The Wall Street Journal reports this week in a story that the global downturn is now hurting Mongolia’s Nomads. Reporting from Tgost, Mongolia, waves from the global crisis hit Sodnomdarjaa Khaltarkhuu when bank officials showed up at his tent on the edge of the Gobi desert and threatened to foreclose on his goats, sheep and camels.
Falling demand for cashmere among recession-hit shoppers in the West is cutting into earnings among nomadic herders in Mongolia, whose goats produce the soft fiber used in high-end sweaters, scarves and coats. The result: herder loan defaults. The article continues, after Mr. Sodnomdarjaa couldn’t pay back a $2,700 loan, he says bank officials pressed him to sell his livestock – which he used as collateral. When he could not do that the bank ordered a seizure of the family home – a tent!