centre for policy research · 2017-09-05 · marketing project (lamp) project brief summary project...

CENTRE FOR POLICY RESEARCH [ ] http://www.cpr.mn/en/

A pilot feeding of Mongolian lamb under the WB-supported Livestock and Agricultural

Marketing Project (LAMP)

Project brief summary

Project name: “Lamb feeding collaborative research project”

Implementing party: Center for Policy Research

Implementing herder cooperative: “Bayan Ovon Khukh Khairkhan”

Project financed by: LAMP & “Bayan Ovon Khukh Khairkhan” cooperative

Pilot venue: Arkhangai aimag Tsetserleg soum

Pilot start date: November 3, 2015

Pilot end date: December 2, 2015

Pilot duration: 30 days

Number of lambs fed: 300

Number of pilot and control lambs monitored: 20/10

Feeding days, by fodder type:

o Green fodder - 33 days (3/XI-5/XII)

o Hay, bran - 22 days (14/XI-5/XII)

Rationale of project implementation

A total area of 194523 hectares of pastureland in Tsetserleg soum has a carrying capacity of 92630

sheep units. As of 2014, there are a total of 290684 physical heads or 415725 sheep units in the soum,

exceeding pasture carrying capacity by 4.5 times. When analyzing the sheep herd structure, the sale of

young animals is inadequate and the share of non-breeding male & barren animals is high since the

portion of young offspring in the herd is 34%. The share of non-breeding animals aged 2 and more years

accounts for 30% indicating lower herd replacement. This leads to the increase in the number of

nonbreeding animals and thus, the exceeding of pasture carrying capacity.

The rationale of this project lies in the urgency to reduce stocking density through the sale of animals by

feeding lambs with green fodder grown locally at the soum. Moreover, urban development has fueled the

growing need for meat products in all 4 seasons. Tsetserleg soum is a good representation of the overall

livestock sector. Thus, table 1 demonstrates the project rationale in connection with this common affair.


Table 1: LIVESTOCK SECTOR TODAY - Path to Sustainable Development

REASON CONSEQUENCE SOLUTION KEY

PROJECTS

Problem А: Common use of pasture – indefinite property rights

Herders:

- Pursue growing

livestock numbers –

ignore pasture, hence

livestock quality

- Don’t care of livestock

and livestock product

quality and health

requirements

- Discourage investments

from outside the

livestock sector

- Overgrazing and

degradation pasture for 70%

(Arkhangai animals exceed

carrying capacity 4 times),

- Low off-take rates

- Animal value dropped 2

times from the previous year

- Declined market

competitiveness of livestock

and its products

- Closed export markets for

meat

- Exposed to risks

Define property rights of

herders – Introduce

pastureland use agreements to

incentivize off-take rates

sufficient to prevent

overgrazing and investments in

quality/productivity

improvements and risk

management

SDC - Green

Gold /GG/

Other donors?

Problem B: Lack of cooperation among herders combined with many small, mostly subsistent

household economies scattered over huge territory with poor infrastructure makes investments in value

chains unattractive.

Have not found yet

effective forms of

cooperation in value

chains /collection,

storage, transportation,

processing, marketing/.

The current cooperatives

largely fail to meet

members’ expectations.

Incapable of offering

competitive products and

fetching better prices

- Lead by demonstrating ways

to produce value added

products and increase

incomes by reaching better

markets

- Support marketing

cooperatives really working

for member- herders’

interests

- Establish marketing

structures/boards capable of

coordinating from soum to

national levels

WB-LAMP

SDC-GG

SDC-GG

WB-LAMP

SDC-GG

Launching up to

aimag level

First of all addressing the problem in A through contracting pastures to herder groups will encourage

herders cooperating and investing in value chains.

The project aimed to provide herders & meat business owners with useful recommendations after

establishing the economic profitability of growing green fodder in forest steppe regions to feed lambs in

the cold season.


