Priorities for Pig Research in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to 2010

The majority of pig producers are smallholders, most of whom are located in rural areas. Depending on the country and scale of production, pigs are important to them as a major source of family income, as a 'savings bank', as a source of protein for the family, and/or for cultural reasons. A workshop was held to develop an understanding of the current state of the pig sector in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, to identify investment priorities in research, development, and extension to improve profitability and sustainability of smallholder pig production by 2010, in order to assist investment decision-making by individual countries and donor agencies and to develop implementation strategies for tackling the main issues facing the pig sector in the region during this period.