Through Ayan Mongolie, the association he created, Amgalan promotes market gardening as an additional source of income for poor families living in the Mongolian steppes. The crops are located in Bornuur, 100 km from the capital, in an area that was once the breadbasket of Mongolia’s. The Mongolian farming industry collapsed after Russian withdrawal in the 1990’s: the change from a party-controlled agriculture (organized in kolkhozes and public agrarian cooperatives) to a completely liberalized activity proved frequently impossible for local communities, and agricultural workers flocked to the cities. With his shallots, Amgalan wants to change that situation: the five families taking part in his project won’t be so tempted to leave the countryside, since they will be getting an income selling their crops on the markets of Ulan Bator.
The shallot was chosen because it fulfils an important local need: shallots are very present in Mongolian cuisine and everybody buys them in small bags to spice up dishes, in particular butz, a regional delicacy consisting of delicious raviolis filled with meat. Shallots are quite expensive, at 3.50 € (about 5 $) per kg and it is therefore a particularly profitable crop for a family. Mongolia is a very windy country with particularly cold winters (-35 °C is the average temperature in January), and it just so happens that the shallot can easily withstand difficult climates!
Today, there are five families farming these organic shallots in Bornuur, with the support of Ayan Mongolie. Amgalan’s sister Amarsanaa, an agronomist in Mongolia, and Audrey’s mother in France also help with the project, by promoting it and by facilitating communications between the two countries. The association Ayan Mongolie is in touch with the Mongolian families who grow the shallots, monitoring progress, and planning their next project: a book of recipes about Mongolian recipes with shallots.
- Amgalan et Audrey, rencontrés en Inde par les DynamoS’olidaire.
This article was written by the DynamoS’olidaire, on their way to India with Frères des Hommes.
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