Agricultural Policy Development in Mongolia

By leveraging insights and experience from agricultural policy reform in Australia, this small research activity aims to assist Mongolia in tackling its own agricultural and economic challenges, through policy reform and capacity building, during rural transformation.

Food and agriculture are a large part of the Mongolian economy, given Mongolia’s large land area and relatively small population. About 70% of land is available for agricultural activity and with only 3% of the land area cropped, the rural economy is mainly pastoral.

Economic growth has been robust but volatile due to reliance on the resource sector – coal is the country’s major export item. Mongolian leaders are seeking new sources of growth, including from agriculture given its scale in the economy.

Officials in Mongolia have requested a dialogue with Australia to exchange knowledge and learnings from the management of change in the Australian agriculture sector, including policies affecting agriculture, options for government intervention in agriculture and impediments to exports. Also of interest is agricultural transformation, such as the development of more intensive agriculture.