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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 strength- ening, and local coalitions and innovation platforms to sustainable intensification of smallholder livestock production.

Livestock production is considered to be an important pathway out of poverty for the rural poor  in  developing countries (e.g. Kristjanson et  al.  2010)  and  worldwide 1  billion poor people depend on livestock for their livelihoods (McDermott et al. 2010). Livestock are living assets contributing to nutrition, food security and building wealth. The increasing consumption of meat in some developing countries, related to rising household income and rapid urbanisation, has been well documented (e.g. Delgado 2003). In Vietnam, per capita meat consumption rose at an average annual growth rate of 4.1% from 11 kg in 1980 – 1982 to 28 kg in 2001 – 2003, con- firming Vietnam as one of the developing countries where the predicted ‘livestock revolution’ is taking place (Pica-Ciamarra and Otte 2011). While much of this increase can be attributed to increased consumption of pork, consumption of beef has been predicted to almost double between 2001 and 2020 (Quirke et al. 2003).

This rising demand for beef presents poor livestock producers with significant opportunities to

increase the benefits gained from their livestock and raise income through increasing livestock sales. However, to date there have been few documented examples of smallholder farmers being able to take advantage of these opportunities. This paper describes one such example in which small- holder families in Vietnam, whose livelihood was based on small, diversified crop – livestock farms, were able to change from being traditional ‘cattle keepers’ to becoming market-oriented ‘cattle pro- ducers’ within a relatively short time span. A series of small research-for-development projects pro- vided interventions that both catalysed and supported this development (Table 1).

The case study location was Ea Kar district, Daklak province, Vietnam and the study covers the period from 2000 to 2010. Data and information presented are based on information extracted from project reports and presentations, interviews with key informants, and primary data collected during the Fodder Adoption Project; these include adoption surveys in 2007 and 2010, and market studies in 2004 and 2008. The paper describes the changes in production, marketing and innovation capacity, analyses the key factors that were instrumental in enabling this transition, and draws lessons on the changing needs for intervention strategies at different stages of the intensification process.

Research process

Three research projects contributed directly to cattle development in Ea Kar (Table 1). The nature and focus of these projects gradually changed over the 10 years and this evolution provided insights into the types and sequencing of interventions required at different stages of the inno- vation process.

Based on earlier research by CIAT that had identified forage varieties suitable for different agro-ecosystems in Southeast Asia (Stu¨r et al.  2002), the Forages for Smallholders Project (FSP, 2000 – 2002) introduced a range of promising forage varieties and evaluated these with indi- vidual smallholder farmers in three villages in Ea Kar, using a farmer participatory approach. The Livelihood and Livestock Systems Project (LLSP, 2003 – 2005) continued working with these farmers to develop new, improved feeding systems that combined and integrated the new fodder resource – the farm-grown forages – with the existing feed resources. A key intervention was the fattening of thin cattle prior to sale to achieve a higher sale price. Farmers provided ad libitum fodder to stall-fed cattle for 1 – 2 months, adding 25 – 50 kg of liveweight to animals prior to sale. Later, supplementary feeding using cassava meal, rice bran and other farm-grown crops and crop by-products was also introduced to further improve the growth rate of cattle, and feeding systems were then tailored to different production systems such as cattle fattening and cow-calf production. As the project progressed activities expanded to more villages and com- munes and scaling up became a focus of the project. Increasingly, the project worked with farmers’ groups rather than individual farmers and engaged with local organisations such as farmers’ and women’s unions. Extension tools, such as cross-visits, field days and farmers’ train- ing, were facilitated and implemented by extension workers who had received training by project scientists. In 2004, the LLSP conducted a rapid cattle market appraisal that brought farmers and traders together to discuss constraints and opportunities for improving marketing of cattle from Ea Kar. Kar. Commencing in 2007 the Fodder Adoption Project (FAP, 2007 – 2010) drew on innovation systems thinking (World Bank 2006) and engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, strengthen- ing capacity of local stakeholders to improve smallholder cattle production and marketing in Ea Kar. The project combined participatory approaches to developing and extending agricultural technologies (e.g. Horne and Stu¨r 2003) with an innovation systems approach (e.g. World Bank 2006, Hall et al. 2007). The focus of activities was on stimulating farmer links to urban markets, improving the efficiency and quality of cattle production to enable farmers to access these markets, and building capacity of local stakeholders for sustainable cattle development.

Methods

The results presented are based on information gathered from reports, presentations and publi- cations of the FSP, LLSP and FAP projects, and primary data collected during the LLSP and FAP projects. These include the results of adoption surveys in 2007 and 2010, and market studies in 2004 and 2008.

