The social and other impacts of a cattle/crop innovation in Cambodia

Maxwell, Thomas W; You, Songly; Ung, Boratana; Peou, Leakhna; Reid, Jo‐Anne

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2011.10.008

Cited by 16 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…farm-grown forages. The attribute of farm-grown forages to substantially reduce labour requirements for cattle production and improve educational outcomes of children previously employed in supervising grazing of cattle has also been documented by Maxwell et al (2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation of smallholder beef cattle production in Vietnam

Stür

Khanh

Duncan

2013

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformation of smallholder beef cattle production in Vietnam

Stür

Khanh

Duncan

2013

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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“…Biosecurity practices that lead to increased household labour without clear benefits are likely to be rejected by smallholders given that in most systems resources will already be stretched; therefore, strategies where biosecurity can be implemented that will reduce household labour is likely to be more successful. For example, housing cattle and feeding forages has shown to reduce household labour (Maxwell et al., ) while also reducing communal grazing and direct animal contact.…”

Section: Smallholder Farmer Motivation For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…BPHHC project surveys of current smallholder farmers in southern Cambodia indicate that family heads are often around the age of 50, meaning that they would have been young teenagers during the 1975–1979 Khmer Rouge regime, when an estimated two million people were killed. Instead of receiving education, many children and young adults were sent to work in the fields in atrocious conditions (Maxwell et al., ). Ford and Ford () report that in an attempt to rectify injury created by broken trust or betrayal, people may lower productivity, reduce work quality and become uncooperative.…”

Section: Resistance To Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Smallholder Farmer Biosecurity in the Mekong Region Through Change Management

Young

Evans-Kocinski

Bush

et al. 2013

Transbound Emerg Dis

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Transboundary animal diseases including foot-and-mouth disease and haemorrhagic septicaemia remain a major constraint for improving smallholder large ruminant productivity in the Mekong region, producing negative impacts on rural livelihoods and compromising efforts to reduce poverty and food insecurity. The traditional husbandry practices of smallholders largely exclude preventive health measures, increasing risks of disease transmission. Although significant efforts have been made to understand the social aspects of change development in agricultural production, attention to improving the adoption of biosecurity has been limited. This study reviews smallholder biosecurity risk factors identified in the peer-reviewed literature and from field research observations conducted in Cambodia and Laos during 2006-2013, considering these in the context of a change management perspective aimed at improving adoption of biosecurity measures. Motivation for change, resistance to change, knowledge management, cultural dimensions, systems theory and leadership are discussed. Due to geographical, physical and resource variability, the implementation of biosecurity interventions suitable for smallholders is not a 'one size fits all'. Smallholders should be educated in biosecurity principles and empowered to make personal decisions rather than adopt prescribed pre-defined interventions. Biosecurity interventions should be aligned with smallholder farmer motivations, preferably offering clear short-term risk management benefits that elicit interest from smallholders. Linking biosecurity and disease control with improved livestock productivity provides opportunities for sustainable improvements in livelihoods. Participatory research and extension that improves farmer knowledge and practices offers a pathway to elicit sustainable broad-scale social change. However, examples of successes need to be communicated both at the 'evidence-based level' to influence regional policy development and at the village or commune level, with 'champion farmers' and 'cross-visits' used to lead local change. The adoption of applied change management principles to improving regional biosecurity may assist current efforts to control and eradicate transboundary diseases in the Mekong region.

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“…Given livestock in South-east Asia are an 'asset bank', as they act as a wealth store for these smallholder farmers (Thomas et al 2002), the likely appeal for providing improved forage quality and increased quantity to cattle and buffalo lies in promoting the resulting gains in liveweight and animal value. Additional likely benefits include time savings in not having to travel long distances to 'cut and carry' roadside grass or care for animals grazing rice stubble (Maxwell et al 2012), and also having additional household income to direct towards options such as increasing enterprise size and diversity or improve household members' health and education (Young et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forage growing as an incentive to improve smallholder beef production in Cambodia

et al. 2014

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A major challenge for large ruminant improvement projects in developing countries is smallholder farmer engagement that promotes the value of knowledge in informed decision making. Most large ruminant smallholder farmers in Cambodia are considered to be livestock keepers and will become livestock producers only if they recognise the production and financial benefits from improved health and management practices. The benefits of growing and feeding five introduced forage species was investigated as a potential entry point for smallholder farmer engagement in southern Cambodia. The mean chemical composition, digestibility and estimated metabolisable energy (ME; MJ/kg DM) of introduced forages at 30 days after first harvest were comparable to published values. An initial establishment of 52 fodder plots covering 2.6 ha in 2008 expanded to 1306 plots covering 45 ha, including non-project farmers from surrounding areas. The establishment of forage plots in high-intervention project villages provided an improvement in average daily liveweight gain of cattle and saved farmers up to 2 h labour per day. This strategy provided a platform for increased uptake and adoption of livestock health and production interventions.

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The social and other impacts of a cattle/crop innovation in Cambodia

Cited by 16 publications

References 11 publications

Transformation of smallholder beef cattle production in Vietnam

Transformation of smallholder beef cattle production in Vietnam

Improving Smallholder Farmer Biosecurity in the Mekong Region Through Change Management

Forage growing as an incentive to improve smallholder beef production in Cambodia

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