But in a nation famous for its warrior shepherds, the loss of animals is more than just an economic crisis. The crisis is especially difficult for the 500,000 herders in this nation of 2.6 million people, said Ch. Ganbold, a publisher and advisor to Amarjargal. Livestock means the income for education at secondary schools. Livestock means the possibility of sending their kids to university.
Livestock means cash income.
And so the effects will continue next winter and beyond. Individuals, some foreign governments and several relief agencies have provided cash, but Mongolian officials complain that it is difficult to capture the world's attention when the crisis involves dying animals in a remote nation. Many families will have exhausted their food stocks by April or May and need food assistance, said Juergen Weyand, senior liaison officer with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. But what is really needed is the cash to enable herders to buy new animals within Mongolia. But you have to buy from those who have and give to those who need.