Reaching the Rural Poor Through Agricultural Cooperatives in Mongolia

Bc. Markéta Hilliová

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The study is preoccupied with the cooperative sector in central Mongolia. Its aim is to provide new insights into the role and importance of cooperatives in regard to poor rural populations. In the study we analyzed the inclusiveness of smaller herders and farmers within the cooperatives. The research was based on data collection in selected provinces of the Tov region. The data were collected for three distinctive target groups: cooperativeboard members, cooperative members and non-members/herders. We found that the cooperative sector in Mongolia is strongly affected by the governmental policy of woolsubsidies, which allows subsidies only to cooperative members, and is thus potentially leading to very low levels of members self-identification with the cooperative due to big increases in the numbers of new cooperative members. This policy is potentially also affecting the inner organizational structure of cooperatives. Further, we have found suggestions that poorer herdsmen tend not to be members of cooperatives and overall benefits for non-members and the general community arising from local cooperatives are rather low.

Keywords

inclusiveness, small-scale herders, mongolia, cooperatives

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 21. 4. 2016

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Jiří Hejkrlík, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / International Development and Agricultural Economics