the (male) household head. The applicationprocedurewassimilartothatforhousingplots,withacadastralmapfirstneedingtobedrawnupattheherders’ownexpense.

However, participants in our FGDs andBIs claimed that in practice itwas verydifficult to acquirenew winter camps, as there were no more unallocated areas available, leading to many youngmarriedcoupleshavingtostayintheirparents’wintercamps.Italsoappearedthatwhilemostolderpeoplehadwintercampsitesthatwererecordedinthesoumcadastermap,manydidnotactuallyhaveapossessioncertificate.Thiswasseenasproblematicbecausewithoutformaldocumentationoftheirrights,theirwintercampscouldbeofficiallyre-allocatedtosomeoneelse.

Atthetimeofourfieldworkin2016,peopleneededtovacatewinterpasturesonMay1eachyearand move to summer pastures until October 15, by edict of the soum government. Although informer years, herdershadalsomoved to spring camps, themainmovementsnowwerebetweensummer and winter camps only, and the distances covered were reported to be relatively smallcomparedtothepast.ParticipantsinourFGDsandBIsmentionedthatthefurthesttheymightnowmove between winter and summer camps was 40 km, more exceptionally, while the closestdistance,more commonly,was just 5 km (or less). Transportwas also no longer provided by thesoumgovernmenttohelppeoplemove,ashadbeenthecaseinsocialisttimes.Summercampswerenotrecordedonthesoumcadastermapandtherewerenopossessioncertificatesissuedforthemat all. Instead,wewere told thatmostpeople setup their summer camp in the sameplaceeachyear,sothattheyhadacustomaryuseright inthatarea.Neighbouringhouseholdsusuallysharedpastureland,withanynewcomersneedingtonegotiatewiththosealreadythereinordertosetupanewsummercamp.

We were also told that many herders no longer moved the animals to pasture themselves, butinsteadsomehiredpaidassistants todo this, forMNT1,000 (UScents46)peranimalpermonth;moreoftenthey leftsomeof their livestockwithrelatives tobegrazed ineitherBornuurorothersoums.Generally,theherderswhodidnotmovewiththeirlivestockwerethosewhohadthefewestanimals,asitwasmorecost-effectiveforthemnottomoveandinsteadmakearrangementstogive


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their few livestock to relativesor friends; sometimes thiswould involve cashpayments,butmoreoftenitwouldbeforreciprocalfavourssuchaslettingthemkeepanyyoungborntotheiranimals,orlettingarelative’schildstaywiththeminthesoumcentretogotoschool.

ThesetrendswerereflectedinourbaselinesurveydatasetoutinFigure15below,whichshowsthat18%ofall female-headedhouseholds(11of60)reportedfortheirmainmodeofgrazingthattheygavelivestocktootherhouseholds,asdid36%ofallmale-headedhouseholds(30of82).

Figure15. Grazingpatternsinfemale-(left)andmale-headed(right)households,Bornuur



Thelowlevelofreportedintensivelivestockfarming(zero-grazing)indicatedinFigure15alsotallieswithwhatwewere told, i.e. that intensive livestock farming, although promoted by governmentpolicy,was still very small-scale compared to traditionalherding; semi-intensive livestock farming,however,appearedtobemorecommon.Increasingsedentarisationandreducedmobilityofherdersin Bornuurwas thus a definite issue that emerged during our 2016 fieldwork, linked to both theadoption of semi-intensive livestock farming practices and the ‘farming-out’ of animals to otherhouseholds for grazing just noted above. Itwas also linked to changing family arrangements andlivelihoods.Thediversityinhouseholdlivelihoodswesawearlier,includingwithformalemployment,cropfarmingandmining,militatedagainstseasonalhouseholdmovement,evenforherders.Atthesametime,inordertofacilitatechildren’seducation,itseemedthatmanyBornuurherders–oratleastmembersofherdinghouseholds– lived inhouses in thesoumcentre throughout theschoolyearandonlymovedtotheirsummercampduringschoolholidays.Thuswesawabovethat33%ofall randomly sampled households had at least one member not living permanently in theirhousehold’smainresidence–i.e.,onethirdofalltherandomlysampledhouseholdsinoursurveyinBornuur were living as split families. On the other hand, semi-intensive and intensive livestockfarmers tendedtostay in theirwintercamps thewholeyear round,keeping their livestockwithintheirkhashaaandfeedingthemfodderandhay.Weobservedthatsomeoftheselivestockfarmershadverywelldevelopedfarmhouses,includingmilkingunitswithintheirkhashaa.

