Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Progress Report 009/VIE05
The development and implementation of new
appropriate technologies for improving goat
production and increasing small-holder income
in the central region of Vietnam

MS2: FIRST SIX-MONTHLY REPORT 16/08/2006

1. Institute Information
Project Number & Name
The development and implementation of new
appropriate technologies for improving goat
production and increasing small-holder income in
the central region of Vietnam (009/VIE05)
Vietnamese Institution
Goat and Rabbit Research Centre (GRRC), NIAH,

the application of appropriate technologies (improved housing, disease control,
improved feed supply and quality, introduction of Bachthao and Boer bucks of proven
genetic merit). In this way the existing limitations to improving productivity will be
overcome, thereby improving the income and well-being of farming communities in
these areas 2. Executive Summary
The following report presents information on the initiation of activities for the CARD
project The improvement and implementation of new appropriate technologies for
improving goat production and increasing small-holder income in the central region
of Vietnam (009/05VIE) in Vietnam during the period January to June 2006. Funding
was first provided following the official signing of the project documents in late March
2006, permitting the distribution of funds to Vietnam, and planning for the various
activities listed in the Project Design Document (PDD). The project was practically
initiated by the visit of Dr Norton to Vietnam (April 19 – May 4 2006) when it was
decided that the working title of the project will be “Vietnam-Australia Goat
Improvement Project (2006-2009)”, and this title will be used in all official future
reports. At this time, discussions were held in Vietnam with Dr Dinh Van Binh, Director
of GRRC and joint Director of the project and Dr Nguyen Thi Mui, Project Consultant on
matters of project management, including the signing of a MOA between GRRC and UQ
as a means of confirming the collaborative responsibilities of the two parties. Matters of
funds disbursal, Board structure and planning for the delivery and reporting of activities
were also discussed. In the first week of the visit, a training course for Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) staff (14) from Binh Thuan (4 staff), Ninh
Thuan (6 staff) and Lam Dong (4 staff) provinces was completed. During this time,
information was presented on all aspects of goat production and a questionnaire

The following report (January-June 2006) describes the progress made to date, a visit by
Dr Norton to Vietnam (15 April- 4 May) and involvement of the team with the conduct of
a training coursefor DARD officers at GRRC, development and application of a
questionnaire to 27 farms (farmers) in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong
provinces, the provision of improved goat housing, vaccines and medicines and the
development of forage banks on each farm. Planning for the next 6 months was also
undertaken at this time.
3. Introduction & Background
Goat production in Vietnam has rapidly expanded in the north with the introduction of
new knowledge for disease control, feeding management and the introduction and
selection of both local (Co, Bachthao) and exotic (Boer, Saanen, Jumnapari etc) breeds of
goats to village systems. These initiatives have been lead by the Goat and Rabbit
Research Centre (GRRC) at Bavi, from which an expanding milking and meat goat
industry is being developed. While goat meat is not a common commodity in the markets
in Vietnam, economic returns for goat farming are high and are attracting many farmers
to add goats to their farming enterprises. Goats are particularly important for poor
farmers, providing good returns for little investment. The project proposal which has
been developed and successfully funded by AusAID under the CARD program was
specifically aimed at providing poor farmers in the central provinces of Vietnam (Ninh
Thuan, Binh Thuan, Lam Dong) with some of the new technologies which have been
developed by GRRC in the north. This aim is reflected in the project title “The
improvement and implementation of new appropriate technologies for improving goat
production and increasing small-holder income in the central region of Vietnam”. This
is a program which includes elements of farm survey, strategic planning for improving
health and nutrition of goats, as well as training of key farmers and Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) staff in these new technologies. Extension
of these activities to the wider community will be achieved by conducting field
days/workshops for local farmers using demonstration farms. The following report
describes the outcomes of the first official visit to Vietnam during which time strategies
for project implementation and management were developed, as well as recording the

children. Income from livestock forms 22 to 25% of total income from agricultural
production in this region. Three broad categories of farming systems (lowland high
rainfall, upland low rainfall and highland high rainfall) have been selected. The plan is to
develop 27 farms (15 in Ninh Thuan, 9 in Binh Thuan, 3 in Lam Dong) by firstly
surveying each enterprise and then providing new technologies (housing, health care,
nutrition, breeding bucks) as indicated. These participating farmers will be also trained in
a short course at GRRC and then on farm by DARD officers in the implementation of
these management skills. In each province, 2 farms will be selected as demonstration
farms which will be used to train other farmers in these techniques and as model of
progressive goat production systems. The selected farmers will have experience of goat
production, having between 50 and 100 goats and generally sufficient land to grow the
required forages. This holistic approach to the introduction of new technologies is
preferred to a more fragmented approach where only specific interventions (eg disease
control only) are made. This approach to development has been successfully applied in
north Vietnam and is expected to provide a rapid improvement in productivity in similar
systems in central Vietnam. An important new initiative for this project is the support for
a pilot meat processing plant at the new goat research centre to be built at Ninh Hai in
Ninh Thuan.
Staff and institutional gaps will be addressed by a comprehensive training program,
firstly, by training DARD staff at GRRC and linking them with specialist GRRC
counterparts, and secondly by using the trained DARD staff to train district officers,
participating farmers and the local communities through the dissemination of information
through written materials, workshops and demonstrations. This approach will build
capacity in Australian collaborators, GRRC staff and farmers to work as inter-
disciplinary and inter-institutional teams, and foster a more holistic approach to
improving agricultural and animal production in these poor villages in central Vietnam.
The Australian partner contribution will be largely through the active participation of Dr
Norton in all matters relating to the development and introduction of the new
technologies, and will be complemented by the visit of 5 senior Vietnamese staff to
Australia, where they will visit goat production farms and processing facilities for meat

