Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The pig industry playsan important role in the Asia Pacific, but, like other sectors, is facingchallenges such as price volatility, food safety concerns and recently reportedoutbreaks of African swine fever. Therefore, solutions are needed to promotesmallholder pig production in a sustainable way, experts said.

According to Fred Unger, a scientist from theInternational Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), pork is an important part ofthe Vietnamese diet. Additionally, more than 70 percent of meat consumption issupplied by small scale producers.

While Vietnamese consumers have a strongpreference for fresh, un-chilled pork sold at traditional markets, increasingconcerns over food safety have been expressed by Vietnamese consumers, he saidat a regional symposium on research into smallholder pig production, health andpork safety which was held in Hanoi this week.

Research conducted since 2013, including riskprofiling and assessment for biological and chemical hazards, a cost of illnessstudy and most recently a food safety performance assessment of a range ofcurrent pork value chains in four provinces of northern Vietnam have showedthat pork is not safe. Between 44 and 82 percent of pork sampled wascontaminated with Salmonella, a group of bacteria that normally inhabit theintestines of animals and human. 

Unger said that contamination occurred mainlyduring the slaughtering and retail process.

Despite effort paid to the production of safepork, it has not yet reached a significant share of the market in Vietnam. Healso pointed out that key constraints to the uptake including high cost ofadoption, lack of visible benefits from changing behaviour and low consumertrust.

To overcome these constraints, Unger suggestedthat focus would be on gradual improvements to the food system in place, ratherthan introducing a new system and incentive-based interventions.

The fact that Vietnam has joined the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was also achallenge for the animal husbandry industry as the requirements for productquality and traceability are set higher. Thus, farmers needed to join valuechains to meet the demand for producing and supplying safe pork for the market,experts said.

Le Thi Thanh Huyen, from the National Institute ofAnimal Science, said individual households faced poor competitiveness in themarket and found it difficult to access resources.

Once smallholder alliances form cooperatives orgroups of producers, it would be easy for them to solve capital problems,searching for consumer markets as well as building brands for products andtraceability.

While indigenous pigs, such as ‘Ban’ pork, arepreferred by consumers and able to be sold at a high price, awareness of foodsafety is considered very poor among ethnic farmers, Huyen said.

A survey conducted in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province,where ‘Ban’ pig production is promoted by the Government, showed that mostthought safe food could be detected by its physical appearance and blamedchemicals in food as the main cause of cancer, she said. All interviewedconsumers thought well cooked pork is safe while fewer people had this viewamong other stakeholders.

Huyen said better communication was needed toimprove the awareness of food safety among different stakeholders along the ‘Ban’pork value chain. It is expected that by improving their practices, farmers’livelihoods would be enhanced by giving them the opportunity to accesspotential marketing and branding options.

According to Nguyen Thi Duong Nga from the VietnamNational University of Agriculture, the forming of cooperatives was to servethree purposes – to buy feed in bulk at cheaper prices and quality; collectingpigs to sell to slaughterhouses and big traders; to slaughter pigs and supplysupermarkets and institutional buyers.

The challenges in the application of goodpractices in the animal production value chain include the synchronisation ofmarket infrastructure, processing and retail; price, food safety monitoring,consumer awareness and trust.

To deal with the above-mentioned problems, Ngasaid, incentives should be offered for value chain upgrades includingfavourable conditions for good practices and communication to consumers aboutthe product.

According to Dieter Schillinger, ILRI DeputyDirector General, factors to develop value chains include health, feed and piggenes.

Good feed could help bring about high qualitypork. Given the current climate, some types of pigs could easily adapt toadverse weather.

Regarding health, he said, it was necessary toenhance the veterinary system to better control diseases as well as biosecurityand vaccines to ensure the health of the pig herd.

The establishment of value chains in animalhusbandry was the right direction because it would help ensure food safety andtraceability for consumers, he said.-VNS/VNA