Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after african swine fever: A case study in Peri-Urban Hanoi, Vietnam
ISSN 2588-1299
VJAS 2021; 4(1): 965-977
Vietnam Journal
of Agricultural
Sciences
Swine Production and Challenges in
Vietnam after African Swine Fever: A Case
Study in Peri-Urban Hanoi, Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Duong Nga, Pham Van Hung, Le Thi Long Vy,
Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, Duong Nam Ha & Giang Huong
Faculty of Economics and Rural Development, Vietnam National University of
Agriculture, Hanoi 131000, Vietnam
Abstract
The goal of this paper was to identify major challenges in rebuilding
the swine industry in Vietnam, using the Chuong My district, Hanoi
as a case study. Primary data was gathered in 2020 mainly through a
survey of 97 swine producers in the district. Analysis tools were
descriptive and comparative statistics. Results show that after the
African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, the recovery of the swine
industry in Vietnam faced several challenges, including the issues of
piglet quantity and quality, changing consumer preferences which
were worsened by the current Covid-19 pandemic, relatively cost
disadvantage of domestic production under the context of new free
trade agreements, disease risk (ASF under the condition of no
effective and safe vaccine), insufficient resources of farms to restock,
and environmental issues caused by swine production in rural areas.
The paper proposed several recommendations to rebuilding the swine
herd in order to address the issues and overcome the challenges,
mainly focus on improving sow quality, market information and
linkages, good practices in production, training for labor, and address
environmental issues.
Keywords
African swine fever, challenges, smallholders
Introduction
The swine industry contributes over 60% of the total meat
production in Vietnam (GSO, 2020). The industry also provided
livelihood to about 3 million producers in rural areas in 2019, among
which more than 90% were smallholders with less than 100 pigs
(Vietnam Livestock, 2020). These pigs were more susceptible to
swine-related diseases than those in large and modern farms due to a
lack of disease-prevention resources and capacity. In February 2019,
the first case of African swine fever (ASF) was detected in Vietnam.
The disease spread to all 63 provinces in Vietnam. The World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) confirmed that ASF affected
Received: December 15, 2020
Accepted: February 25, 2021
Correspondence to
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Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after African swine fever: A case study in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam
pigs and wild boars up to 100% fatality rate.
From February to October 2019, ASF in Vietnam
caused the death and culling of approximately
5.7 million pigs, corresponding to more than
20% of the total swine population of the country.
Such heavy loss amounted to approximately 330
thousand tons less pork produced (MARD,
2019), which impacted the swine industry
production. As pork remains dominant in the
meat consumption basket in Vietnam (Nga et al.,
2014), the production recovery is very important
and the identification of challenges in pig
production after ASF outbreak could provide
information for the government and line agencies
to pursue appropriate strategies. This paper
provided an overview of the swine production in
Vietnam amidst the ASF outbreak, government
responses to the disease outbreak, identified the
challenges for the swine industry, and proposed
key recommendations for complete recovery in
the swine sector in the future. The study analyzed
swine production in Chuong My district, which
ranked second in swine population among the
districts of Hanoi. The study was limited to farm
household level and did not cover other
production by companies or cooperatives.
interviewed. Key informant interviews with the
staff working in the District Board of Veterinary
and Livestock Production (DBVLP) and farmers
were also conducted. Data were grouped by
production scale (including small, medium, and
large scales), defined by the number of pigs per
liter (under 20, from 20 to 40, and above 40,
respectively). The analysis tools employed in the
study consisted of descriptive and comparative
statistics, and ANOVA to compare means among
the different groups.
Results and Discussion
Overview of swine production amidst ASF
outbreak in Vietnam and government
responses
Pig sector and ASF
Vietnam is one of the top swine producers in
the world, with a sustained pig population of
around 27-29 million in 2010-2019 (GSO, 2020).
Total pork production was estimated at 3.9
million tons in 2018, accounting for 71.5% of the
total meat production of the country. The
production was mainly composed of numerous
farm households and companies/big groups such
as C.P. Vietnam Corporation and DABACO
Group. These big groups adopted the 3F process
(Feed – Farm – Food) while having more
advantages than farm households in terms of
resources, technology, and control over their own
meat value chain due to integrated activities
within the organizations. Small producers, on the
other hand, supplied more than 80% of the total
pork production in Vietnam (Nguyen – Viet
Hung et al., 2019), with a total number of
approximately 2.5 million pig population from
smallholders with less than 10 pigs (GSO, 2020).