The first adoption survey was conducted in September 2007 and aimed to interview all

farmers who were growing forages in Ea Kar. District and commune extension workers visited all communes and villages in Ea Kar and interviewed commune officials, village heads and other key informants on forage development in their village and assembled a list of households that had adopted forages (adopters). The extension workers arranged visits to all adopters and one adult household member was interviewed using a simple one-page structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on basic household information, crops and livestock resources and planting of managed forages. In 2010, a second adoption survey was carried out in two stages: first, the survey team interviewed commune officials, village heads and other key informants in each of the 15 communes (and 259 villages) where forage and cattle develop- ment was known to have taken place to determine the number of households with cattle and the type of production systems used (i.e. traditional grazing, use of farm-grown forages, fattening of cattle, cow-calf production or mixed production systems). The team then randomly selected a subset of 54 households for a more detailed survey which elicited detailed information on adop- tion, management and productivity of forage and cattle production. The selection process was in two stages: first, the team randomly selected 5 of the 15 communes; second, they randomly selected 54 households from the list of households engaging in cattle production in these commu- nes. Data were summarised and analysed using a spreadsheet.

The first cattle market study was carried out in 2004 (Khanh et al. 2004). During the study key informants were interviewed. Separate group discussions with local government representatives, cattle producers and traders were facilitated during which each group discussed the history of cattle development and marketing, identified current stakeholders in the market chain, mapped market chains and discussed constraints and opportunities for improving cattle marketing. The outcomes of the discussions were reported at feedback workshops with all stakeholders. A second market study was carried out in 2008. This study used the Rapid Market Appraisal (RMA) method, developed for agricultural commodities (Wandschneider et al.  2007). The main components of the RMA were:

●     interviews with key informants

●     collection of secondary data

●     group discussions with three farmers’ groups representing different cattle production systems (traditional extensive grazing, stall-fed cow-calf production, and cattle fattening)

●     group discussions and individual interviews with eight small and four large traders in Ea Kar

●     interviews with relevant district authorities

●     interviews with individual traders and other stakeholders involved in the market chain at the three main destination markets of Buon Ma Thuot, Da Lat City and Ho Chi Minh City where most of the cattle from Ea Kar were sold

●     a feedback meeting with all stakeholders in Ea Kar to discuss the results of the market study and explore opportunities for improving cattle production and marketing.

The field surveys (data collection, interviews and group discussions) were conducted between 15 June and 15 September 2008. Destination market surveys were carried out in December 2008. The LLSP and FAP projects facilitated participatory market studies taking farmers’ club leaders, local traders and local government representatives to possible destination markets to observe operations and discuss market opportunities with traders, slaughterhouse operators and meat market stakeholders, and develop linkages with urban markets. Details of this study have been published separately (Khanh and Stu¨r 2012). Building capacity of researchers and extension workers in participatory research, forage, animal nutrition and feeding systems, market studies and innovation systems approaches were an integral part of the research projects.

Results

The system changes relating to cattle development in Ea Kar will be presented in three parts: (i) intensification of cattle production, (ii) accessing new markets and (iii) institutional and stake- holder dynamics.

 Intensification of cattle production

Fodder production and use

In 2000, the FSP project introduced the concept of farm-grown fodder production to smallholder farmers in Ea Kar by introducing a range of forage grasses and legumes that were likely to be well adapted to local conditions. The notion of growing fodder for their cattle on their own land was a novel idea for farmers used to exploiting common property resources to feed their animals. Despite this, farm-grown fodder was rapidly adopted by farmers with the highest adoption rates occurring from 2003 to 2005 (Figure 2). By 2010, more than 3,100 farm households, or 31% of all households with cattle, had adopted fodder production (Figure 2, Table 2). When inter- viewing farmers, who had recently started growing forages, about the reasons for adopting forage production they invariably listed labour savings and improved body condition of their animals as the main reasons for growing forages. They commented that they now had a ready fodder resource next to their house and it took only a few minutes to cut feed for their cattle; they no longer needed to send family members to herd cattle for long periods, contradicting the often-held view that zero grazing is more labour demanding, and they could also keep their cattle close to their house. In 2005, a small study comparing cattle production labour use of 27 fodder crop adopters and 20 non-adopters in Ea Kar showed that, on average, adopters spent 3 hours per day while non-adop- ters spent 6.8 hours per day looking after their cattle. The return to labour was $0.73 per hour for adopters and $0.16 per hour for non-adopters. While this was only a snapshot, it confirmed the assertion by farmers that labour savings were a major factor driving fodder adoption.The main fodder crops selected and grown by farmers in Ea Kar were the grasses Panicum maximum ‘Simuang’, Pennisetum purpureum ‘Napier’ and a Pennisetum hybrid ‘VA06’ with smaller areas of the grasses Paspalum  atratum  ‘Terenos’ and Brachiaria  hybrid ‘Mulato 2’ and the legume Stylosanthes guianensis ‘CIAT184’. Grasses rather than legumes were adopted more frequently by farmers as grasses produced higher fodder yields than legumes and quantity of fodder (rather than quality) was the first concern of farmers. During the first few years most farmers grew only small areas, 100 – 200 m2, as they evaluated the potential of forages. Later adopters  immediately grew  larger  areas,  500 – 1,000  m2,  which  were  sufficiently large  to impact positively animal growth. By 2007 the average fodder area per farm was 887 m2  and by 2010 had increased to 1,309 m2  (Table 2). Farmers grew fodder crops on land that had pre- viously been planted with other crops such as coffee, maize or cassava, often on land marginal for crop production. The preference for grasses also had the advantage that these could be propa- gated vegetatively from cuttings and rootstocks, which eliminated the need for developing a seed supply system. The researchers promoted sale (rather than provision of free) of planting material which enabled early adopters to sell small amounts of planting material to other farmers who also wanted to evaluate farm-grown fodders, and this provided an extra incentive for early adopters. For new farmers the cash investment needed was small as they could start with only a few plants for multiplication and then produce their own planting material.

