MONGOLIA, Gers District, Ulaanbaatar City.
£3,000.
Food Security and Home Kitchen Garden Promotion Programme.
Funding for seeds, tool kits and agricultural training for vulnerable and homeless people.
Most of the population is concentrated in Ulaanbaatar.
Since 1990, a collapse in the economy, infrastructure and living
conditions has led to insufficient income, homelessness and a
marginalised population.
Homeless people shelter in basements, corridors and in the City's
underground manholes. Many migrants from the countryside live in
overpopulated conditions, on areas of land around the city, called
"gear areas".
There is a lack of childcare. Insufficient diet and poor living
conditions leads to respiratory infection and gastric diseases,
which are not adequately treated because of the costs involved. A high
proportion of the children have retarded growth and vitamin &
mineral deficiency - there is acute malnutrition.
Mongolia has a semi-arid continental climate with harsh winters and
drought in the summer. However, 80% of the land is suited to
agriculture.
The project will enable beneficiaries (who have access to a plot of
land) to grow cabbages, carrots, potatoes, red beet and turnips. This
will improve the quality and diversity of householder's food and diet.
Income will be generated through selling a percentage of the harvested
vegetables, which will give people some means to improve their
livelihoods themselves.
Vegfam's contribution will enable new gardening initiatives to be
implemented in the "gear areas". It is part of a much larger project
that will benefit 1200 vulnerable households (approximately 5400
people).
Financed through ACTION AGAINST HUNGER (London, UK).