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Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Progress Report

Milestone 7: THIRD SIX-MONTHLY REPORT

CARD Project 030/06 VIE
Developing a strategy for enhancing the competitiveness of rural
small and medium enterprises in the agro-food chain: the case of
animal feed Date: 30
th
May 2009

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Table of Contents

1. Institute Information ___________________________________________________ 2
2. Project Abstract _________________________________________________________ 3
3. Executive Summary ____________________________________________________ 3
4. Introduction & Background _____________________________________________ 4
5. Progress to Date _______________________________________________________ 5
5.1 Implementation Highlights ________________________________________________ 5
5.2 Smallholder Benefits______________________________________________________ 8
5.3 Capacity Building ________________________________________________________ 8
5.4 Publicity________________________________________________________________ 9

Date commenced
1
st
May 2007
Completion date (original)
30
th
April 2009
Completion date (revised)
30th September 2009
Reporting period
1
st
May 2008 – 31
st
October 2008
Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name:
Ms Sally Marsh
Telephone:
+61 8 6488 4634
Position:
Research Assistant
Professor
Fax:
+61 8 6488 1098
Organisation
University of Western
Australia

Institute of Policy and Strategy for
Agriculture and Rural Development
(CAP-IPSARD)
Email:
[email protected]

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2. Project Abstract

3. Executive Summary
Work during this six-month period (May – October 2008) has largely focussed on the
implementation of the survey of livestock feed enterprises in north and south
Vietnam, and undertaking the study tour to Thailand.

The questionnaire for feedmills took longer than anticipated to complete, but was pre-

provide advice to SMEs competing in the livestock feed sector. Standard agricultural economics
techniques will be used to quantify the characteristics of the animal feed industry, and to identify
issues and opportunities for small enterprises in the animal feed supply chain. Activities include a
combination of training courses, and supervised research exercises combining collection of
secondary data, field work, analysis and synthesis of findings. Activities during the third six
months of the project have focussed on: 1)implementation of the feedmill survey in north and
south Vietnam (May and June 2008); 2) data entry for the completed feedmill questionnaires and
commencement of data cleaning and analysis; 3) undertaking the study tour to Thailand (June
2008) and writing the study tour report; 4) preparation of the survey instrument for livestock
p
roducers.

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Work is now progressing steadily in several areas including:
• analysis of the feedmill survey data, and writing a report of the descriptive
statistics from the survey data (first draft finished in January 2009);
• development of further survey questions specific for livestock producers (this
survey was undertaken in November and December 2008);
• data entry, cleaning and preliminary analysis of the survey data from livestock
producers;
• completing compilation and analysis of available secondary data;
• documentation of activities for the training manual; and
• planning for future training activities for 2 CAP staff at UWA associated with
the analysis of the survey data.

4. Introduction & Background
The underlying aim of this project is to investigate the circumstances under which
SMEs in Vietnam can operate at an efficient level and compete with other firms or
not, especially in the context of the globalization process. This project seeks to gain

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• Desk-top literature search and review of the nature, experiences and lessons of the
animal feed industries in other countries, and the role of SMEs in the animal feed
sector globally.
• A study tour to Thailand to assess the organization of the livestock feed sector,
and its applicability to Vietnam.
Objective 3: Provide a quantitative assessment of the factors affecting the
competitiveness of the animal feed industry in Vietnam
• Collection of secondary data to provide an up-to-date assessment of the animal
feed industry in Vietnam, and, opportunities and challenges facing the sector.
• Field investigation in three regions to examine the value chain of the animal feed
industry including an assessment of characteristics and costs of production, the
nature of information and product flow, quality control standards and processes.
• Compilation of a detailed report on the research work.
Objective 4: Provide policy recommendations to the government with regard to the
efficiency of firms operating in the livestock feed sector, and provide advice to SMEs
in the sector.
• Writing of policy briefs.
• Workshops in study regions and in Hanoi, to report and discuss the findings of the
research work with local stakeholders and with policy makers.
5. Progress to Date
5.1 Implementation Highlights
Implementation of the survey of livestock feedmills:
The main aim of this feed mill survey is to provide a quantitative assessment of the
factors affecting the competitiveness of the animal feed industry in Vietnam. The
following objectives were addressed in the survey:
• To obtain data on mill characteristics and production costs, output and prices
by types of ownership, regions and size of mills.
• To obtain data on the nature of information and product flow, quality control
standards and processes for livestock feed mills.

Red River Delta
9 14.5
Ha Tay
Red River Delta
6 9.7
Hung Yen
Red River Delta
12 19.4
Binh Duong
South East
19 30.7
Dong Nai
South East
9 14.6
Long An
Mekong River Delta
4 6.4
Tien Giang
Mekong River Delta
3 4.4
Total

62 100 Before each survey, secondary data and information were collected to get an overall
background of livestock production and feed use in a particular province. During the
survey, our experienced enumerators worked under the close supervision of the
project team. However, the information provided was sometimes not consistent
between different sections of the questionnaire because of issues regarding the

Total 62 17 20 7 44 71%

In the report all the analyses by region and ownership status will be done with the
total sample of 62, but only 44 mills will be used when analysis is based on the scale
classification. The data cleaning process was finished during this reporting period and
the analysis of the data and report on the descriptive statistics of the survey data and
the livestock feed sector in Vietnam are now well underway.

