Page 66 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

66 I Eurasia bne November 2021
Confronted by modernity, Mongolian herder families face many hard choices. All photos by Munkhbat Norovjamts.
The plight of Mongolia’s young herders
Antonio Graceffo & Munkhbat Norovjamts
companions. And you do not see them every day.” he said. “They might call you on the phone and say, ‘Can you see my herd from where you are? Could you maybe start driving them back toward my house now?’”
Munkhbat is a typical ex-herder in that he still loves animals and loves the countryside, although he needs to be in the city to earn a living. It seems that a core percentage of herders are reluctant to give up their traditional lifestyle, in spite of there being a pervasive trend
of herders moving to the city. “Twenty years ago, you could move to the city and still maintain your herds. Today, it is impossible. The city is too big, and the herds too far away.”
A herder from the 1980s would not recognise the herder of today, says Munkhbat. “Herders have cellphones. They have TV in their gers [yurts,
or tent houses). Some of them don’t even ride horses anymore, they drive motorcycles or trucks.”
The couple from Uvs confirmed how herding has changed. “When we were in Uvs, we used to load the kids and our ger and possessions on camels and move. We’d leave in early December, and return in February. But today,
we use cars, and we move much less frequently.”
Although still herding and migrating, the couple explains that several years ago, they moved to a circuit near
“In the rest of the world, the livestock follows the people. In Mongolia, the people follow the livestock.” Munkhbat Norovjamts
In Mongolia, 40% of the population still live as herders, while the rest modernize at an incredible pace. Among those who engage in herding, “only a small percentage are true nomads, moving as many as eight times per year”. So explains Munkhbat Norovjamts, who teaches sociology at Ulaanbaatar State University.
Born in Arkhangai, he grew up herding. When he was 18 years-old, he moved
to Ulaanbaatar to attend university. Today, a PhD candidate, he has been researching Mongolian herders for most of his adult life.
“The seasons are changing now.” said Munkhbat. “We used to move about eight times per year. Today, we only have summer and winter, and many families only move twice.”
A herder couple, originally from Uvs Province, recounts: “We move once
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per season, four times per year. There aren't that many places fit to move to. Otherwise, we would like to move every 10 days or so.”
In winter, the herders tend to stay closer to the mountains, for the protection they afford, whereas, in warmer weather, they tend to follow the river. “That’s why we do not have neighbours anymore, like we used to,” reflects Munkhbat, adding that the herds are
“The seasons are changing now. We used to move about eight times per year. Today, we only have summer and winter, and many families only move twice”
so spread out now that the herders
are extremely far away from their neighbours. They will meet for holidays and celebrations, but in general, they do not provide each other the support system they did when he was young. “You have friends, but you do not have
a small city, so that they would be closer to markets, where they could sell their meat, milk and wool, and the children could have better educational opportunities. As for possessions, the couple recalls that they did not have a refrigerator,