Photo 1 Pilot lamb: weighs 32.4 kg Photo 2 Control lamb: weighs 28.3 kg

Table 1: Lamb feeding ration, per lamb & all lambs

Feed name, type

Feed duration,

days

Feed per lamb, daily

Total feed consumed, 30 days Feed consumed

Physical kg

Feed Unit kg

Per lamb, kg feed

unit

Per lamb, kg

physical unit

300 lambs,

kg Quantity

Unit cost MNT

Total cost ‘000 MNT

Hay 22 0.3 0.12 2.64 6.6 1980 110 7000 770

Green fodder

33 0.6 0.54 18.0 19.8 5940 424 7000 2968

Bran 22 0.3 0.15 3.3 6.6 1980 79.2 13000 1029.6

Minerals 33 0.01 = 0.3 0.33 99 99 410 40.6

TOTAL 1.210 0.81 22.3 33.3 9999 4808.2

Note: A kg of hay, green fodder & bran are considered 0.4, 0.4 & 0.9 feed units, respectively. When the

total feed consumed is converted to feed units, one lamb consumes 24.2 kg and 300 lambs consume

13.5 tons in 30 days. Quantity of feed consumed is in packs for hay, green fodder, bran and kg for

minerals. 1 pack of hay, bran and green fodder is 18, 25 and 14 kg respectively.

Photo 6. Green fodder & hay as seen on the roof

of fenced lamb shelter built by the funds of the

cooperative.

Photo 7 Each of the 20 pilot lambs and control

10 lambs were marked with identity numbers.

Herding conditions. During the adaptation stage, the lambs were camped together and allowed to

graze in a fenced field at daytime with a nearby well as a water source. In the feeding stage, the lambs

were camped and fed in a fenced shelter with feeding compartments.


Photo 8: Fodder field – wooden hay fence, and

trough filled with green fodder.

Photo 9: A 50 meter fence built along the front

of the fodder field with a 20 meter trough

placed in the middle of the field to feed

the lambs with green fodder & bran.

Photo 10: Pilot lambs can be seen camped

together in the morning before being fed.

Photo 11: The lambs are well adapted to

herding & raising conditions by feeding

on fodder without getting frightened of the

movement & conversation of nearby people

Photo 12: Lambs can be seen feeding on green

fodder without sorting soft leaves & stems.

As such, feed consumption is considered

to be good among the lambs.

Photo 13: Trough filled with green fodder

Photo 14: Unconsumed leftovers of root mixed

with dirt

Photo 15: Lambs arriving back at the fodder

field after grazing for water.


PILOT - FINDINDG & POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Number of lambs fed: 300

Number of pilot and control lambs

monitored: 20/10

Feeding days:

Green fodder - 33 days (3/XI-5/XII)

Hay, bran - 22 days (14/XI-5/XII)

Daily ration, kg:

Green fodder - 0.6

Hay - 0.35

Bran - 0.3

Daily weight gain, gram

Pilot lamb - 78.8

Control lamb - 66.7

Figure 1: Pilot & control lambs’ weight change, kg

Table 1: Cost benefit analysis of feed used

Total weight

gained, kg

Carcass

yield, %

Carcass

weight,

kg

Carcass income

for, MNT

(4000 per kg)

By product,

MNT

Total

Income,

MNT

Cost of

feed used,

MNT

Loss,

MNT

5.3 45 2.4 9481 253 9733 16027 -6294

Conclusion: Feeding Mongolian lambs is not justified economically and it is better to maximize weight gain

on pastures to keep lambs’ comparative advantage of being green and free-range product with unique

taste.

Table 2: Recommended options for increasing lamb production, income and productivity, estimates per

100 sheep herd

Share of

breeding

female

Lamb off-take

rate

Meat

produc-

tion, kg

Required pasture Output per 1 ha of

pasture Productivity gains

Green

mass,

100 kg

Area, ha Meat, kg

Meat

income,

MNT

% MNT

А 45% No 526.09 606.61 216.65 2.43 9713.18 100.00 -

B 45% No 694.44 583.44 208.37 3.33 13330.86 137.24 3617.67

C 65% Male 87%

Female 5% 813.35 573.12 204.69 3.97 15894.56 163.64 6181.37

А – Current situation with around 10% animal number growth rate, B – Steady herd (number not growing), no sale of lambs, C –

Steady herd with sales of dominantly male lambs

As shown above meat production, income and productivity increases from А to C while saving pastures. For example, option C

produces 100 kg of meat on 16 ha less pastures compared to option A implying that pasture stocking densities can be dropped

by 63%.

