Key findings from initial assessment of Livestock
Livelihoods and Agri-food Systems Flagship
CGIAR Research Program on Livestock planning meeting
5-7 November, 2019
Hanoi, Vietnam
Thinh Nguyen
International Livestock Research Institute

1. Objectives
To understand
structure and
dynamics of major
value chains
Ideas of possible
interventions

2. Methodology
Low land
Middle land
High land
Chieng
Chung
Chieng
Luong
Chieng
Luong
12 FGDs
1 FGD with Thai male
group
1 FGD with Thai female
group
1 FGD with H’mong
male group
1 FGD with H’mong
group
20 KIIs
Local authorities
VC actors

3. Key findings – major livestock species
• most valuable living assets of local
households
• Only sell in need of big amount of
money for important events
• A cultural activity in highland villages
• Mainly for sale in low- and mid-land
villages
• Mainly for home consumption

Beef cattle value chain
• Thai: free grazing + confining
80-90% collectors, 10-20% farmers
• H’mong: free grazing
10-20% collectors, 80-90% farmers
• No. of cattle decreased over years
• Few producers but larger scale in the
future
• No. of beef cattle increased by 2-3
times compared to the last 5 years.
• Increasing trend in the future
• The cattle herd was stable over the last 5
years
• No change in the future
• Confining
• Silage fermentation
techniques
• 80-90% collectors, 10-20%
farmers
Production & marketing History & future outlook

Beef cattle value chain
Major constraints
• Feed shortages
• Local breed with low productivity. AI is not available
• Diseases
Opportunities
• High market demand
Interventions
• Scaling up farm-grown fodder production
• Replacement of local breed with cross-breeds, combined with AI
services and trainings on caring and disease preventing and treating
techniques

Pig value chain
“White” pigs
“Black” pigs
“Black” pigs
• Thai: confining, mix of agricultural by-
products and industrial feed
• H’mong: free-range, no industrial feed
• Confining
• Mix of agricultural by-products
and industrial feed
• Confining
• Mix of agricultural by-products
and industrial feed
Production & marketing History & future
 Number of local pigs raised in the
past were higher
 In the future, more local pig
producers, larger scale. Local pigs will
be mainly kept in pens and fed with
high proportion of industrial feed.
 Decreasing trend
 Switch to beef cattle, goats, or local
pigs

Pig value chain
Major constraints
Black pigs White pigs
• High mortality rate of new-born
piglets
• Low productivity
• Thai: time- and labor consuming
for feeding
• H’mong: pigs die because of
cold weather
• High input prices are high and
constantly increase
• Output prices are low and
fluctuate strongly, depending on
the Chinese markets.
• Diseases: FMD, ASF, etc.
Opportunities
Black pigs White pigs
• High demand
• High market prices (2-3 times
higher than white
• NA

3. Key findings – Major crops
• Coffee
• Maize
• Paddy
Thai’s villages
• Son Tra
• Paddy
• Cassava
Hmong’s villages
• Sugarcane
• Maize
• Fruit trees (longan)

Sugarcane value chain
• Contract farming with Son La Sugar company
• In the first year of contract, the company made one-time payment right
after the harvest. In following years, the payment was divided into several
times in 3-4 months (even up to 7 months)
• Sugarcane production is labour-intensive. Most farms have to hire labours
for harvesting and loading sugarcane to trucks.
• Prices of sugarcane tend to decrease over years
• Sugarcane production is projected to be unsustainable in the future.

Maize value chain
• Mono-cropping practice is prevalent leading to soil erosions and
decreasing productivity over years
• Total maize areas reduced by 70% compared to 5 years ago and tend to
continue decreasing in the future. Many farmers have turned to other
crops such as sugarcane or fruit trees.
• H’mong group are often offered lower prices compared to Thai group to
cover transportation costs because H’mong villages are usually located in
remote areas with poor road conditions

Coffee value chain
• 100% Thai households grow coffee with average land area of 1-2 ha per
hh. Coffee is labor-intensive activity compared to other crops
• Failure of market linkage between coffee farmers and Phuc Hung
company. Farmers prefer free marketing at marketplaces rather than
contract farming
• Coffee prices tend to decrease over years. If the decreasing trend
continues, farmers will switch to other fruit crops such as mango or plum

Major constraints of crop production
• Unsustainable production practices (e.g. maize)
• Unstable market prices
• Poor/inefficient market linkages (e.g. sugarcane, coffee)
• Short vision of farmers on potential cash crops
Interventions
• Technical trainings
• Micro-credits
• Establishment of market linkages?

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