Most smallholder pig farms in Vietnam operated
independently (Nga et al., 2014). The studies of
Nga et al. (2017) and Nguyen Thi Thuy et al.
(2020) showed that there were almost no official
contracts between producers to the downstream
actors in the chains. Even though smallholders
played an important role in agricultural value
chains (Poole, 2017), they were less of an
advantage in participating in more stable and
higher value chain due to a lack of agreed
Methodology
Secondary data on swine production, pork
meat market, and ASF situation in Vietnam and
Chuong My district, as well as various relevant
reports were collected from the General Statistics
Office (GSO) and the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development (MARD). Primary data
were collected through survey among 97 swine
producers in 8 communes, covering 3 sub-
regions in Chuong My district (Day River Bank
region, Semi-mountainous region, and Delta
region). The sample size was determined using
Slovin’s formula (Guilford & Frucher, 1973)
with a margin error of 10%, given the total
number of swine producers in Chuong My at the
time of survey recorded at 3,411 and allocated
proportionally to each commune. Swine
producers were randomly selected from the list
provided by the commune veterinary staff and
were replaced if the farm had stopped rearing
pigs (after AFS) or/and were not willing to be
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Nguyen Thi Duong Nga et al. (2021)
standards (Swinnen et al., 2013), as well as the
ability to provide a regular and consistent supply
of the required volume.
amounting to about 3.0-3.6 million VND (Thu
Ha, 2020). Higher production cost-plus and the
supply shortage pushed up the pork prices;
hence, live pig market price peaked at 100,000
VND kg-1 in May 2020 or doubled the value in
May 2019 (Figure 1).
MARD confirmed the country’s first ASF
outbreak on February 19, 2019. All 63 provinces
of the country reported outbreaks that influenced
the culling of about 6 million pigs in March 2020.
According to the latest report of MARD in July
2020 (MARD, 2020), ASF was basically under
control with about 99% of the communes
confirming no outbreak. There were only 188
communes in 18 provinces affected by ASF
(MARD, 2020). Swine production from both
farm households and companies started to
recover, but complete recovery of production
only happened in companies and large farms.
However, the resurgence of ASF in several
provinces had raised the issue of production risks
for farmers. Pig population was estimated to have
decreased by 7.5% in June 2020, as compared to
the same period in 2019. The Livestock
Production Department (LDP, 2020) reported the
number of sows in April 2020 at 2.86 million,
significantly falling behind the average of 4
million during 2017-2018 and creating a large
shortage supply of piglets. This situation,
coupled with the rising demand for production
restocking, pushed the price of piglets as high as
three to four times of the pre-ASF level,
Government responses
In production, the Vietnam Government
took various measures to help the industry
recover. The government encouraged research
institutes and universities to develop a vaccine
against ASF and called for relevant line
ministries and local governments to take
respective actions. The National Steering
Committee on ASF prevention and control was
formed in March 2019. This committee initiated
the issuance of guidelines on the implementation
of ASF prevention measures as well as guidance
on the restocking of pig heard to all stakeholders
and producers. Among these guidelines were
Resolution No. 42/NQ-CP that proposed the
urgent solutions for the prevention and control of
ASF and the Decision No. 793/QD-TTg that
discussed the specific mechanisms and policies
to support funding for disease prevention,
particularly
providing
compensation
to
producers who had to depopulate pigs due to
ASF. For example, an amount of 25,000 VND
kg-1 (equivalent to USD 1.09 kg-1) of live
Figure 1. Trend in live pig prices in Vietnam from 2013 to 2020
Source: GSO (2020)
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Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after African swine fever: A case study in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam
fattening pig and/or 30,000 VND/kg (USD 1.30
kg-1) of live piglet was proposed. The banks also
implemented measures of charged-off debts or
rescheduled debt payments from producers who
were heavily affected by ASF. Other measures to
prevent smuggling and illegal transportation of
animals and animal products, especially pigs and
pork products, into Vietnam were also instituted
(Official Letter No. 10/BCDTLCP). MARD also
supported private companies to import more than
5,000 great-grandparent and grandparent pigs in
2019 and 10,000 great-grandparent and
grandparent pigs in 2020 to ensure wean supplies
in 2021-2024 (MARD, 2020). In July 2020, the
Government approved the national plan on ASF
prevention for the period 2020-2025, focusing on
over 70 thousand tons, almost tripled the volume
during the same period in 2019 (MARD, 2020).
