The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to support the vegetable production of Mongolia and upgrade the country’s government-owned irrigation networks.

As part of this initiative, ADB has approved a loan of $40m to support both projects.

Mongolia estimates the total coast to be $46.25m. ADB has agreed to provide a concessional loan of $25.3m and a regular loan of $14.7m. The Mongolian Government will contribute $4.25m to meet the project cost.

ADB senior natural resources economist Jan Hinrichs said: “The project will promote income and employment generation in rural areas. This will be achieved by diversifying traditional low-value grain crops into high-value vegetables.”

Mongolia will use the loan to install climate-resilient irrigation infrastructure, which will improve the sustainability of agriculture production systems, as well as strengthen technical, institutional and management capacity and coordination.

The project upgrade will see the adaption of new irrigation technologies in the cold regions, summer and winter greenhouses. It will also feature a new asset management system with remote-sensing technology to help in identifying and quickly resolving irrigation-related problems.

ADB will administer a $2m co-financing grant offered by the Japanese Government-backed Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), which has been supporting projects in Mongolia.

Mongolia expects 3,458 households, including 1,041 low-income households, to benefit from the loan provided by ADB.

In November 2016, ADB agreed to provide an $86.41m loan to the Swabi and Nowshehra districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The country will use this to purchase new irrigation systems for enhancing regional agricultural production and improving water management.