JICA | MON-SHEP Market-Oriented Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment Project

Client: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Project: MON-SHEP (Market-Oriented Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment Project)

Date: 2026.06 ongoing

Location: Dundgovi, Zuunmod, Bornuur, Mandal, Shuvuun Pabrik, Mongolia

Agriculture remains one of Mongolia’s key economic sectors, yet many smallholder farmers continue to face challenges in accessing reliable markets, improving production planning, and increasing household income. Traditional farming practices often focus on producing first and selling later, resulting in unstable prices, food loss, and limited profitability.

The MON-SHEP project, implemented with the support of JICA, promotes a market-oriented approach to horticulture by encouraging farmers to identify market demand before production. Through practical training, technical support, and farmer capacity development, the project helps producers improve productivity, strengthen business planning, and build sustainable agricultural value chains.

To communicate these efforts to the public, we developed a series of visual communication materials, including documentary-style videos, social media content, and awareness campaigns highlighting real-life success stories, project activities, and the impact of market-oriented farming on local communities.

Challenge

Many smallholder farmers in Mongolia have traditionally followed a production-oriented approach, growing crops without sufficient consideration of market demand. This often leads to oversupply, unstable income, post-harvest losses, and limited business growth. At the same time, awareness of market-oriented farming practices and value chain development remains relatively low.

Solution

Working closely with JICA and the MON-SHEP project team, we produced a comprehensive communication campaign to demonstrate how market-oriented agriculture creates more sustainable livelihoods. Through interviews, documentary storytelling, educational videos, social media content, and visual campaign materials, we translated complex agricultural concepts into accessible and engaging stories for farmers, stakeholders, and the general public.

The campaign highlighted practical farming techniques, successful producer groups, market linkage activities, capacity-building programs, and the project's contribution to strengthening Mongolia's horticulture sector.

Result

The communication campaign successfully increased public awareness of market-oriented agriculture and showcased how knowledge, planning, and collaboration contribute to higher productivity and more stable incomes for farming households.

Through authentic farmer stories and educational content, the project demonstrated that producing according to market demand can reduce risks, improve profitability, and support sustainable rural development. The campaign also strengthened the visibility of the MON-SHEP project among government institutions, development partners, and local communities.

PROJECT TEAM 

• CEO: Dovdonbalbar T.

• Senior Account Manager: Bulgankhishig T.

• Account Manager: Selenge B.

• Director of Photography (DOP): Ochsuren D.

• Videographer: Gantogtokh B.

• Designer: Enkhjin Ya.

What began as an agricultural development initiative has grown into a movement that empowers farmers to think beyond production-encouraging market-driven decision-making, stronger value chains, and more sustainable rural livelihoods across Mongolia.