About 97,300 live pigs were also imported to
Vietnam from June to August 2020 for
slaughtering and processing. The recovery of
domestic production (even at a slow pace) with a
large volume of imported pork had an immediate
impact on the pork market, with the price of live
hog falling under 80,000 VND kg-1 (USD 3.48
kg-1).
Pig production in Chuong My after ASF
Chuong My was, reportedly, one of the
leading livestock producers among the districts
of Hanoi, especially in pigs and poultry. Pigs
were reared by (independent) farm households
and contract farms and private companies. In
2017, Chuong My had 8,887 pig farm
households, keeping about 188 thousand pig
heads (Figure 2). There were more than 80 farms
and private companies engaged in swine
production in the district, with farms as contract
producers of the C.P. Group. Yet, contract farms
and companies produced about 38% of the total
live pigs of the district in 2017.
early detection,
warning,
and
timely
implementation of measures to prevent ASF,
including bio-security and disease safety
practices and other good practices along the pork
value chain.
The government has encouraged companies
to import both live pigs from Thailand and pork
meat from other countries to meet domestic
demand and stabilize live pig prices. According
to statistics from the Department of Animal
Health (MARD, 2020), the total volume of
imported pork in 2019 surged to about 67
thousand tons, an increase of about 63% from
2018. During the first six months of 2020, the
total volume of imported pork was recorded to be
The first ASF case in Chuong My district
was detected in March 2019 and then ASF
quickly spread to 32 communes/towns of the
district. The total pig population had decreased
steadily from nearly 415 thousand heads in 2018
to 242 thousand heads in 2019.
Figure 2. Total number of pig farm households and pig population in Chuong My district, 2017-2019
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Nguyen Thi Duong Nga et al. (2021)
Low hog prices in 2017 had discouraged
farmers to raise pigs. Additionally, the ASF
outbreak caused losses for 2,846 farm
households (Chuong My People Committee,
2020), accounting for nearly 40% of the total
farm households. The total number of culled pigs
was recorded at 42,113, weighted at about 3,000
tons, equivalent to about 8% of the total live
weight pig produced in 2018 in Vietnam.
to more than 50% of the total household income.
This proportion was higher on a larger scale
(Table 1).
Pig disease management at farm households
The farm households strictly applied
vaccines for common diseases in pigs, such as
foot and mouth disease (FMD) and pasteurellosis
(more than 80% of respondents). Among the
surveyed farmers, less than one-fourth were
affected by ASF and experienced pig mortality
due to ASF. Interestingly, medium-scale farmers
seemed to better implement disease prevention
management with a lower ASF infection pig
mortality (Table 2). Despite many neighboring
pig farms with AFS cases around, there were
farm households that were free from ASF and
continued to gain profit in the time of high price.
General information on farm households
Men shared more than 85% of main labor in
pig production by farm households (Table 1).
More men were employed in larger-scale pig
production because the work demanded more
physically strenuous work. This was also
highlighted by Hung (2011), Thinh et al. (2018),
and Ninh et al. (2019). Higher education of men
labor plus more advanced use of pig breeds were
also documented on a larger scale as shown in
Table 1 with more than 50% of them using
imported genetics. Pig production was quite
important in households with about two-thirds of
respondents saying that the activity contributed
Households that were producing pigs
benefited from high market prices after ASF
since they could sell pigs at a price higher than
94,000 VND kg-1 (USD 4.09 kg-1) at the time of
the survey. This was much higher than before
ASF with live pig priced at 50,000 VND kg-1
Table 1. General information of farm households in 2020
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Indicator
All
F-Test
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
-
1. % of households with main male labor
2. Age of the interviewee
75.61
48.80
91.43
50.49
100.00
51.62
86.60
50.02
0.819ns
3. Education of the interviewee (% hh)
- No schooling
2.44
53.66
43.90
1.39
0.00
62.85
37.14
1.51
0.00
23.81
76.19
1.95
1.03
50.52
48.45
1.56
-
-
- Primary and Secondary education
- High school
-
5.631***
4. Labor in pig production (persons)
5. Contribution of pig production to the total household income (%)
- Below 50%
63.64
36.36
14.15
120.63
27.18
72.83
31.46
172.43
9.68
90.32
79.33
619.52
35.95
64.05
34.5
-
-
- Above 50%
6.Number of pigs in the current liter (heads)
7. Pig barn area (m2)
63.4***
16.93***
247.3
8. Breeds (% hh applying)
- Imported genetics
-
-
-
2.44
95.12
2.44
5.71
94.29
0.00
52.38
47.62
0.00
14.43
84.54
1.03
- Cross bred
- Indigenous
Note:***: Significant at 1%; ns is non-significant.
