| Project Detail |
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A. Project Development Objective
PDO Statement
19. To improve livestock health, productivity, and commercialization of targeted value chains in
project locations and to provide immediate and effective response in the event of an eligible crisis or
emergency.
PDO Level Indicators
(a) Reduced prevalence of priority diseases in project intervention areas (percentage)
(b) Increased yield of livestock products (meat and dairy) (percentage)
(c) Increased inflation-adjusted value of livestock products (percentage)
B. Project Components
20. Mongolia’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Light Industry (MOFALI) has identified the livestock
sector’s competitiveness as a development policy priority. The project is aimed to directly benefit small
herders and other vulnerable groups, particularly women and youths, in remote pastoral communities
and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other livestock value chain actors. The project is structured
as an Investment Project Financing (IPF) with the following four components, financed with an IDA credit
in the amount of US$30 million over five years.
Component 1: Animal Health Services (US$20 million)
21. This component aims to improve the quality of and access to veterinary services nationally and to
contribute to the establishment of TAD-free zone(s) in specified areas. The proposed interventions will
reduce animal diseases and provide better veterinary public health through strengthened veterinary
services and improved program delivery. The project activities under this component will strengthen the
Mongolian national veterinary services in line with international standards, finance activities that will
contribute to the establishment of disease-free zones for FMD and PPR, and improve the quality and
safety of animals and animal products entering the value chain through improved management of animal
health. The component will support animal identification and traceability from herders and producers to
processors. All project activities under this component, including institutional and capacity building,
disease surveillance and control and food safety, the digital livestock interventions, and participatory
animal health risk management initiatives, will also strengthen climate adaptation mechanisms,
enhancing the resilience of Mongolia’s livestock system against adverse climate change events.
22. Subcomponent 1.1: Institutional and Capacity Building (US$5 million). The project will
strengthen the institutional capabilities of the recently established GAVS for effective implementation of
the Animal Health Law (2018). This will be achieved by supporting investments that will enhance the
performance of the Mongolian Veterinary Services to be benchmarked against international standards.
As a result, the GAVS will improve its ability nationally to effectively control animal diseases, promote
animal welfare and the responsible use of antimicrobials, provide veterinary public health, and improve
food safety. The project will support the GAVS in developing and executing a comprehensive human
resource development plan and capacity-building programs for veterinary personnel, including
paraprofessionals (in both the public and private sectors) and other technical staff such as scientists and
laboratory technicians. This will include piloting of a Young Professionals Program for fresh veterinary
graduates and an internship program for veterinary students in senior years for attracting young talent
and shaping their technical knowledge and managerial skills to successfully drive, achieve, and sustain the
GAVS initiatives. The project will support reviews by the OIE using its Performance of Veterinary Services
(PVS) evaluation tool and ensure that there is effective and systematic response as well as follow up on
its recommendations. The Mongolia One Health plan will also be supported in bringing greater policy and
program cohesion between humans and the animal sector.
23. Subcomponent 1.2: Disease Surveillance and Control and Food Safety (US$9 million). The
project will support improving the delivery of risk-based disease surveillance and control programs for
TADs, particularly FMD and PPR priority endemic diseases, and food safety in line with global and regional
strategies. This will entail investments in developing national risk-based food safety supervision
frameworks, epidemiological research, food risks assessments and food safety standards, effective
immunization plans, improved disease surveillance methods, disease monitoring/surveys, and disease
control activities, including risk communications with herders and producers. Nationally, veterinary drug
quality control, disease diagnosis, and food safety laboratories networks will be strengthened, and their
investigation capacity will be redefined with a greater hierarchy of diagnostic laboratory capabilities—
central/reference laboratories, regional/aimag laboratories and ‘inter-soum’ laboratories provided for
local field support. The project will also contribute to the establishment of ‘high health’ animal production
compartments as per OIE guidelines. Operationally, disease surveillance and control activities and pilot
initiatives will be focused on the project intervention areas. |