25.7 28.3

2.6 2.7 5.3

21.2 19

-2.2 -5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Before After Gain + - Compensated

loss

Total gain

Pilot Control


Marketing

Pilot lambs promoted for sale using e-mail and text messaging to reach 455,000 organizations and individuals.

So far orders have been received - 1 restaurant for 40 carcasses and 27 individuals for 29 carcasses.

Actually sold – 20 carcasses for the restaurant and 15 carcasses for 11 individuals mostly from the higher income

group

Sales prospects – expand the domestic market by promoting health advantages of lamb vs mutton and export

markets by addressing barriers in veterinary and value chain areas and promoting advantages of free range and

green product.

Policy implications – herders:

Increase breeding ewes in the herd structure, organize mating not later than 15 October and separate mating

male stock by 10 November

Organize lambing by April to extend lamb’s age

Feed ewes one month before and after lambing to prevent mother’s milk decline and lambs malnutrition

Graze lambs earlier on young spring grasses to accustom to grazing

Arrange summer otor grazing for sheep herds early in areas with enough water and licks

Keep ewes free from milking and rear lambs on full suckling

Wean well-grown lambs by mid-August and organize lamb herds to accustom to grazing on their own

Put the lamb herd on harvested green fodder field where available in mid-October when pastures decline

Feed lambs daily 0.3-0.5 kg good hay after grazing in late November to prevent weight loss and to reach

minimum of 30 kg of live weight and organize slaughter in early December, introduce simple and cheap

options of storage such as using permafrost

Consumption and marketing:

Expand the domestic market by promoting low cholesterol food and gain health benefits among the population

Support investments in meat value chains

Open export markets by certifying disease-free zones, promoting cooperation with foreign buyers and

attracting investments in these areas


TEMPORARY FIELD SLAUGHTER POINT

The Cooperative members – herders participated

in the Training before the slaughter. The topics

of the training were: the Meat Inspection

Rules and the Veterinary – Sanitary – Hygiene

Expertize and Certification.

The Veterinary Sanitary and Hygiene expertize of the

lambs, carcassses and by-products and Certification

Cleaning, examination and certification

of the by-products

Freezing of the carcasses in the tent on snow

ground with plastic double coverage

Packaging, weighing and labeling of the carcasses

Transporting of carcasses in triple packaging:

plastic bag, plastic and canvas covers.


Health benefits of lamb vs mutton

In developed western countries sheep is not grown until adult ages (mutton) but slaughtered at up to 1

year old age (lamb). This is because lamb is healthier than other types of meat. In fact, it is

commonly used in Mediterranean diets which result in lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The

cholesterol amount of 100 gram lamb contains 96 mg of cholesterol 13 mg less than in mutton.

Lamb has very little marbling in it, 64% of the fat is mono or polyunsaturated fat, which is the “good”

fat in diets

Lamb is rich in high-quality proteins, B vitamins, zinc, and iron

It has the proper ratios of all 8 amino acids needed by the body

Lamb is also full of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which the human body cannot produce. CLA is a

potent anti-oxidant and an effective immune system enhancer.

Sale of lamb

The sale of lamb was arranged through the following outlets:

Pilot lambs promoted for sale using e-mail and text messaging to reach 455,000 organizations

and individuals

Orders received – 20 carcasses were distributed to 1 restaurant and 29 carcasses were

distributed to 27 health-conscious individuals with above-average income

o Total sales by each outlet:

Public food networks - 20

Orders or supermarket sale - 13

Orders after promotion day - 25

Promotion day - 3

Total - 61

o Total sales: carcass weight, kg - 685.5 kg

o Total sales income, MNT - 2775600

Sales prospects – expand the domestic market by promoting health advantages of lamb vs

mutton and export markets by addressing barriers in veterinary and value chain areas and promoting

advantages of free range and green product. The sheep meat price was estimated to be MNT 550 per kg

when the project proposal was prepared. However, it has dropped to less than MNT 3000 per kg in

December 2015. Therefore, the lambs were sold at MNT 4000 per kg, MNT 1000 higher than the market

price of sheep meat.