Seventy-threeper cent (81) of the randomly sampledhouseholds in our baseline survey reportedtheirprimarymeansofaccesstograzinglandasthroughcommunal(openaccess)landthatanyonecould use. However, there was also one household using a crop farmer’s land for grazing theiranimals, thus with shared private rights, and one household using their own land around theirhousing plot for grazing,with exclusive private rights. Twenty-four per cent (27) of the randomlysampledhouseholdsreportedthat theywerenotgrazing (anddidnothave)anyanimalsatall.AscanbeseenclearlyinFigure16below,48%(29)ofall60female-headedhouseholdsinourbaselinesurveywerenotgrazinganyanimalsatall,comparedtojust17%ofall82male-headedhouseholds.Thisagainunderscores thestronggenderdifferencewith respect toherding,withproportionatelyfewerfemale-headedthanmale-headedherderhouseholdsinBornuur.


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Figure16. Mainmeansofaccesstograzinglandbyallsurveyedhouseholds,Bornuur

Source:WOLTSMongoliabaselinesurvey,2016.Chartincludesadditionalfemale-headedhouseholds,aswellasthoserandomlyselected.


Haymakingareas

Hayisofcrucial importancetoherders inordertofeedtheiranimals inwinter.Participants inourFGDsandBIsreportedthathaymakingandpastureareasusedtobethesameandthatanybodywhowantedtousepasturelandtomakehaycoulddoso,butthatincreasesinbothhumanandlivestockpopulations, as well as the perceived degradation of pasture, put pressures on the soum’shaymakingareasthathaveledtotheincreasedprivatisationofhayfieldsinBornuur.WeweretoldthatBornuurherders’livestockwerecountedin2009andasoumgovernor’sresolutionwasissuedwithregardtohowmanyhectaresofhayfieldsshouldbeallocatedtoeachherderhousehold;morethan80%ofBornuur’sherderhouseholdsreceivedhaymakingareasforwhichtheythenhadtopayMNT800(UScents37)perhatothesoum.Nocertificateswereissuedforthesehaymakingareas–asthelawdoesnotallowlandcertificationofpastureland–but,accordingtotheSoumLandOfficer,ifthoseallocatedthelanddidcadastermappingthentheirareawasformallyrecordedinthesoum’scadastermap, giving them a ‘soft’ right to the land. By the time of our fieldwork in 2016, somefamilieswereunabletomanagewiththeirallocatedareasastheirherdsizeshad increased inthemeantime.Moreover,thequalityofgrassinthehaymakingareaswasperceivedtobedecreasingaswell, due to perceived pastureland degradation.We also heard complaints frompeoplewho hadmovedtothesoumsince2009,andhadthereforemissedoutonbeingallocatedahayfield,thattheoriginal(2009)allocationhadnotbeenfair,andthatsomewell-connectedindividualshadobtainedlargerhayfieldsandweresellingtheirhaytopoorer, localherders.Newcomersandyoungpeoplewerealsoreportedtobeunabletoobtainanyhayfieldsandthereforehadtobuyinhay,oftenfrompeopleinothersoums.

Despitethesoumgovernment’seffortstoresolveconflictsoverhaymakingareasthroughthe2009allocation of designated areas to different Bornuur herder households, we heard reports ofcontinuingdisputesandevenphysical fights. Solutions to theseproblemswereusuallynegotiatedbetweenindividualfamilies,andoneofourFGDsrevealedthatfemale-headedhouseholdswhohadnomale supportwere particularly likely to lose their hay fields, as their female household headswere often not taken seriously in discussions with male herders. The fact that many haymakingareaswerenotfencedalsocreatedproblems:somepeoplesaidthatotherfamiliescouldlayclaimtotheirhayfieldsorevensetuptheirwintercampsinhaymakingareas,andtheftoffreshhaywasafurtherconcern.OtherssaidthatshamanistsfromothersoumscametothemainhaymakingareainBichigtforesttocarryoutrituals,leavinglocalpeopletooscaredtousetheirhayfields.ParticipantsinoneofourFGDsalsorevealedthatdisputeshavetakenplacefromtimetotimeinthehaymakingareasinthesouthernpartofBornuursoumwithherdersfromneighbouringBatsumbersoum.Duetoallthesevariousissues, itseemedthatsomepeopleinBornuurwerestartingtofencetheirhayfields in order to prevent outsiders from entering them – putting yet more pressure on the


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remaining commonpastureland in the soum,particularly if people fenceda larger area than theyhadbeenallocated,asseemedsometimesalsotobethecase.

