PRACTICE  AREAS

• Agricultural Productivity & Competitiveness – Farmer-to-Farmer Programs

• Education - Opportunity Through Learning

• Community and Family Health

• Capacity Building and Human Resource Development

• Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

• Sustainable livelihood – Poverty Alleviation

Sustainable livelihood – Poverty Alleviation

One of the biggest obstacles facing the people of Mongolia is poverty.  Although Mongolia has experienced enormous growth since their conversion to a free market economy in 1990, many Mongolians still live at or near the poverty line today.  DSI is positioned to provide assistance to Mongolia’s most vulnerable people in need of sustainable, self-sufficient livelihoods.  The goal of DSI’s sustainable livelihoods program is to help as many Mongolians as possible get out of poverty and enable them to be economically self-sufficient and productive members of the growing Mongolian economy.

DSI uses business-oriented, market and value chain approaches to leverage private sector investment, build public-private alliances, and enable sustainable livelihoods that are not tied to development assistance.  DSI’s proven methods result in key factors that become part of the solution of helping people break the cycle of poverty.  Such factors include improved productivity in work and trade, improved working conditions. increased incomes, enhanced nutrition, improved health, and improved education systems.

Agricultural Productivity & Competitiveness – Farmer-to-Farmer Programs

Through DSI’s Farmer-to-Farmer programs, DSI is positioned to help farmers, herders, and people in rural areas gain access to commercial markets.  Alongside the mining sector, the agriculture sector of Mongolia is a vital part of Mongolia’s economy and livelihood.  Agriculture in Mongolia constitutes 20.6% of Mongolia's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 42% of the labor force. Through training, counseling, and getting these groups involved in Mongolia’s new economy, farmers and herders can access new markets and become self-sustaining individuals and entities.

The key to DSI’s Farmer-to-Farmer programs is its commitment, expertise, and understanding of the Mongolian economy and culture.  DSI is committed to providing real-world solutions, using a hands on approach with its partners in Mongolia who work directly with the people of Mongolia.  Many of DSI’s partners in the education and health care fields, as well as in government agencies are Mongolians, who understand the values and culture of Mongolian people.  By applying this expertise and understanding to the agricultural sector, DSI helps Mongolian farmers access markets and boost productivity, thereby enhancing their incomes and improving household and community food security.  To make all of these factors a reality, DSI realizes that technology is at the core of the solution. 

Access to technology and an understanding of the technology is crucial for the success of DSI’s Farmer-to-Farmer programs.  DSI recognizes the importance of increasing productivity and competitiveness in the agricultural sector and is committed to helping farmers adapt improved technology and introduce best practices in their operations.  DSI encourages Mongolian farmers to work together to gain access to new technologies and processing equipment. These new technologies will enable them to add value to the various agricultural products that they produce, providing them with more leverage in the market place. DSI also helps farmers identify market demand for their products, improve marketing methods, and streamline existing distribution channels. 

Education - Opportunity Through Learning

DSI brings the latest technology and best practices in the application of Information Technology to assist Mongolia’s educational system in improving their effectiveness and efficiency.  Through our partners, we are able to provide first hand, real time assistance to institutions with information technology needs. We provide technical assistance to design and work on computer hardware, software, and information systems in Mongolia’s school system. 

Community and Family Health 

DSI is committed to strengthening the health and access to health care of the families and communities of Mongolia.  DSI focuses on improving the quality of health services, expanding community-based outreach and prevention programs, providing best practices training, and applying evidence-based approaches to reduce preventable complications of children.  DSI collaborates with its Mongolian partners to support increased vaccinations for children and increased awareness training about disease prevention for families. 

DSI treats capacity building as a cross-cutting issue that is a starting point for all that we do. From project design to completion, we emphasize the training component of our work to ensure that results are sustainable. Our training programs provide a visible lasting impact for participants and their organizations.

DSI’s ultimate goal for capacity building is competitiveness of our trainees at the labor markets. We prepare people to create high-achieving organizations whose products and services satisfy market demands for cost, quality, and timeliness.  At DSI, we offer leadership and management insight and training that enables leaders and managers to connect.  The training programs for young leaders are designed to improve English language skills so that participants can feel comfortable to make connections and network in a marketplace that is becoming more global.  English language skills add more to the potential of young leaders and managers to be able to operate at international standards.

Capacity Building and Human Resource Development

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

DSI views gender equality as a crucial goal of our efforts, as well as a necessary means for reducing poverty in Mongolia.  At DSI, we use gender approaches to guide our sustainable livelihood, child health and education, and agricultural development activities to create supportive environments where women have access to the tools and resources they need. 

DSI effectively utilizes a value chain approach, which analyzes the different parts of a market chain—from input suppliers to final buyers—and the relationships among them.  By bringing gender awareness to value chain analysis and development processes, we ensure that interventions produce sustainable results for both women and men.

DSI facilitates the creation of women-to-women networks, especially among women-owned businesses, to share concerns and solutions. It also encourages women to actively participate in the workforce.  The networks are effective at identifying opportunities that were once thought to be out of reach.