EthiopiaThis research describes and analyses how smallholder crop livestock farmers in rural Ea Kar, Vietnam, were able to take advantage of the rising demand for meat in urban centres and transform cattle production from a traditional, extensive grazing system to a more intensive, stall-fed system that supplied quality meat to urban markets. The traditional grazing system produced low-quality animals that could only be sold for local consumption. Introduction of the concept of farm-grown fodder production enabled farmers to produce fatter animals, achieving higher sale prices, and reduce labour inputs by moving from grazing to stallfeeding. These benefits convinced farmers, traders and local government that smallholder cattle production could be a viable enterprise and so stimulated stakeholder interest. Within 10 years, the way that cattle were produced and marketed changed considerably. By 2010, more than 3,000 smallholders had adopted farm-grown forages and stall-feeding, and many produced high-quality beef cattle. Traders had been able to develop access to urban markets as farmers were able to produce animals that satisfied the stringent quality requirements of urban markets. In addition to the underlying driver of strong market demand for quality meat, several factors contributed to this transition: (i) a convincing innovation -the use of farm-grown fodder -that provided immediate benefits to farmers and provided a vision for local stakeholders; (ii) a participatory, systems-oriented innovation process that emphasised capacity strengthening; (iii) a value chain approach that linked farmers and local traders to markets; (iv) the formation of a loosely structured coalition of local stakeholders that facilitated and managed the innovation process; and (v) technical support over a sufficiently long time period to allow innovation processes to become sustainable.Keywords: sustainable beef cattle development; smallholders; intensification; innovation systems; forage; market linkages; livestock Introduction This paper addresses the question 'Can smallholder livestock production systems in developing countries be transformed to take advantage of the increasing demand for meat', a question that has been posed by many authors (e.g. Tarawali et al. 2011). On the basis of a case study that followed smallholder cattle development in Ea Kar, a district in the central highlands of Vietnam, over a 10-year period, it analyses the contribution of technology interventions, market linkage and private sector development, participatory research and farmer group-based approaches, capacity strengthening, and local coalitions and innovation platforms to sustainable intensification of smallholder livestock production.

No abstract

A survey was carried out in the North of Lao PDR to study feeding systems and the performance of pigs in smallholder systems. A total of 341 farmers from five provinces were interviewed. To feed their pigs, farmers mainly rely on feedstuffs produced on the farm and collected from areas near the village. The feedstuffs used included by-products such as rice bran and distiller's waste, planted feeds, mainly maize and cassava, and various green plant materials. The feedstuffs used are usually high in energy and low in protein content, and the only readily available protein source is green plant material. This results in nutritionally imbalanced diets and as a result poor pig performance. The average growth rate of pigs in these systems was found to be only approximately 100 g/day. The reproductive performance of sows was found to be relatively low, as is the case of local breeds in the region, with an average litter size at birth of 6.8 piglets. The mortality of piglets was as high as 50% and was a main concern of farmers. In order to improve the productivity of pigs in smallholder systems, there is a need to find alternative feed resources to improve the nutritional feed quality, and to develop management systems which are suited to the needs and practices of smallholders.

This paper describes the results of a survey aimed at characterizing smallholder pig production systems in northern Lao PDR. A total of 341 households from five Northern provinces were interviewed in the survey. Village meetings and individual interviews, using a semi-structured questionnaire, were used to collect information. Three main pig rearing systems, free-scavenging, semi-scavenging and confinement (enclosures and pens), were found in the survey areas. These systems were practiced differently by smallholders depending on the level of intensity of crop production, ethnicity and purpose of keeping pigs. The confinement system was mainly practiced by Lao-Tai and Tibeto-Burman groups, who mainly bought piglets and fattened these pigs for sale. In contrast, the Mon-Khmer and Hmong-Mien reared pigs in free-scavenging and semi-scavenging systems, and usually keep sows for piglet production. The main factors that affected the changes in rearing systems were found to be level of intensity of crop production, local regulations and outbreaks of disease. The main constraints found in smallholder systems were outbreaks of disease, high mortality of piglets and the slow growth rate of fattening pigs.

No abstract