Forage productivity was high as almost all farmers applied manure recycled from cattle pens and small amounts of inorganic fertilizer, usually nitrogen fertilizer, to their forage crops. Also, farmers managed forages in the same way as they did food crops; they grew forages in rows and cut and carried the fodder to animals to maximise forage productivity. Most farmers irrigated at least part of their fodder area during dry periods mainly using exist- ing irrigation equipment which they had purchased for coffee production. The average size of 1,309 m2 of forage production area was sufficient to produce fodder for fattening of two cattle at any one time.

The intensive fodder production had few negative impacts. At the end of the study in 2010, households had committed only 10% of their farm area to fodder production, which allowed them to continue to use most of their agricultural land for crop production and other livestock activities, and so maintain diversified agricultural production. Fodder crops were cut frequently and so pro- duced little or no seed that could potentially grow as a weed in unwanted situations. There was no evidence of invasive tendencies of the forages grown as fodders. The application of manure ensured that nutrients contained in cut fodder were replaced and productivity of fodders and soil fertility was maintained.

Adoption of forage production among different communes in Ea Kar varied considerably,

ranging from 1 to 95% of farms with cattle (Table 3). Uptake was less common for farmers living in remote communes such as Cu Lang and Cu Bong and more common for those living in communes with easy access to main roads and the district centre such as Ea Dar, Ea Mut and Ea Pal. In community consultations, local stakeholders identified several factors that contrib- uted to this differential adoption including level of access to grazing lands, tradition of cattle grazing, poverty, and access to extension services. People in more remote communes tended to have easier access to grazing lands so there was less pressure of finding new feed resources; they tended to belong to ethnic minority groups with a long history of cattle grazing; they were poor and had little access to credit to engage in cattle fattening; and they had limited inter- action with the government extension services.

Increase in cattle population, and change of breeds and management

From 2003 and 2005, cattle population in Ea Kar almost tripled from approximately 10,000 to 29,000 animals and then remained at 25,000 – 28,000 animals from 2006 onwards (Daklak Stat- istics Office 2009). The two main cattle breeds raised by smallholders in Vietnam were native Yellow cattle with a mature bull weight of 200 – 250 kg and ‘Laisind’, a stabilized cross of

native Yellow cattle × Red Sindhi cattle, with a higher mature bull weight of 300 – 450 kg

(NIAH 2007). The main cattle breed raised traditionally by farmers in Ea Kar was Yellow

cattle. The Ea Kar district extension office estimated that, in 2000, the breed composition con- sisted of 80% native Yellow and 20% Laisind cattle. By 2007, the percentage of native Yellow cattle was 74% with the remainder made up mostly of Laisind cattle and a small percentage of

cross-bred cattle. Cross-bred cattle (Laisind × exotic breeds such as Brahman or Droughtmaster)

were the result of an artificial insemination (AI) programme offered by the Government. Breed

composition changed dramatically from 2007  to 2010.  By  2010,  the percentage of native Yellow cattle had declined to 40% while the percentage of Laisind and cross-bred cattle had increased to 37% and 23%, respectively.

Growing their own fodder enabled farmers to raise cows in pens. This enabled farmers to control and manage breeding, which had previously been almost impossible when cattle were grazed on communal land. When keeping cows in pens, farmers could observe their animals more closely and could arrange AI and animal health services more easily. AI, using exotic semen, had been offered by the district extension office from 1996 but was only taken up widely from 2003 onwards (Figure 3). The uptake of AI was relatively unrelated to the cost. AI was offered free of charge to all farmers until 2000. From 2001 to 2007, semen was still sup- plied free of charge but farmers had to pay a small service fee for insemination. Since 2008, farmers have had to pay for both semen and insemination service themselves with charges ranging from USD13 to 18 for each successful insemination. While the jump in the cost of AI reduced demand in 2009, there were many farmers who were willing to pay for successful AI.

Moving towards specialized cattle production

Farmers started to specialise in stall-fed cattle fattening and/or stall-fed cow-calf production using AI or Laisind bulls for breeding. Fattening cattle and cow-calf production in pens using farm-grown fodder was a relatively new concept for smallholder farmers. In 2003, only three farms experimented with cattle fattening. By 2010, 525 farms were fattening cattle and all used farm-grown fodder (Table 4). In comparison to cattle fattening, the adoption of farm-grown fodder for cow-calf production was much lower and many farmers continued to use traditional grazing systems (Table 4). Of the farmers who adopted forages many used farm-grown fodder as a supplement to grazing, though some moved to stall-fed cow-calf production with farmgrown

fodders used as the main feed. The Ea Kar extension office estimated that, by 2010, more than 800 farms were practicing stall-fed cow-calf production using AI or Laisind bulls for breeding.