  Pig meat account for three quarter of total meat production and consumption in Vietnam and Cambodia. Demand for pig meat has been increasing rapidly due to rising income and urbanization of population. A dual market structure is emerging in the pig industry - a small commercial sector (large scale production and processing enterprises) side by side with a large sector composed of small scale producers raising pigs under mixed farming systems. The large farms/processors are capturing the high-end market that can pay premium price for quality products, while smallholders have limited access to such market because of resource constraints and inadequate market institutions. From a pro-poor perspective, this trend is limiting the livelihood opportunities of many smallholders, especially women. While improved technology (crossbreeds and feed packages) interventions have been provided to smallholder farmers by government extension as a development policy response, market access by smallholders and women is not addressed in these intervention programs. Thus, strategies to improve market access for small and geographically marginal producers are essential to complement technology interventions to make commercial pig production a viable enterprise for poverty reduction.
 This project investigates the following issues: (1) existing and potential market opportunities that can be feasibly accessed by smallholder pig farmers and the conditions for their participation; (2) assistance that can be provided to ensure their active and remunerative participation in these markets; (3) market aspects that can be addressed through interventions in technology, institutions, and policy; (4) how can organization and information be used in more innovative ways to develop more sustainable pig commodity chains that facilitate market linkage of smallholders; and (5) how can new market opportunities for smallholders be stimulated ?
Project objectives
- To enhance smallholder access to high-value markets for pig and pig meat.
- To increase the share of end-market prices obtained by smallholders for their pigs and pig meat.
- To increase the scale of operation and total value of pig and pig meat marketed by smallholders.
- To increase the number of smallholders marketing pig and pig meat.
Activities
- Implement a study to assess the current and emerging demand for pig meat in urban and rural areas in North Vietnam and Cambodia, and identify market opportunities for smallholders to supply such demand.
- Conduct stakeholder participatory assessment of constraints to smallholder participation in pig/pig meat markets and meeting the emerging market requirements, including an assessment of demand for inputs, technology and information for enhancing smallholder market participation, and identification, characterization, and mapping of pig and pig meat market flows from/to Haiduong in N. Vietnam and Takeo in Cambodia.
- Design a pilot activity in Haiduong in North Vietnam and Takeo in Cambodia for testing selected options in technology (e.g., production, processing) and institutions (e.g., quality control and service provision arrangements including price information) to overcome the identified constraints along the market chain from producer to consumer. Given the different levels of market orientation of smallholders engaged in the pig commodity chain in N.
- Improve local capacity for pig/pig meat production, processing, and marketing.
- Disseminate findings and recommendations in various forms and media.
Expected outputs
- An assessment of demand for pig meat from selected regions in urban areas in N. Vietnam and Cambodia, and an evaluation of alternative marketing channels and arrangements, that will guide the identification and development of market opportunities for smallholders (completed eight months after project inception).
- Constraints to smallholder participation in high-end markets and possible solutions for action identified through stakeholder consultation (completed 10 months after inception)
- More effective institutional arrangements (e.g., for quality management, information exchange, access to inputs) including technical, economic, and management aspects for more remunerative market participation of smallholder producers and processors (including women), implemented and monitored in pilot sites in N. Vietnam and Cambodia (22 months after project inception) .
- Enhanced ability of 100 smallholder farmers and processors (including women) in each country to improve their skills in marketing for better income from pig production and processing (through increased capacity to participate in input and output markets, reduced production risk, increased scale of production; also improved capacity for negotiating, bargaining, contracting, etc.) (24 months after project inception).
- Policy briefs and other documented information for effective and widespread dissemination of findings and recommendations by the 24th month.
Lead proponent
Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, VASI.
c/o Dr. Vu Trong Binh, Vice director of Agrarian Systems Department
Postal address: Bo mon He Thong Nong Nghiep – Vien Khoa Hoc Ki Thuat Nong Nghiep Viet nam, An Khanh – Hoai duc – Ha tay – Viet nam
Email address: binhcv@fpt.vn and trongbinh@fpt.vn
Collaborators
Centre for Livestock and Agricultural Devt., Univ. of Tropical Agriculture – Cambodia
Heifer Project International – Cambodia
CIRAD ( MALICA-Markets and Agricultural Linkages for Cities in Asia and PRISE, Pôle de recherche en Intensification des Systèmes d’Elevage)
Prash Punlear Slaughterhouse- Cambodia
Srah Takoun Farmer Association, Takeo province, Cambodia
Lok Farmer Association, Takeo province, Cambodia
Women’s Union of Nam Sach District, Hai Duong Province, North Vietnam
Nam Sach Animal Production Cooperative, Hai Duong Province, North Vietnam
Long Co Company Limited-Vietnam
International Livestock Research Institute- Philippines
Duration
From: January 2006 to December 2007
 Setting the boundaries
Project description
Analysis
Resulting document
|