Four Tenths of a Hectare and a Mess

How do you parcel out land in a nation of nomads? Mongolia is trying to overcome nearly a century of communal land ownership, and the country is using Peruvian Economist Hernando de Soto's prescriptions as a model. But in a nation where half the people are herders, land privatization is going to take some getting used to:

When the government first offered them a plot of four-tenths of a hectare in Bayanzurh Toucho in a new community built for nomads agreeing to be settled down, they grabbed it without questions. But now Davasuren says that while he appreciates owning some land, he is not sure what to do with it…

Although Davasuren and his wife have been "settled" for more than a year, they say they still cannot get used to the idea of living in a concrete or brick home. So they have simply pitched their old gher or yurt—the round canvas and felt tent used by nomads—in the middle of their plot.

Whole thing here.