Virtual Cooperatives of Pastoral Livestock Communities

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The central idea of the project is to strengthen the social mobilization of herder organizations by empowering herders with information and improving their access to livelihood services by creating a trusted digital platform (virtual cooperative). It will help pilot innovative mobilization techniques relying on digital platforms, use digital channels for streaming technology extension, and agri-service delivery, connect them with local governance systems, and build business linkages with the private sector for improved market access. It will also build the capacity of other linked service providers to offer their services via the platform and maximize its use for their purposes as well as on the platform’s institutional and operational framework. The project will take a participatory approach for developing and delivering a stack of digital services. The project will help develop a Virtual Training Academy jointly with herders, livestock researchers, and practitioners in the sector. It is envisaged to form partnerships with existing institutions that already provide locally relevant extension content, such as for example the Mongolian University of Life Sciences and other institutions collaborating in the Responsible Cashmere Round Table (RCRT). The project will finance virtual cooperatives based on institutional performance criteria for availing high-quality services from technical assistance providers, common facilities center, acquiring small scale equipment and production facilities used for improving animal welfare or livestock product processing, working capital for collective production and market activities, etc. The delivery approach is mostly through forging partnerships with existing public and private actors and may include organizing an innovation challenge to crowdsource disruptive ideas for piloting service provision in the domain of virtual cooperatives. Collaborating with existing digital financial services providers the project will pilot design and distribute sustainable livestock finance products on a virtual cooperative platform to improve their outreach to isolated herder communities. This model for digital livestock finance will have a high potential to be replicated by other players; It will also develop partnerships with public and private players for delivering services through the platform. Offering an integrated interface and a one-stop point for fragmented services will help facilitate the convergence of public and private services. Finally, the project will prepare virtual cooperatives for participation in high impact value chains by promoting principles of animal welfare, sustainable livestock practices, grass-fed organic livestock, fair trade, and responsible sourcing mechanisms.