Peri-Urban Rangeland Land Productivity 2011-2014
Mongolia, 2011 - 2014
Identification
MNG_2011_MCC-PURLP_v01_M
Peri-Urban Rangeland Land Productivity 2011-2014
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Mongolia | MNG |
Independent Impact Evaluation
As part of monitoring and evaluation activities, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia (MCA-M) carried out an impact evaluation that examined how the securing of long-term land use rights and provision of infrastructure and training through PURP affects not just livestock herding efficiency and productivity, but also environmental degradation and rangeland quality in peri-urban areas. In support of the rangeland quality component of the evaluation, MCC signed an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under this agreement, USDA provided technical advice and support to MCC regarding the monitoring and evaluation of pastureland and oversaw a local land quality contractor that carried out evaluation activities including the collection of baseline and follow-up data, as well as the training of local technicians and officials in sustainable land quality monitoring.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Individuals, herder groups
Version
Edited clean data for internal use only
Scope
| Topic | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Land | MCC Sector |
Coverage
The peri-urban areas included 57 soums and districts located in five aimags and one city. Approximately 387 serviced tracts of pasture land between approximately 500-1500 hectares (grass-fed livestock system) and 100 hectares (intensive system) are being identified for approximately 15 year length project leases.
Herder groups in intervention areas
Producers and sponsors
| Name |
|---|
| Mongolian Society for Rangeland Management (MSRM) |
| Name |
|---|
| Millennium Challenge Corporation |
Sampling
The design encompassed a two-stage randomized selection process to determine which Herder Groups will receive the leasing slots that are available for the project. In the first stage of the design, all Herder Groups located in areas deemed fit for the project were allowed to submit applications for the available slots. These applications are cleared as meeting environmental and social assessment criteria and were scored by local selection committees, according to a set of predefined criteria. Those that pass this stage were short-listed for the second stage of selection. In the second stage of selection, the lease slots were randomly assigned to the short-listed candidates. Some candidates were randomly selected to receive a leasing slot (the Treatment group) while other candidates were not (the Control group). Random assignment led to the creation of two virtually identical groups at baseline. The only difference was that the Treatment group was offered the lease and other associated project assistance while the other group (the Control group) was not. As a result, any changes observed between the two groups over time could be attributed to the project.
Survey instrument
The PURLS (Peri-Urban Rangeland Leasing Survey) was used to collect data on the behavior and characteristics of Herder Groups in both the Treatment and Control groups. The outcomes of the herder households in the Treatment and Control groups were compared to assess the impacts of the program.
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-06-06 | 2011-06-21 | Site selection and cCollected site characterization data for Phase I |
| 2011-06-07 | 2011-06-19 | Collected Line-point intercept data for Phase I |
| 2012-05-03 | 2012-05-21 | Site selection and cCollected site characterization data for Phase II |
| 2012-08-15 | 2012-09-09 | Collected Line-point intercept data for Phase II |
| 2012-08-14 | 2012-09-09 | Production data for Phases I and II (Fall 2012) |
| 2013-04-16 | 2013-05-12 | Production data for Phases I and II (Spring 2013) |
| 2013-08-17 | 2013-09-13 | Production data for Phases I and II (Fall 2013) |
| 2014-04-13 | 2014-05-05 | Production data for Phases I and II (Spring 2014) |
| Name |
|---|
| Mongolian Society for Rangeland Management |
Data were collected using the Line-point Intercept method (Herrick, J. E., Van Zee, J. W., Havstad, K. M., Burkett, L. M., & Whitford, W. G. (2005). Monitoring manual for grassland, shrubland and savanna ecosystems. Vol. I: Quick start. USDA- ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM: Distributed by University of Arizona Press.) and Plant Production method (Herrick, J. E., Van Zee, J. W., Havstad, K. M., Burkett, L. M., & Whitford, W. G. (2005). Monitoring manual for grassland, shrubland and savanna ecosystems. Vol. II: Design, supplementary methods and interpretation. USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM: Distributed by University of Arizona Press.). The Plant Production method varied from the standard method in that all plants were clipped at 1-cm height from the soil surface, except shrubs and sub- shrubs. Nine plant functional groups were differentiated on each 50-cm x 100-cm quadrat (subplot). The nine plant functional groups are defined below:
- All shrub species + All sub-shrub species (no Artemisia species). Only leaves plus previous year's woody growth (i.e., terminal nodes that grew last year) was clipped. Older woody material was not removed.
- All Potentilla species combined.
- Artemisia frigida only.
- All other Artemisia species combined, including annual Artemisia species.
- All remaining forb species combined.
- All Stipa species combined.
- All other grass species combined.
- All Carex species combined.
- All other annual plant species combined.
Data processing
Ericha Courtright, the Database for Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment (DIMA) specialist at the USDA, performed additional data error checking and data cleaning with the help of Justin Van Zee and the MSRM researchers on each set of data after it was collected.
Access policy
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Millennium Challenge Corporation
http://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/149
Cost: None
Data Access
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? |
|---|
| no |
Courtright, E., J. Van Zee, D. James and J. Herrick. 2015. Peri-Urban Rangeland Land Productivity Monitoring and Evaluation Draft. Las Cruces, NM: U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service Jornada Experimental Range.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring & Evaluation Division | Millennium Challenge Corporation | impact-eval@mcc.gov |
Metadata production
DDI_MNG_2011_MCC-PURLP_v01_M
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Millennium Challenge Corporation | Metadata Producer |
2015-03-03
Metadata version
Version 1.0 (March 2015)
Version 2.0 (April 2015). Edited version based on Version 01 (DDI-MCC-MNG-USDA-PURP-2015-v1) that was done by Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Herder groups