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Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after African swine fever: A case study in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam
Table 2. African swine fever at pig farm households in 2020
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Indicator
All
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
1. Households with infected cases
- % hh affected by ASF
24.39
24.39
14.29
28.57
33.33
42.86
22.68
29.90
- % hh affected by other diseases
2. Households with pig mortality
- % hh with pig mortality due to ASF
- % hh with pig mortality due to other disease
3. Number of pigs dead
24.39
12.20
14.29
5.71
33.33
23.81
22.68
12.37
- Number of dead pigs due to ASF per hh
- Pigs dead due to ASF as % of hh’s pig population in a year
6.56
5.09
7.03
27.43
17.29
10.55
13.34
19.08
(USD 2.17 kg-1) in January-February 2019. With
a total cost estimated at 5.8 million VND,
farmers could gain 3.6 million VND per 100 kg
(USD 156.52 per 100 kg) pig live weight. For
farm households who could keep pigs and were
not affected by ASF (Table 3), a significant
amount of profit was realized. A higher cost
efficiency with a lower feed cost and ratio of
income/total cost of 0.71 was attained at medium
production scale. The reasons behinds that were
(i) medium scale was manageable by family
labors, who also did several other farming works;
and (ii) at this production scale, farmers could
still mix feeds by themselves, i.e., concentrated
feed with rice/corn bran, which could help to
reduce cost. Meanwhile, in large scale
production, farmers mostly used pellet feed
because of a lack of labor. However, overall
economic performance was not significantly
different among production scales.
sourcing them from other reputable farmers who
guaranteed the origin of piglets. During the ASF
outbreak, farmers produced the piglets to
minimize risks, save cost, and ensure quality
(Table 4). However, the sows were mainly kept
for their own household production. Hence, the
quality of sows in many farm households
deteriorated over time, affecting the productivity
of swine production in the long term. In the
coming years, sow quality should be improved
through upgrading of the quality of
grandparents and great grant parents. More
than 50% of farm households reported that they
either could not buy piglets or bought poor
quality piglets (Table 4).
High cost of piglets. Due to the major loss
of sows during the ASF outbreak in the country
as indicated earlier, farmers in Chuong My
district also faced difficulties in buying piglets to
recover their production. About 26% of farmers
reported that they could not buy piglets. If they
could buy, 59% of respondents claimed that the
price was very high. Most pig farmers produced
piglets by themselves to ensure lower cost which
was estimated at 2.1 million VND per piglet
(USD 91.30) (Table 3) but this limited their
capacity to expand their production. The
prevailing average market price of a piglet (7-10
Challenges in swine production recovery
Quality and price of piglets
Quality of piglets. At the time of the survey,
large farms have tended to source piglets from
breeding companies/centers or breeding farms
(Table 4). The small farm households preferred
either producing piglets by themselves or
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970
Nguyen Thi Duong Nga et al. (2021)
Table 3. Issues in sourcing piglets by farmers (% hh)
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
All
Indicator
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
1. Sources of piglets
- Breeding companies
- Breeding centers
- Breeding farms
7.32
14.63
31.71
53.66
0.00
11.43
17.14
42.86
40.00
8.57
66.67
28.57
23.81
33.33
4.76
21.65
18.56
34.02
44.33
4.12
- Other farmers
- Produced by themselves
- Others
0.00
5.71
0.00
2.06
2. Difficulties in obtaining piglets
- Could not buy
19.51
21.95
51.22
2.44
40.00
42.86
74.29
2.86
14.29
9.52
25.77
26.80
58.76
2.06
- Poor quality
- High prices
47.62
0.00
- Others
3. The most trustful source of breeds
- Breeding companies
- Breeding centers
- Breeding farms
21.95
2.44
14.29
0.00
47.62
0.00
24.74
1.03
14.63
2.44
14.29
0.00
23.81
0.00
16.49
1.03
- Other farmers
- Produced by themselves
- Others
58.54
0.00
68.57
2.86
28.57
0.00
55.67
1.03
kg) was 3.2 million VND (USD 139.13) at the
time of the survey. The price was about four
times higher than before the ASF outbreak
(according to the interviews with farmers).
