too many herders

he government says it is trying to encourage quality over quantity. But if every herder culls enough to restore the pastureland the crash in meat prices would eat away at their ability to pay off the banks. "Every herder has a loan. The more livestock you have the bigger the loan," says Batzorig, a 20-year-old, motorcycle-riding herder with a wide smile and 2m tugriks ($900) of debt, equivalent to about three months' wages in a city job. Batzorig and his younger brother have their mother to thank for cutting their dependence on the herding cycle. A few years ago, she trimmed the family animals from 1,000 to 600 and bought a house in a town.

too many herders Overgrazing is caused by too many people attempting to make a living from cashmere production. Possibly tied to proposed interventions to support alternative (urban) livelihoods, increased processing (vs. raw production), and the consolidation or reduction of herds. May be interpreted as a herder deficit or as a structural problem (e.g., poverty, lack of meaningful income alternatives).