Difficultiesfacedbyfemale-headedherderhouseholds

As discussed above, the fact that traditional herding was perceived as a male activity tended tomake it difficult for widowed, divorced, separated or singlewomen to continue herding on theirown.Whilewomenwere in charge ofmilking the animals andmakingmilk products, these taskstookplacewithintheconfinesofthekhashaa,whereastheactualherding(i.e.takingtheanimalstopasture),aswellasslaughteringanimalsandmakinghayforwinter,werealloutdoortasksdonebymen.Winter campmaintenancewas also seen as aman’s job –with herding inwinter generallymuch more difficult as all the outside work was done in extreme sub-zero temperatures (up tominus35°C).

Becauseofthis,accesstopastureandhaymakingareaswasgenerallydiscussedandagreeduponbymen,anddisputesoverpasture resolvedbetween them,and female-headedhouseholds reportedthattheyfound itdifficult tonegotiate inthismale-dominatedenvironment.DuringourFGDsandBIs,afewwomenmentionedthattherightsofsinglewomentopastureandhaymakingareaswereoften not respected, which is in line with findings from other research on gender equality inMongolia–theperceptionofherdingasamaleactivitycreatingthedifficultyforfemalehouseholdheadsthat,eveniftheywantedtocontinueherding,theywouldnotbetakenasseriouslyasmaleherdersindisputesoveraccesstopasture.Ontopofthedifficultiesaroundaccesstoland,mostofthefemalehouseholdheadsweinterviewedinourfieldworkin2016alsomentionedthattheycouldnot copewith theheavyworkload involved inherdinganimalsaloneandhad thereforeendedupselling all their animals, and often their farmland too – for reasons both of time constraints andfinancialdifficulties.

Comparedtothesituationwithregardstoformalregistrationandcertificationofhousingplotsandcropfarms,whereparticipants inourFGDsandBIsdidnotperceivetheretobesignificantgenderdiscrimination,wethereforefoundthatwomendidfacerealdiscriminationwithregardstoaccesstoland for pasture and summer camps, for which formal certification was not available. Instead,pastureland,summercampsandhaymakingareas inBornuurremainedunder longstandingtenurepracticesandarrangementsthatwerelargelystillunderthecontrolofmaleherders.

Allthesevariousfactorscombinedtomakeherdingmoredifficultforfemale-headedhouseholds.Itseemed fromour2016 fieldwork that they could carryonasherdinghouseholdsonly if theyhadbrothers or other male relatives close by who would help them. This also helps to explain ourobservations,inlinewithotherresearchfromacrossMongolia,thatsomeherderhouseholdssendtheirdaughterstoschool inthesoumcentrewhilekeepingtheirsonsathometotakeupherding.This contributes to the gender disparities in education noted above and creates subsequentdifficulties for male herders in finding wives. The social implications of these trends have yet tobecomefullyclear;however,whatdidseemclearwasthatimprovementsinaccesstograzinglandforwomenherdersandfemale-headedhouseholdswhowanttocontinuetoherdmustbepartofanyeffortstosupportgenderequalityandbalancethissituationforthebetter.

ConclusionsOur2016fieldworkinBornuurrevealedmanyconflictsoverlandandnaturalresourcesinthesoum,including a general increase in conflicts over different land uses since the former socialist times.Theseconflictsarosefromtheinterplayofdifferentchangestakingplaceinthesoum.Immigrationinto Bornuur was perceived to have contributed to land pressures, including land scarcity, landconcentration, the development of a land market in non-residential land, and environmentaldegradation.Therapidsocio-economicandenvironmentalchangestakingplaceinBornuuragainstthebackdropofthesepressuresseemedtohavehadabiggerandmorenegativeeffectonpoorer


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andmorevulnerablepeople,includingfemale-headedhouseholdsandtheyoungandunemployed,astheyfacedthemostdifficultiesinaccessinglandandparticipatinginlocallandmanagement.

