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Gobi Regional Economic Growth Initiative
Name: Gobi Regional Economic Growth Initiative
Duration: January 1999 - December 2008
Donor: United States Agency for International Development (primary donor), Mercy Corps
The Gobi, a quasi-desert region, which covers the southern half of Mongolia, is Mongolia's least densely populated region. It is home to the majority of Mongolia's camel and goat populations, which produce cashmere, meat and other animal-origin products that provide the regional economy with its principle source of income. To be competitive, local herders and businesses need timely market prices and weather information as well as information on business planning, and human resource and financial management.
The GOBI Initiative seeks to accelerate and sustain market-led economic growth and development through a healthy market-based economy with the participatory mechanisms, technical support, and changed attitudes necessary for sustaining growth and adjusting to continuing marketplace changes. The project develops and strengthens rural businesses through increasing the availability, access to, and use of business information by Gobi entrepreneurs. Our approach focuses primarily on developing and supporting information systems and services to achieve economic growth and development in the Gobi region.
Some key results
Phase I
Rural Business News (formerly Gobi Business News)
- Launched the Mongolian-language Rural Business News magazine (www.rbn.mn) in January 2002, which, by the end of the first phase, had achieved the largest circulation of any news and information publication in Mongolia. The magazine includes regional specific pages, tips for herders and entrepreneurs, market information, letters and editorials, and readers' contributions. Beginning in 2003 the magazine was offered for sale at a price of 2000 MNT per copy. The major goal of the magazine was to provide the donor organizations and foreigners living in the nation's capital with information related to rural issues.
- Developed a Participatory Information Systems Appraisal (PISA), which provided up-to-date, comprehensive data on the information capacities, obstacles and needs for soums (county) and aimags (provinces) in the project's four targeted aimags. A nation-wide PISA was conducted involving 900 interviews, which revealed that RBN magazine ranked as the fourth most important information source in rural Mongolia.
RBN Radio
- The Market Watch radio program was launched in October 1999. It was the first post-socialist era, national radio broadcast to provide regular, market-specific price information. The popular program provided timely and accurate commodity price information, significantly reducing discriminatory regional pricing differences. The program also broadcast other news and announcements relevant to the regional economic development of the Gobi.
- RBN radio grew to include Weather Watch, Business Talk, Policy Watch, Animal Husbandry Management and round-table discussions. By the end of 2003, 4400 minutes of RBN radio programming had been produced and aired on nationwide broadcast via long wave on Mongol Radio. RBN also broadcast a 30-minute program on the second channel of Mongol Radio twice per week. The weather forecast and price information formats were updated and more "listener-interactive" styles in radio production were initiated.
- During 2003 in association with MobiCom, a national cellular phone operator, a new messaging service was initiated to deliver raw-material price information. The service was made available in every aimag center and in Ulaanbaatar. With this new service Market Watch began obtaining price information on a daily basis from the aimag-based Market Watchers, which resulted in a more detailed and timely database. This information aired on Market Watch and summary price information was disseminated via RBN Magazine on a monthly basis.
- In 2003 RBN launched the popular radio program Herder from the Future, an interactive, character-driven radio soap opera focusing on improving livelihoods for rural Mongolians. Since the program began, it is estimated that more than one-million listeners have tuned into this twice-weekly, nationally broadcast, 15-minute program. The program reaches 75% of rural residents.
Other Results
- Pact supported establishment of the Gobi Wave Information Center, the first regional media entity outside the capital of Ulaanbaatar to become a legal, independent entity. The center produced and broadcast more than 100 minutes of original programming each week via long-wave radio to 300,000 listeners.
- RBN initiated a pilot monthly 10-minute program on Mongol TV. The program profiled successful business operators in rural aimags in an effort to promote best practices. In cooperation with Mongol TV?s social and economic programming department, seven RBN TV programs were broadcast nationally.
- Pact trained more than 75 journalists, rural media representatives, and others in surveying, interviewing, reporting, editing, and media management.
- RBN facilitated and supported formation of the Mongolian Information Network (MIN), a NGO working for enhancement of information dissemination throughout the country. Rural radio stations, Market Watchers, RBN stringers, and marketing agents comprise the members, whose focus is on business and economic-information dissemination in rural Mongolia.
Phase II
RBN Magazine
- RBN organized a range of promotional activities resulting in total subscriptions of 7,500. A new post company and other NGOs and herder associations are also selling and distributing the magazine. Cooperation with the rural media was initiated and RBN has provided two rural newspapers, "Uvurhangai Life" and "Bayanhongor News", with RBN stories for republishing. This activity will be scaled up in other GI aimags, reaching possible four aimags.
- The "Technical Insert" pages, which focus on a specific topic every month, have included contracting, hints on effective management of newborn animals, and ways to find financing sources for a business.
- Pact began working with the "Together Against Poverty" Fund, a new NGO, and Petrovis, Mongolia?s biggest petroleum supplier in the area, on information dissemination as a follow-up to the award to RBN for its contribution towards poverty alleviation.
RBN Radio
- RBN aired approximately 800-1,000 minutes of radio programs per month with programming every day of the week, reaching an estimated 120,000 listeners in the Gobi region. The RBN radio program continues to broadcast its regular programs: "Market Watch," "Weather Watch," "Learning Agribusiness," "Business Mirror," and "Feature Success Stories."
- Pact continues the collection of commodity price information on a daily basis in 20 aimags, as well as from the two large raw-material markets on either side of Ulaanbaatar. Additional price information is collected from the two border points of Gashuun Suhait and Shiveee Huren. The information is disseminated to Gobi Initiative beneficiaries and other herding and nonherding businesses throughout the country via the media:
RBN TV programming and 26-part TV drama series
- RBN produced six prime-time ten-minute TV programs, the objective of which was to publicize best business practices and promote rural businesses working with the Gobi Initiative.
Partners
United States Agency for International Development
Mercy Corps
Staff contacts
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