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Mongolia: Dzud - Jan 2018

Status
Past
Countries
Mongolia
Disaster types
Cold Wave
+ 1 more

In 2017, a prolonged period of severe dry weather between mid-May and end of July, intensified by extreme high temperatures in June, damaged large swatches of cropped areas and caused a severe deterioration of pastures and rangeland conditions. An estimated 80 percent of the country was affected by drought conditions. This resulted in severe yield and area losses of the 2017 crops...The 2017 wheat production is estimated at about 231 000 tonnes, almost half of last year’s high level and over 40 percent less than the five-year average...Drought also caused a severe deterioration of pasture conditions, which prevented livestock to gain fat stores and strengthen core muscle strength, critical to overcome the normally harsh winter/spring months. According to MoFALI data, as of November 2017, overall livestock body condition is 14 percent below average... Harsh winters following summer droughts significantly increase risks for herders to lose their animals. (FAO/WFP, 22 Dec 2017).

As of 20 December 2017, the dzud risk map for winter 2017-2018, published by National Agency of Meteorology and the Environmental Monitoring shows that about 40 percent of the country is at the extreme risk of dzud and about 20 percent of the country is at high risk of dzud. In order to reflect the evolving needs of affected population, to address the recommendation from the final evaluation of previous emergency appeal operation and with the additional funding from donors, MRCS and IFRC revised the operational plan and extended the timeframe. In addition to relief activities, the operation is now supporting Dzud preparedness and National society capacity building by taking account of close consultation with the affected population and relevant authorities. (IFRC, 24 Jan 2018).

On 15 February 2018, IFRC released US$ 277,000 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to assist 2,500 herder families facing very severe winter conditions in seven provinces with cash grants or emergency supplies. The emergency helpwill target the hardest-hit households, those with young children, or five or more children, an older person, or someone with a disability. A national total of 141 out of 330 soums and a city are in “dzud condition”; temperatures approaching minus 50 Celsius were expected to continue through February. (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Change, 15 Feb 2018)