Whilemininghascreatednewopportunitiesforpeopleinthesoumsincethe1990s,particularlyinthe form of artisanal mining, it has also created problems around health and alcoholism and itremainstarnishedby illegality.Theinteractionsbetweenlocalcitizensandlargeminingcompanieshave been very poor, with local people often seeming to be uninformed about companies’operationsinthesoum.MiningactivitiesandthegrowingtourismindustryinBornuurhavealsohadnegativeeffectsonwaterqualityandquantity,whichwasaparticularworryforherders.Whileforsomeherders,lifehasimprovedinthelastdecadesastheyhavebeenabletoestablishpermanenthousesandbecomesemi-intensiveorintensivelivestockandcropfarmers,forthemajorityrelyingon traditional nomadic pastoralism, life overall has become more difficult. The increasingprivatisationofdifferenttypesoflandhasledtofencesspringingupalloverthesoum’spastureland,challenginglongstandingpatternsofcommunalandshareduse,andtheremainingpasturelandwasperceivedtohavebecomeheavilydegradedatthesametimeashumanand livestockpopulationshave increased. All of these developments, as well as the pull of urban life, have caused youngpeopletobecomedisillusionedwithherdingandseekemploymentinthecapitalcity,leavingolderadultsbehindinthecountryside.

Both internal and external threats thus appear to combine to make herders’ livelihoods veryprecariousinBornuurtoday.Ononehand,governmentpolicydidnotseemtopromotepastoralistlifestyles,preferringintensivelivestockandcropfarminginstead,andlargetractsoflandappearedto have been allocated for farming, tourism and mining investments. On the other hand, theperceptionwasthatthese largelyoutsider-driven investmentshavenegativelyaffectedthequalityandquantityofpastureland,waterandforestresourcesinthesoum,aswellaslocalpeople’shealth.

While inawell-functioningherderhouseholdwomen’sandmen’sroleswereseentocomplementeachotherandwomenseemedtoholdrelativelyimportantpowersoverhouseholddecision-makingand finances,we foundseveral casesofwomendescending into tenure insecurityandpovertyonwidowhood.Althoughdivorcewasuncommon, itmightalsoposeproblems forwomen,given theprevalenceof land certification in the solenameof the (male)householdhead.Bothwomenandmendidnotperceivetheretobeanydiscriminationbygenderwithregardtoformallandallocationprocesses, only by wealth/poverty, and many women reported owning housing plots (and, to alesser extent, small vegetable plots). However, access to pastureland was still traditionallynegotiatedbymenandfemale-headedhouseholdsoftenstruggledtomaintaintheiraccessrightstopastures,summercampsandhay fields,andoften lostout indisputeswithotherhouseholds; therights of widows to these types of land were notably not well-respected. Furthermore, female-headedhouseholdswereunabletoshouldertheheavyworkloadand/orwereunwillingtotakeon‘male’ tasks,suchasslaughteringanimalsoroperatingmachinery, inthepresenceofstrongsocialnormsthatpositionedherdingasanactivityfortraditionalmale-headedfamilyunits.

Allthesedifficultiesforfemale-headedhouseholdswereexacerbatedinthecurrentcontextofhighmalemortality andmorbidity as a result ofmining, aswell as the increasingoverall land scarcity,concentrationanddegradation.Thisbegsthequestionofwhatpositiveoptionsthereareforfemale-headedhouseholdsinBornuur,givenourfieldworkfindingsabouttheirdifficultiesingainingaccessto land for both herding and crop farming, the dangers of mining, and the persistence of socialnorms about traditional gender roles. Small businesses and formal employment stand out asimportantalternatives,butareunlikelytobeviableforall,andwewereanywayrepeatedlytoldthatformalemploymentoptionswerelimitedinthesoum.Thisthereforepointsinsteadtoaclearneedfor greater participation by all people in Bornuur in decision-making about land and naturalresources ingeneral,andaboutpastureland inparticular– includingpoorerpeople,andespeciallysuchvulnerablepeopleasfemaleherdersandwidows,aswellasthesickandelderlypoor–inorderto protect these not insubstantial groups of Bornuur citizens from falling into long-term chronicpovertyandtenureinsecurity.

wolts project mongolia bornuur soum report...

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