Expensive piglets contributed to much higher
production costs and accounted for about one-
third of the total production cost (Table 3). With
limited financial capacity (i.e., more than half of
the respondents reporting lack of capital – Table
7), the smallholders faced difficulties in
restocking swine herd.
decreased by 30% as compared to its peak in May
2020. Retail pork prices at traditional markets in
Hanoi also decreased by 20-30%. Meanwhile,
Big C, a major supermarket chain in Vietnam,
imported pork priced 20-40% cheaper than
domestic pork (Anh Tu, 2020). Like Chinese
consumers (Standaert, 2020), Vietnamese
traditionally preferred freshly slaughtered ‘warm
meat’ (Nga et al., 2015). This demand could
likely play as a natural barrier over imported
meat products (ACIAR, 2011). However,
changes in consumption trends have been
observed with an increasing quantity of imported
meat (chilled, frozen). According to MARD
(2020), the total volume of imported pork
increased from 9,022 tons in 2015 to more than
67,000 tons in 2019, and continued to increase in
2020. Changing behavior in meat consumption
could probably be amplified by Covid-19 in
Vietnam with the first case being confirmed in
March 2020. This greatly affected the economy
when 56,000 companies left the market. The
Consumer preferences and Covid-19
According to GSO, pork prices in Vietnam
increased by 68.2% in the first six months of
2020 compared with the same period in 2019 (To
Ha, 2020). However, with the large volume of
pork and live pigs imported, the domestic pork
market became more balanced since June 2020.
Live pig price in early September 2020 was
recorded at about 74,000 VND to 78,000 VND
kg-1 (USD 3.22-3.39 kg-1) in the North. It
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Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after African swine fever: A case study in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam
International Labour Organization’s initial
prediction (ILO, 2020) was that Covid-19 could
affect the livelihood of 4.6 to 10.3 million
workers by mid-2020, whether through a decline
in working hours, in wages or, ultimately, loss of
jobs. Reduction in income could be a reason for
consumers, particularly the low-income
population, to switch to less expensive foods
such as imported pork.
11.2% under CPTPP, then decline to zero over
the next seven years. Frozen pork meat would be
duty-free after seven years from the effective
date of EVFTA (the maximum tax reduction for
pork in the agreement was 40%) (EU
Commissioner for Trade, 2020). Therefore,
imported pork prices would decrease relatively
as compared to domestic products. This would
raise an issue on how domestic pork production
could be cost-competitive in the upcoming years.
Competitiveness and threats from import
products
Farmers sold pigs mainly to collectors,
especially larger farmers, due to the limited local
market demand (Table 5). With the absence of
official contracts with buyers, farmers faced
difficulties in selling pigs, especially when
collectors set lower prices. This happened
generally in the smallholder pork value chain in
Vietnam (Nga et al., 2014).
According to the Ministry of Industry and
Trade, the average price of imported pork at the
Vietnam gate was USD 2.55 kg-1, equivalent to
60,000 VND kg-1 in April 2020 (Nguyen Hanh,
2020). Imported pork was characterized by clear
origin and product information that complied
with European criteria. Meanwhile, domestic
production cost was calculated at approximately
5.8 million VND per 100 kg (USD 252.17 per
100 kg) of live pigs at the farm gate (Table 3),
equivalent to about 68,000 VND kg-1 (USD 2.96
kg-1) or carcass. Live pigs were collected and
slaughtered (Table 5). Most retailers at the wet
market had no product information (Nga et al.,
2015) or lacked the adequate facility to ensure
hygiene and safety of the food (World Bank,
2017). Furthermore, main exporters of pork to
Vietnam were Canada and EU countries such as
Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain.