Study tour to Thailand:
The study tour to Thailand took place from June 9-13, 2008. The delegation included
a policy maker representative (from the Department of Livestock production), a
representative from a technical research institute (Agriculture Research Institute for
Southern Vietnam), a representative from a SME in the animal feed sector and the
research team members from CAP/IPSARD and UWA. The list of delegates is
attached as Appendix I. Mr.Teerasant Sirichayaporn, Executive chairman of the Thai
Feed Mills Public Company Limited and Mr. Pornsil Patchrintanakul, President of
Thai Feed Mill Association played host for the trip.

The study tour aimed to help the project team and some key sector stakeholders gain a
better understanding of:
• livestock feed production in Thailand;
• participation of SMEs in the livestock feed sector in Thailand; and
• the role of public policy in the livestock feed sector in Thailand.

The delegation met with the Thai Department of Livestock Development, the FAO
Regional Livestock Office, the Thai Feed Mill Association, and visited both small and
larger field mills and a dairy farm. A copy of the study tour schedule is attached as
Appendix II.

Following the visit, all study tour participants contributed to a Study Tour Report, and

“niche raw materials”: in other words, there are always markets for low and
high quality feeds. SMEs can compete on price and after sale-services for
farmers.
o Some SMEs have a cooperative structure. The form of Mualek cooperative,
which supplies multiple services to members (e.g. feed, fuel, marketing of
product) is a good example for the Vietnam feed industry.

• Possible role for the Vietnam Feed Association
o The Thailand Feed Association plays an active policy role. A change in
structure of the VFA would be needed if it were to play a similar role to the
TFA. The Vietnam government has a policy to encourage an active role for the
private sector, so it may be useful to consider supporting and promoting a
more pro-active policy role for the VFA in the future.

5.2 Smallholder Benefits
At this stage of the project no smallholder benefits have been achieved, but this
remains an objective of the project, through increased efficiency and competitiveness
in the livestock feed sector.
5.3 Capacity Building
Capacity building activities at IPSARD/CAP have continued, and during this period
were focussed on practical hands-on work, supervised by Dr Brennan and Ms Marsh,
associated with data entry, data cleaning and data analysis, following the completion
of the feedmill survey.

Dr Brennan conducted a 3-day training course in Microsoft Access (data entry
program) in late July/ early August following a direct request from CAP staff. This
course aimed to build skills in designing data entry templates in Access, a task that
CAP has often needed to outsource. CAP junior staff directly involved with the feed

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Marsh has an existing contract with UWA to employ her on the CARD project (at
20%) through to end September 2009. We propose that the project completion date
now be 30 September 2009, with Milestones 8, 9 and 10 submitted in
August/September 2009 or as completed.

Options for in-kind assistance from the School of Agricultural and Resource
Economics (SARE), following the departure of Dr Greg Hertzler, have proved
difficult to identify. Both Dr Brennan and Ms Marsh have been providing more than
their budgeted time input to the project, which has assisted with the provision of the
technical assistance and training that is required. It is hoped that arrangements will be
able to be made for training of CAP staff at SARE as planned during July/August
2009. This training will focus on advanced analysis of the data, and finalisation of the
report on the livestock feed sector. 10
6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues
6.1 Environment
Questions addressing environmental issues and concerns were included in the survey
instrument, and will be addressed in the report of the livestock feed enterprises.
6.2 Gender and Social Issues
Questions addressing gender and social issues and concerns (e.g. females working in
livestock and livestock feed businesses, health and safety issues in the sector) were
included in the survey instrument. Quality control in the livestock feed sector (food
safety) was identified as a key issue to investigate on the study tour to Thailand, and
the delegation found that the Thai Department of Livestock Development puts
considerable emphasis on food safety and quality control in the livestock feed sector.
7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
The late start to the project, and staffing issues with the Australian team is putting

Activities for the next six months include:
• Completion of the survey development for livestock producers, piloting,
implementation of the survey with livestock producers in the designated
survey provinces, encoding of data, and commencement of data analysis.
• Further analysis and completion of the report on feedmills in Vietnam.
• Planning and conducting training activities associated with the analysis of the
survey data, including planning for appropriate training in Australia for two
members of the CAP project team.
• Continue work on documenting training activities and compiling the content
of the training manual.
• Towards the end of the project: writing of the policy briefs, and planning for
the stakeholder workshops.
9. Conclusion
Much of the work undertaken during this reporting period was associated with the
implementation of the survey of livestock feed mills in south and north Vietnam.
These were completed successfully and data encoding, cleaning and initial analysis
undertaken. In addition, further surveys were developed to for the survey of livestock
producers. The study tour to Thailand took place successfully, and the report has been
written and submitted. Work is now concentrating on the final surveys of livestock
producers, data analysis and the writing of reports. Insights from the study tour and
initial analysis of the survey data are providing guidance for the development of
policy recommendations and strategies for SMEs in the livestock feed sector.