Media release: Regional experts join forces to improve smallholder pig sector in Asia and the Pacific

Hanoi, 27 March 2019 – Around 100 leaders, researchers, investors, government, and private sector representatives from 16 countries spanning Asia, the Pacific, Australia and Africa will gather in Hanoi this week to identify solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the smallholder pig sector in Asia and the Pacific.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the University of Queensland, Australia, with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), will be co-hosting a regional symposium in Hanoi, Vietnam on 27-29 March on the challenges facing pig sector in the Asia and the Pacific.

The symposium will be the first of its kind in the region. It will provide a forum for this unique combination of participants to share experiences and exchange views on how to promote smallholder pig production in Asia and the Pacific in a sustainable way.

The smallholder pig industry plays an important role in many countries in Asia and the Pacific, but like other sectors, is not without its challenges, which vary among countries. In Timor-Leste, for example, the key issue is to develop practical husbandry practices to improve pig nutrition, whereas in Vietnam solutions are needed to produce safer pork for the market.

Tamsin Barnes, senior research fellow from the University of Queensland said ‘this meeting will provide the opportunity for all of us to know what one another are doing and achieving so together we can both build on the success of others and also avoid their pitfalls. This will help us to open up opportunities for smallholders in the region.’

This meeting is especially timely, coming when the pig industry in the region is facing price volatility, food safety concerns, and recently reported outbreaks of African Swine Fever in Vietnam, China and elsewhere. Dieter Schillinger, deputy director general of ILRI, says that the meeting should ‘help us to identify research priorities across the pig sector and to articulate how we can, as diverse stakeholders across the region, work together to maximize the pig sector’s contributions to people’s prosperity region-wide.’

Key topics and interventions to be discussed at the meeting will include:

• Pig nutrition and husbandry
• Pig health and disease diagnostics
• Social science, gender and equity in the pig value chain
• Zoonoses and food safety including antimicrobial resistance
• Developing a sustainable, affordable, welfare-friendly and safe smallholder pig value chain

Media contact: Chi Nguyen, communications officer, ILRI, c.nguyen@cgiar.org, +84 (0)936 066 152

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For the editor

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. ILRI’s mission is to improve food and nutritional security and to reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock—ensuring better lives through livestock. http://www.ilri.org

The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching institutions. We strive for excellence through the creation, preservation, transfer and application of knowledge. For more than a century, we have educated and worked with outstanding people to deliver knowledge leadership for a better world. https://www.uq.edu.au/

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is part of Australia’s international development cooperation program. Its mission is to achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems for the benefit of developing countries and Australia. ACIAR commissions collaborative research between Australian and developing-country researchers in areas where Australia has special research competence. ACIAR also administers Australia’s contribution to the international agricultural research centres. ACIAR Vietnam is one of the ten country/regional offices and we have been active in Vietnam for 26 years (1993-2019). https://www.aciar.gov.au/

The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, or A4NH, led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), works in partnership with national, regional, and global stakeholders, informing international agricultural research that grapples not just with ensuring food and nutrition security for the poor, but also with dynamic, demand-driven food systems, dietary transitions and multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. http://a4nh.cgiar.org/