With the CT-TPP and EVFTA, imported meat
(pork) would be cheaper. For example, the duty
rate for pork would initially drop from 15% to
Disease risks, insufficient resources, and
environmental issues
Swine-related diseases such as diarrhea,
pneumonia, fever, blue ear, or head edema could
cause a reduction of up to 16.6% of the total
income from pig production of smallholders
annually (Nga et al., 2017). In Chuong My
district, farmers vaccinated pigs; hence, pig
mortality due to the mentioned disease was quite
low, estimated at less than two dead pigs per
household (surveyed data). Pig mortality was
100% with ASF (Table 2), but there was no
effective and safe vaccine for ASF in the world
to date. This is also a major challenge for many
Table 4. Issues in selling pigs (as % of total)
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Indicator
All
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
1. Main buyers
- Collectors
68.29
31.71
36.59
80.00
20.00
31.43
90.48
9.52
77.32
22.68
36.08
- Local slaughterhouses
2. Farmers selling pigs to collectors
3. Difficulties in selling pigs
- Lower prices set by collectors
- Unstable prices
42.86
46.67
33.33
13.33
54.55
45.45
0
44.44
22.22
33.33
48.57
34.29
14.29
- Others
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972
Nguyen Thi Duong Nga et al. (2021)
countries in controlling ASF such as China
(Wang et al., 2018). Huldah et al. (2020)
confirmed that while the process of developing
effective and safe African swine fever vaccines
evolved, the mechanisms of virus entry,
replication within the host cells, and other
methods were gradually identified. In Vietnam,
there were efforts to develop a vaccine for ASF
but there was no available vaccine for ASF as of
this reporting. According to MARD (2020), the
number of provinces and communes in Vietnam
affected by ASF decreased. However, the end of
the ASF outbreak can not be predicted, although
the rate of reported cases appeared to be slowing
recently. Due to the lack of treatment and a safe
vaccine, it had been extremely difficult to control
this devastating disease. The disease risk was
amplified under inadequate facilities such as pig
shelter conditions. More than 60% of pig
producers reported that either their pig shelters
were not constructed following technical
standards or producers were not aware of such
standards (Table 6). The fact that farmers mostly
sold pigs to collectors/traders who might come
from other places also is a factor for increasing
the spread of ASF, hence inter-district and inter-
province management for ASF is important,
which is quite similar to the management of ASF
among Asian countries (Le et al., 2019).
Lack of capital was perceived as the main
issue in restocking pig production of farm
households (Table 7) under the context of high
production cost (breeding) as well as damages
and losses due to ASF, particularly among other
producers who had stopped raising pigs at the
time of survey. Labor was not an issue for small-
scale farmers but was considered a problem for
larger farmers who required quality labor for
managing the herds. Observations from larger
farms revealed that most of them were farrow –
to – finish producers, with a relatively large
number of sows. During and after ASF, labor
requirements were much higher, i.e., better skills
in taking care of the herds (especially disease
management and biosecurity conditions), and
following strict rules such as more frequent
disinfection pig shelters, bathing, wearing
Table 5. Types and locations of pig shelters
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Indicator
1. Locations of pig shelter
All
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
- In residential area
90.24
9.76
48.57
51.43
38.10
61.90
63.92
36.08
- Outside residential area
2. Criteria of hh’s pig shelters
- Did not comply with technical requirements
- Complied with technical requirements
- Did not know
53.66
19.51
26.83
51.43
40.00
8.57
38.10
61.90
0.00
49.48
36.08
14.43
Table 6. Difficulties in swine production (% of respondents)
Small
Medium
Large
Issues
All
(n = 41)
(n = 35)
22.86
42.86
5.71
(n = 21)
33.33
66.67
14.29
47.62
9.52
Lack of land
43.90
63.41
0.00
34.02
56.70
5.15
Lack of capital
Lack of labor
Insufficient techniques
Others
58.54
2.44
60.00
8.57
56.70
6.19
973
Swine production and challenges in Vietnam after African swine fever: A case study in peri-urban Hanoi, Vietnam
protective clothes, and not allowed to go out of
the farm during a cycle. This made the quality
labor sources to be in scarcity, as one labor could
not work for several farms as before ASF. Lack
of quality labor, coupled with a higher number of
pigs, could be a reason for a higher percentage of
large-scale farmers affected by ASF. Aside from
farmer’s capacity, the limited number of
veterinary staff working with numerous small
farmers also challenged animal disease control,
including ASF (according to the interview with
staff from DBVLP), this was also the case in
Russia, as mentioned by Wang et al. (2018).
and feed/veterinary companies offered frequent
trainings on pig rearing. More than 80% of the
respondents attended training on disease
management (Table 8). More than 60% of pig
producers treated sick animals by themselves,
but approximately only one-fourth of them felt
confident in doing this. Large farmers seemed to
be more confident than others in terms of their
capacity to treat sick animals (Table 8), most of
them hired technically qualified veterinarians for
farm management. While swill-feeding might
increase the risk of ASF as in China (Wang et al.,
2018), this issue seemed not critical in Chuong My
where most farmers used the manufactured feed.
