Thi Mai Huong Pham, Marcus Mergenthaler, Brigitte Kaufmann, Anne Valle Zárate:
Speciality Pork from Indigenous Pig Breeds to Improve Rural Incomes

THI MAI HUONG PHAM¹, MARCUS MERGENTHALER¹, BRIGITTE KAUFMANN², ANNE VALLE ZÁRATE^3
1University of Hohenheim, Intitute for Agriculture Economics and Social Science in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany
²University of Hohenheim, Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany

Profitable livestock husbandry of indigenous pig breeds can play an important role in conserving animal genetic diversity. At the same time it has the potential to increase and diversify household income of poor farmers in remote areas if market access to speciality markets can be provided. In order to analyse the importance of marketing arrangement among actors involved in marketing of pigs, we use data from a supply chain survey in the mountainous region of northern Viet Nam. In addition a sample of 70 households keeping the improved Mong Cai or indigenous Ban as sow breeds in three villages in the same region is used to analyze economic impacts of indigenous pig breeds and marketing arrangements at the household level. For this purpose we compare the production economics of improved and indigenous big breeds and look at the different marketing arrangements.

First results show that markets are characterized by locality and short geographic distance among actors, irrespective of breed. Because production is mainly resource-driven, farmers only sell small numbers of indigenous pigs to the market. Due to an increase in demand for this speciality pork, indigenous pig producing households seem not depend so much on preferred traders. Net profit margin per unit of pork increases from improved pigs to crossbreed offspring of indigenous pigs and to indigenous pigs.

We also compared production economics at the household level. Income from pig production increases with closer proximity to markets. We could also find that within the same production condition households with trading relations will get higher income than those without trading relations. The breed effect for indigenous pig breeds is positive.

Our results show, how through the development of speciality markets, indigenous pig breeds can be conserved in situ, while at the same time making a contribution to increase rural incomes. Once marketing arrangements are systematically established, benefits for farmers could be further increased. A challenge exists to better link farmers in remote areas to emerging speciality markets.

Keywords: Indigenous breed, marketing arrangements, pigs, Viet Nam

Full paper: http://www.tropentag.de/2007/abstracts/full/457.pdf Poster (pdf-Format): http://www.tropentag.de/2007/abstracts/posters/457.pdf

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Contact Address: Thi Mai Huong Pham, University of Hohenheim, Intitute for Agriculture Economics and Social Science in the Tropics and Subtropicsc/o: Thi Kieu Huong Tran, Schwetzstrasse 1/1710, 0711 Stuttgart, Germany, e-mail: huongmaiphamyahoo.com