Tropentag, October 11 - 13, 2005 in Stuttgart-Hohenheim "The Global Food & Product Chain – Dynamics, Innovations, Conflicts, Strategies"

Support Policy Strategy for Avian Influenza Emergency Recovery and Rehabilitation of the Poultry Production in Viet Nam

¹National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Rare Animal and Biodiversity, Viet Nam
²London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Public Health and Policy Department, United Kingdom
³Georg-August-University Göttingen, Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany

Abstract

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently elaborating the implementation of the Avian Influenza (AI) Emergency Recovery Project. The Government of Viet Nam is supported by the International Development Association in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), World Bank (WB) and the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF).
National compensation strategy study is a component of the project. The objective is to prepare a strategy for a National Compensation Policy for Highly Pathogenic AI to strengthen the policy now in place. The methodology for the rapid appraisal of the support strategy for AI was based on: (1) Qualitative interviews at three different administrative levels (central, province and district levels) as well as with farmers. (2) Quantitative data analysis on financing activities related to the AI support strategy and (3) Economic impact assessment based on statistical data obtained from the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and General Statistics Office. The work was carried out in December 2004 and April 2005.
Recommendations for the support policy strategy for AI were elaborated. This policy aims at preventing the public health threat derived from AI as well as reducing the economic losses at national level associated to the outbreak. The policy rationale is to encourage farmers to declare the disease at an early stage so as to contain the disease spread among the poultry farmer population. Key to the support policy is the level of compensation given to farmers in order to encourage them to cull the birds and avoid illegal selling to the market. The financial support policy therefore debates what the adequate risk-sharing patterns between public central government funds and poultry producers should be. Such patterns are closely related to the restructuring of the poultry production sector in Viet Nam.

Keywords: Avian Influenza, economic impact, public health threat, risk-sharing pattern, support policy, Viet Nam

Contact Address: Clemens Wollny, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany, e-mail: cwollnygwdg.de