Competitiveness of sea buckthorn farming in Mongolia: A policy analysis matrix

The perennial shrub sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoidesL.) provides multiple products that are beneficial to hu-man health. In addition, the plant can also be used to combat desertification. In contrast to the vast ecological,agronomic and nutritional literature on this species, little is known about its economic and marketing aspects, par-ticularly in Central Asia. We therefore analysed the private and social competitiveness of sea buckthorn farming in21 households of Bulgan county of Khovd province in Mongolia. The results show that half of the interviewed seabuckthorn farmers are privately competitive. We found that social competitiveness exceeded private competitivenessbecause while private output prices are supported by government policies, which increases private profits, input pricesare also supported, which reduces the competitiveness. The net eect of supports to input and output prices taxesproducers and reduces private competitiveness. In our study area the most competitive households had larger landsizes, fenced wild sea buckthorn areas, and were more experienced than others. The competitiveness of sea buckthornfarming increased from 2012 to 2013, which may be due to a government subsidy programme. Given the social andenvironmental benefits of sea buckthorn production, future government programmes should consider supporting theproduction through subsidies to make private households more competitive.