The main aim of the project is to identify technology, policy, and forms of market institution or coordination that will allow smallholder pig producers to raise their incomes through better access to higher value market chains. This includes niche markets in the context of rising demand for products with specific quality attributes, and within the broader context of the changing dynamics of the pig sector arising from recent developments affecting Vietnam's participation in intra-regional trade.
In April to June the key project partners led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and consisting of the Vietnamese partner, Center for Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the Institute for Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the University of Queensland (UQ), and Oxfam, discussed project implementation issues. A wide audience of key stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, non-government organizations, researchers, pig producers, and donor agencies) were invited to the project inception workshop (22 June). In general the key stakeholders were supportive of the project. Outcome Mapping (OM) was also employed to elicit feedback from key stakeholders and partners about their expectations.
A policy advocacy and communication strategy for the project was developed. A key result was the formation of a Project Steering Committee comprising representatives from national and international organizations involved in the agriculture sector. The role of the Committee is to provide a forum for discussions about policy advocacy and communication strategies for the Project to ensure impacts.
A series of participatory rapid appraisal (PRA) surveys were undertaken during July to September 2007. The aim of these surveys was to provide a broad characterization of the existing pig supply chains and the key actors within the chain as well as insights from key informants on trends in supply of and demand for pigs and pork and the market conditions driving these trends. The results from PRA surveys highlighted the differences in market channels used and types of market actors involved in these channels by large and small pig producers. Key constraints to production and marketing were identified by pig producers using problem tree analysis. Perceptions about the degree of importance and sphere of influence of key institutions were also highlighted.
The first detailed survey to be implemented was the urban consumer survey; survey sites were Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Primary respondents were households that were drawn from the sample of households that are participants in the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSS). Some 270 households in Hanoi and 330 households in Ho Chi Minh City were randomly selected from wards that were located in inner and outer areas of each city to capture variation in socio-demographic characteristics particularly income; selection of wards was based on distance to urban center of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The surveys were implemented by the provincial statistical departments of the General Statistics Office in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The surveys were completed by end of December 2007. Meanwhile, CAP had contracted the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi for the data entry tasks that were completed in March 2008 during which time the consumer survey dataset was ready for analysis.
Pre-testing of the producer survey questionnaires were completed in early March 2008. As of the end of this reporting period, producer surveys in four provinces (Nghe An, Phu Tho, Dak Lak, and Tien Giang) are underway. Full completion of the producer surveys is anticipated in May 2008 and will be reported in detail in next year's annual project report.
With a few exceptions, the activities and progress planned for the reported period (Year 1) were successfully achieved with the implementation of the inception workshop, OM workshop and stakeholder discussions, rapid appraisal preceding detailed surveys, and two major detailed surveys on consumers and producers. We experienced minor delays in initiating certain activities (e.g., producer surveys) causing these to spill over into the second year but these are expected to be completed early in Year 2 and do not adversely affect the timing of the remaining activities. The project team has also expanded with the participation of Oxfam HK and Prosperity Initiative (PI). Linkages with other livestock related initiatives, e.g., the Livestock Competitiveness and Food Safety Project (LIFSAP) of the World Bank and the policy outreach activities of FAO's Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Facility Initiative (FAO-PPLPI) have been made to facilitate a pathway for uptake of project outputs for impacts. Systematic efforts should be made to strengthen these linkages during the course of project implementation.

The Project had its project review meetings on 6-8 April in Hanoi, Vietnam with full participation by project partners (the Center for Agricultural Policy, International Food Policy Research Institute, University of Queensland, and Oxfam, besides ILRI). The project so far is on track with implementation of activities and achievement of specific milestones, with a few exceptions. Findings from this project so far are relevant to Vietnam's long-term strategy for the development of its livestock industries, and the Vietnamese Government officials involved in the formulation of this strategy have shown interest in the results and the discussions of this project. One recent example of this policy engagement is the convening role of the Center for Agricultural Policy in discussions of Vietnam's Livestock Development Strategy to 2015 and the implementing rules and regulations for this where this project has contributed information in the development of the road map for pig sector development.
Possibly, there could be some long-term influence in the implementation of the policy but this remains to be seen. Some of the results have implications for the international competitiveness of Vietnam's pig industry and to the degree to which small producers of pigs are naturally protected against imports of pork due to the revealed very small share occupied by the formal market, as well as for the local competitiveness of small and medium scale producers. Preliminary results suggest that in certain production systems, such as keeping of indigenous sows to produce the cross-bred piglets that are in high demand, small producers may be the most competitive. These results would have important implications towards policies and livestock development strategies that favored or impeded different sized producers.
