Mongolian shepherds learn to make cheese in Slovakia

The village of Kvacany in the north of Slovakia with a long cheese-making tradition recently hosted rather rare visitors. It became a training venue for mongolian shepherds organised within the frame of the slovak development aid. Two Mongolian participants had a chance to learn how to make a long shelf life cheese which lasts much longer than a quark-like type of cheese currently produced from yak milk in Mongolia. Processing extends the shelf life of the natural cheese, which is made mainly from surplus summer milk for sale throughout the year. The recipes have been formulated to use yak cheese and other cheese-like traditional products made in summer by nomadic herders out on the steppe. This training course, as well as a necessary technology transfer to Mongolia was organised by NGO A-projekt with the financial help of more than € 116, 000 by SlovakAID.

Mongolia – potential for development

Mongolia, country about 30 times bigger than Slovakia but inhabited only by 2,5 million people, has a high availability of milk by Asian standards (134 kg per person per year). Mongolia used to be self-sufficient in milk. During the rapid transition from state-run to market-based economy in the 1990s, the dairy industry collapsed. By 2002 most of the processed milk sold in urban areas was imported. Nowadays, despite the relative abundance of milk and long tradition of dairy production, local farmers are unable to produce long shelf life cheese suitable for exports. The Mongolian market is very small relative to the country’s potential and comparative advantage for dairy production.

The shepherds trained in Slovakia will later be responsible for training other colleagues in a training center in Mongolia. New know-how and techniques learned in Slovakia will reduce the need of cheese imports to Mongolia and improve the financial situation of the shepherds which now forces many traditional families to move to the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar.

The shadowy side of the development aid

This is quite idealistic picture of how the Slovak development aid works. However, there are strong voices warning about the negative effects of this project as well. Film producers Daniela Rusnoková and Mario Homolka pictured the life of a shepherds family in Mongolia from the point of conclusion of what was described as “a successful project” by Vlasta Körnerová, the director of A-projekt. With the help of SlovakAID their financial situation has improved radically. Even if one of the aims of the project was to help people in rural areas make a decent living without having to move to Ulaanbaathar, it seems this has turned out to work in the opposite way. If you suddenly had a TV in your yurta, showing you the glamorous life in metropolitan cities of the world, wouldn't you dream of moving to the capital as soon as possible? This is what is happening to the young people in rural areas of Mongolia. And now, with the help of SlovakAID and improved financial situation of their parents, they finally have all they need for it.

I'm not saying it is bad when the young Mongolians have better chances of a good education and employment. But if someone claims the Slovak development aid helps retain the rural population in Mongolia, the reality may look quite differently. The project itself has a wonderful idea. One should just think if the development aid really ends at the moment of investing money or if it actually starts there.

Information and photo source:

SITA

.tyzden

Mongolia milk production, processing and consumption outlook to 2010