We often receive advice from project consultants on how to increase our sales channels

   In December 2005, according to a televised notice of a meeting for vegetable growers organized by the Darkhan GER Initiative, several people who wanted to grow vegetables and people who were already growing vegetables met with GER Initiative consultants through the meeting.

   The meeting brought together small vegetable businesses that all had similar problems.

  By participating in the meeting, they learned how small businesses can work together, trust each other, and succeed. The project’s clients who had been successful by working together as a business group were invited to talk about their experience, which was the starting point of the 12-member “Arvin Urgats” group.

   Since then, under the guidance of the GER Initiative's business consultants, they have been able to work with each other during planting and harvesting season, training each other, and sharing their knowledge and experience. Working with this roster allows group members to become more knowledgeable, access information at lower cost, improve communication between group members, and get to know each other better. In March 2006, they participated in a meeting called the “NonTraditional Vegetable Market” organized by the GER Initiative. After the meeting, they decided to grow a variety of vegetables as a group, knowing that these vegetables are sold at a high price, are in demand in Ulaanbaatar, are mostly imported from China, and can be grown in Mongolia.

   the help of Vita, a US Volunteer working for the Darkhan GER Initiative, they purchased lowcost, high-quality US seeds through the SEED program and planted them.

   But they lacked the skills to grow vegetables they had never grown before. Therefore, they received advice from project consultants on how to achieve their next business goals, how to work successfully in a business group, how to identify seeds, how to process seeds and prepare them for planting, how to care for vegetables during planting, and how to sell vegetables. They have been in constant contact with the project, receiving technical information and attending base training.

   This year, Arvin-Urgats has purchased 250 bags of SEED program seeds and have started planting them. They also aim to have a small vegetable processing and canning plant based on the revenue of their vegetables.

Client feedback: 
“Since we started working as a group, our monthly sales have increased by 150% and our working capital by 28%. And we're always happy to learn from each other, to create a community atmosphere, and to work toward our goals. ”