The policy implications of the project will be fully articulated once the final results of this research are settled after all analysis will have been finalized and completed by end of this year. Toward this end, a policy advocacy strategy will be developed and tested in a selected pilot site, specifically in Nghe An province initially, and then continue to one or possibly two other sites, e.g., Phu To and Dak Lak provinces, with a focus on provincial-level policy dialogues as one of the main activities to be actively pursued in the remaining life of the project. A framework for policymaking processes in Vietnam has been developed as a starting point for putting together the policy advocacy strategy. The provincial level dialogues with a range of stakeholders will elicit feedback on project findings as well as identify policy and intervention implications, and will hone the strategy for policy dialogue and engagement.
The midterm review discussions also identified activities that will need to be considered for implementation in response to project findings achieved to date. These include (a) studies to generate empirical evidence on employment generation in the pork supply chain, (b) animal disease risk assessment along the pork supply chain to address food safety concerns by consumers of pork, (c) price formation analysis to generate empirical evidence on hypothesized differential prices faced by smallholder pig producers vis--vis larger ones, and (d) a review of experiences on pig sector projects in Vietnam that will provide the background information to complement project findings to support and clearly articulate the case for the viability of smallholder pig systems in the policy advocacy strategy. A mechanism for getting policy messages through to the policy making actors at the ministry level is in place with the involvement of and constant interaction by project partners with the Livestock Policy Task Force within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

Year 3 marks the final year of project implementation. During this period, the project activities focused on accelerating the policy advocacy and communication activities to achieve Objective 5, and also make significant progress in achieving Objective 4. Some of the key research findings have also been firmed up from further analyses following feedback from preliminary findings that have been shared internally within Vietnam and with local stakeholders through policy dialogues and stakeholder workshops, or externally among a wider audience in the research and development community through scientific and development-oriented publications and presentations in local and international scientific meetings. These findings were further discussed among project team members, selected participants representing key stakeholders, and the project steering committee members during the project workshop in March 2010 in Hanoi. Notably, the key research results suggest that small, household-based pig producers are competitive and able to generate income from pig production as long as they can exploit areas where they have cost advantages, such as in home-grown or own-produced feeds. For the next few decades, smallholder pig rearing will continue to play an important role in pork supply, poverty reduction, and household employment generation, especially for women, in Vietnam. The project will thus need to be able to use these research results in developing and communicating key messages that could lead to the identification and promotion of opportunities for pro-poor pig value chain development as a transition strategy in the ongoing structural transformation of the rural sector in Vietnam. This is consistent with current government policy of developing the livestock sector including the pig sub-sector into a modern, high-productivity sector, while ensuring this to be a more equitable and sustainable process. The strong demand for fresh pork among Vietnamese consumers provides a natural protection to local pork producers, and this is complemented by the predominance of traditional wet markets as preferred outlets for fresh meat including pork given current shopping patterns in a typical Vietnamese household to go to market at least once a day to purchase fresh food ingredients.
In response to growing concerns about food safety risks from recent outbreaks of animal diseases and other food safety scares, a participatory risk assessment of the pork supply chain in peri-urban areas of Hanoi was implemented in November-December 2009 and results were also presented and discussed during the April 2010 workshop. The main findings suggest that while there are hazards from a number of pathogens as revealed by laboratory tests of pork samples from various points along the pork supply chain, the level of hazards are no different between traditional market outlets and modern outlets like supermarkets. That is, pork sold in wet markets is no less safe than that sold in supermarkets. Further investigation is, thus, warranted to develop recommendations for an appropriate level of risk to maintain food safety along the pork supply chain while ensuring market access for smallholder pig producers.
Overall, the project research results concur with the idea that market opportunities for household-based pig production will continue to exist as the economy grows and Vietnamese consumers achieve higher purchasing power that will allow them a more diversified, protein-rich diet. Appropriate policies to support access to better feed and breed technologies, and services that are suitable to household-based pig production systems would considerably enhance their competitiveness and sustain their effective participation in Vietnam's adjusting market for pork. Toward this end, policy advocacy and communication activities will be implemented during the remaining period of project life to foster policy dialogues and wider stakeholder discussions. A no-cost extension has been discussed during the workshop and officially communicated to ACIAR to allow adequate time to complete the pig sector model and generate the policy scenario results that will complement the micro-level and chain level analyses that have been completed to date.