Apart from capital and labor constraints,
more than 50% of pig producers reported that
they did not have an adequate understanding of
Two-thirds of pig shelters were located in
residential areas. This was common among
small-scale farmers (Table 6) but likely to relate
with the ASF outbreak, with other animals living
technical know-how in rearing pigs (Table 7).
Staff from the DBVLP revealed that the DBVLP
Table 7. Training and self- evaluation of treating sick animals (% of respondents)
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Indicators
All
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
1. Farm household heads attended training on
73.17
43.33
93.33
13.33
94.26
63.64
90.91
9.09
85.71
61.11
100.00
0.00
83.51
55.56
93.83
8.64
- Feeding
- Disease management
- Others
2. Self-evaluation of capacity to treat sick animals
- Good
- Fair
14.63
65.85
19.51
17.14
65.71
17.14
61.90
33.33
4.76
25.77
58.76
15.46
- Weak
Table 8. Treatment of waste from pig production
Small
Medium
(n = 35)
Large
Waste and methods of treatment
All
(n = 41)
(n = 21)
Pig manure
- Biogas
85.37
9.76
9.76
0
82.86
14.29
14.29
8.58
100
0
87.63
9.28
- Compost
- Feeding fish
- Others
14.29
9.52
12.37
5.15
Waste water
- Biogas
78.05
24.39
4.88
77.14
11.43
20
90.48
4.76
80.41
15.46
13.4
- Dispose to drains
- Dispose to fish ponds
19.05
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
974
Nguyen Thi Duong Nga et al. (2021)
in the same area (Dione et al., 2015). Backyard
swine raising was one of the pressing issues in
the rural environment, despite that most of the
communes in the district had set areas isolated
from the residential area for livestock
production. Compost of manure (Table 9) within
residential areas (among 10% of pig households)
and direct disposal of waste water from pig
production to common drainage systems could
cause environmental pollution and would pose
more difficulties in animal disease management
for farm households. There was only one farm
household that applied a manure pressing
machine and claimed that it was quite efficient in
addressing the problem of odor within the area.
To speed up the recovery of the swine
industry in the future, the government and line
agencies should focus on improving sow quality
through breeding programs to improve the
quality of grandparents and great grandparents in
breeding units. Cost competitiveness in pig
production requires lower production and
marketing costs through reduced feed cost as
well as breeding cost and building efficient
marketing channels with strong linkages along
the value chain. The promotion of good
agricultural practices in pig production should be
intensified, such as VietGAHP or biosecurity, or
establishing the disease-free livestock production
zone, and discouraging farmers to expand
production in residential areas. Training
programs to improve farmer’s production
capacity and rural laborers in swine production
must be offered free or at minimal cost, where
rural occupational training programs could also
be targeted. This also should be aligned with the
National plan on ASF prevention. Government
line ministries with partner banks or lending
institutions may revisit their credit policies and
offer easy and practical solutions to ease credit
availability to small farm holders. Market
information systems should be efficient to serve
numerous small farmers to avoid excess supply
(as experienced in the past). Pig waste
management, as well as environmental
management in the rural areas, should be
strengthened.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The swine industry continues to be a key
player in livestock production of Vietnam in
creating livelihoods as well as pork dominance in
the consumers’ meat basket. The ASF outbreak
has caused devastating losses in the country’s
production and food market. MARD and line
agencies have taken various measures to control
the epidemic. The government has also
encouraged meat imports to address the shortfall
in the pork supply in the domestic market.
Despite the fact that the rate of reported ASF
cases seemed to decline, the end of the ASF
outbreak could not be predicted. Recovery of the
swine industry is urgently called for, which
requires a lot of effort to prevent and control ASF
and address market-related issues. This study
took the case in Chuong My district, Hanoi and
show that ASF had a significantly adverse impact
on the pig herd of the district, and main
challenges in swine production recovery after
ASF were identified, such as issues of quantity
and quality of piglets and changing consumer
preferences which could have been amplified by
Covid-19 (ongoing), relatively cost disadvantage
of domestic production under the context of new
free trade agreements (such as EVFTA and CT-
TPP), disease risk (ASF under the condition of
no effective and safe vaccine), and insufficient
resources of farms to restock, and environmental
issues caused by pig production in rural areas.
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