As shown in Graph 4 for the last 2 years, the wholesale price of sheep meat ranged around MNT 2340-

4740 averaging MNT 3882 per kg, the retail price ranged MNT 3900- 7900 averaging MNT 6470 per kg.

The price of MNT 4000 per kg used in estimating feed return reflect the average market prices.

Sheep meat price dynamics in 2013-2015, by months

Source: Retails price is from the National Statistics Office of Mongolia and wholesale price is estimated

at 60% of the retail price based on informal data form traders and changers at food markets.

LAMB MEAL PROMOTION DAY

In the Sphere of the LAMP, the Center for Policy Research worked with “Bayan-Ovon Khukh Khairkhan”

cooperative in Tsetserleg soum to feed lambs, perform field slaughter in accordance with standards and

ultimately sell ecologically fresh products. The findings of this lamb feeding pilot were presented at the

lamb meal promotion day organized at “Khar Suvd” restaurant on December 16, 2015. The invitation &

program of the lamb meal promotion day can be found in Appendix 1.

A total of 40 individuals participated in this event including the Minister of Food & Agriculture (MOFA)

R.Burmaa, the World Bank Resident Representative to Mongolia J.Anderson, the Director of Strategic

Planning & Policy Department at MOFA A.Anunaran, Head of the Foreign Relations Division at MOFA

B.Binderya, SDC program director V.Daniel along with representatives from MOFA, FAO of the UN,

World Bank, “Green Gold” project of the SDC, LAMP, CPR and Food Research Institute of the University

of Science & Technology.. The full list of the participants can be found in Appendix 2.

The CPR presented the lamb feeding pilot findings at the event including the benefits to herders & the

livestock sector along with the recommendations provided by the pilot. Exhibitions of the presentation

can be found in Appendix 3. CPR Director A.Enkh-Amgalan stated at the event “Although the herd size

in our country has grown in recent years, this has put an enormous burden on pasture carrying capacity.

For instance, in the project aimag of Arkhangai, pasture carrying capacity has been exceeded by 4.5

7900

6620 6499

7685

6395 5940

7570

5725

3900 4740

3972 3899.4 4611

3837 3564

4542

3435

2340

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

2013/06 2013/09 2013/12 2014/06 2014/09 2014/12 2015/06. 2015/09. 2015/12.

Жижиглэнгийн үнэ Бөөний үнэ


times. One way to combat this problem is to encourage herders to sell their livestock and improve

income while at the same time, relieving the burden on pasture carrying capacity”.

The Minister of Food & Agriculture R.Burmaa stated at the event “The pilot played an important role to

slaughter animals in compliance with standards to achieve the production of Mongolian free-range

organic meat products that has high demand in developed countries”.

The pilot feeding, field-slaughter & sale of lambs was implemented by CPR consultants B.Erdenebaatar,

S. Amgaa, D.Zorigtbaatar and O.Ulambayar. They presented in detail the temporary field slaughter point

and economic benefits of lamb feeding. Furthermore, they explained that access to foreign export

markets can be improved as lamb marketing, veterinary units & hygiene can overcome difficulties facing

the value chain.

Head of “Bayan-Ovon Khukh Khairkhan” cooperative Ch.Damdin, who worked in the pilot, stated that

“Selling the fed lambs is very beneficial to us since the mortality rate of lambs is much higher than full-

grown sheep. Herders find it extremely difficult to ensure the survival of lambs through the cold season.

Selling off the lambs is a much better alternative. We have a few requests from the Minister. Herders are

fully capable of preparing the meat. The only problem is there is no market for us to sell the meat. Thus,

the cooperative would like to be issued permission to export the meat across the border. Moreover, it

would be very helpful if our meat products can be distributed to livestock meat procurement entities”.

Furthermore, the event was successful in receiving lamb orders and was able to sell 40 carcasses to 20

individuals.

The Minister of Food & Agriculture R.Burmaa participated in the lamb meal promotion day.

centre for policy research · 2017-09-05 · marketing project (lamp) project brief summary project...

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