IHT: Mongolians test alien idea: Privatizing the land
“Mongolia developed as a communal land-sharing system long before capitalists and Communists clashed over the principles of property and ownership. Every herding clan led its animals across a specific seasonal grazing route established by the clan’s ancestors, and the right to this path was respected by others through an unwritten code based on honor and mutual cooperation… Many local politicians and economists now say that Mongolia’s traditional land regime is the core cause of its backwardness and want to replace it with a Westernized property management system under which land would be parceled out and privatized…
When the government first offered them a plot of four-tenths of a hectare in Bayanzurh Toucho in a new community built for nomads agreeing to be settled down, they grabbed it without questions. But now Davasuren says that while he appreciates owning some land, he is not sure what to do with it. ‘We’re trying to farm – grow things,’ he said, gesturing to the small rows of cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes that line his fence. But it’s ‘not easy or enjoyable’ for wandering nomads to learn how to farm, he said…
Perhaps land privatization makes sense in the city, said Narangerel, a nomad trying to continue with her time-honored occupation despite growing obstacles. ‘But in the countryside it would create huge problems. How would we take our animals grazing?’ Because sheep and goats graze vast areas clean of vegetation within weeks, herders need to keep moving onto fresh pastures. That is why few permanent settlements have ever taken root in Mongolia, and in transitory ‘villages,’ people just pitch their ghers along their grazing routes…
Sentiments like that seem to embarrass planners like Myagmarsuren somewhat. They say nomadism is backward, and they do not deny that the intended land reform is a backhanded way of moving Mongolia’s scattered population into cities. ‘Urbanization is linked to progress,’ said Dorjnamjim Lhaajav, the country manager in Ulan Bator for the International Finance Corporation, a unit of the World Bank…”
(via)