What is life like for rural communities in Mongolia and what are the biggest challenges they face them?
Life in rural Mongolia is hard, particularly because of the harsh environment. Summer is generally a very pleasant time to visit the country, but in winter temperatures plunge to well below -30 C for months on end. The climate is also very dry, with low rainfall, making many forms of agriculture risky. Apart from the environment, Mongolia is a huge country with shaky infrastructure that makes communications difficult. There are few good roads and, though the network is spreading, many places still lack 24-hour electricity. Travel times are long and many social services are only available in large cities, reducing people’s access to them. It is because rural communities are so isolated, and face these additional challenges, that Mercy Corps has concentrated its work with them. In many areas it can be difficult to identify opportunities for individuals, families and communities to pull themselves out of poverty, but time and time again people have demonstrated that with resilience, creat