information will then form the baseline against which change will be measured. The
expert GRRC and Australian team will then devise strategies for each farm depending on
their circumstances. In some cases, a common strategy can be applied to all farms
(replace bucks, improve goat house, provide vaccines, drugs and recommendations for
use), in other cases, the strategy will be particular to each farm (improved feed and forage
supply). It is recognised that local knowledge of feed resources and remedies must be
evaluated and incorporated wherever possible.
4. Progress to Date

The progress made in the period March to June 2006 will now be reported under
Implementation Highlights (4.1) against the Project Logframe providing the means of
verification listed as proof of delivery of the services planned. Output Milestone 2 shown
in The Table of Milestones, Annex 1 of Schedule 2, Scope of Services for CARD Project
009/05 VIE was listed as Logframe Reference Output 2.4, Activity 2.4.2 and is described
thus “Presentation of First 6-monthly report including progress in this period in
activities listed under Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Delivery and acceptance of the
completed report has been agreed to be the means of verification of payment (A$33,221)
to the University of Queensland for this period.
Evidence of completion of these activities will be presented as an attachment to this
report in the form of CD containing the files mentioned in the sections below. This form
of resentation allows a complete electronic documentation of the outputs from the
activities for this period.

4.1 Implementation Highlights
Objective 1. Identification and characterisation of target farms
Output 1.1. Collection of general information on existing systems of goat production
Activities 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 were to visit and identify farms in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and
Lam Dong provinces to identify and select farms for inclusion in the study. These
activities were completed in April 2006 during the visit of Dr Norton to Vietnam to
inaugurate this study. During this time, 27 farms were identified and visited by Dr Mui,

7). These staff were all available in the following week when the survey was conducted
on each of the 27 selected farms.
Output 2.2 Preparation of demonstration and instructional materials for use with
participating farmers.
These materials were being developed during the next phase of the project when DARD
officers returned to each farm and undertook an appraisal of the action needed on each
farm (Appendix 4). A copy of these materials will be available in the next report.
Output 2.3 Train participating farmers in the application of new technologies.
Activities 2.31. and 2.3.2 have been underway since mid-May when Dr Mui and the
GRRC team returned to the central provinces to introduce the proposed new technologies
to farmers on their farms, and the responsibility for inspection of progress has now been
delegated to the DARD officers nominated in each province at Provincial Project Co-
ordinator. Appendix Tables 8, 9 and 10 show details of Activities 2.3.1 in each province
in June and July, and the results of the follow-up visits (Activity 2.3.2) will be reported in
the next 6 monthly report. Output 2.4 Presentation of six-monthly reports and review
of project progress
The first official visit to Vietnam to inaugurate the project was made by Dr Norton in
April/May 2006, and it was at this time that all collaborators met to determine the action
plan for the current period (to June 30 2006), and to develop plans for the following
years. At this time, it was decided that the project was too long for publicity purposes,
and should forthwith be known as the “Vietnam-Australia Goat Improvement Project
(2006-2009)”, and that there should be an Annual meeting of collaborators in November
of each year to report on progress in the previous year (January – October) and to plan for
the coming year. It was also decided that there should be an official project Board which
would chaired by Dr Dinh Van Binh as Director, with an Executive consisting of Dr
Barry Norton as Deputy Director, Dr Nguyen Thi Mui as Secretary, Dr Ly Viet Ly as
Senior Advisor and Board members who will be either the Head of the Provincial DARD
Offices (Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong) or their representatives and the DARD
officers nominated in each province who are responsible for the routine management of
the CARD initiatives. Dr Binh has agreed to organise this Board which will meet in Lam

Objective 5. Provide local and introduced Bach Thao bucks of proven genetic
merit for breeding
These activities will be developed in the coming year after suitable sources of BachThao
bucks have been identified.

Objective 6. Economic evaluation of impact of new technologies on goat
productivity Output 6.1 Economic data on goat productivity
Activity 6.1.1 has been completed with the collection of income and expenditure data for
each farm being studied. The analysis of this data will be undertaken in the coming
period, and will be used as the baseline against which we will compare economic returns
before and after the introduction of the new technologies.
4.2 Smallholder Benefits
There have already been clear benefits to small-holder goat farmers in the central
regions of Vietnam. All have been supplied with vaccines and medicines to treat the
diseases of their goats, have had financial assistance and professional advice on the
improvement of their goat houses, in particular, the construction of a concrete apron
underneath to collect excreta for use as a fertiliser. In some cases, there were no
breeding bucks on farm, and these were supplied by the project. All farms have been
provided with advice and seed for the establishment of forage plots which will be used
to feed goats in the following dry season. The longer term benefits of these
technologies will be greater numbers of goats for sale and increased income for the
farm.
4.3 Capacity Building
The major focus of the project at this stage has been the training of DARD officers
from Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong provinces in goat husbandry and
management, in the conduct of surveys and the acquisition of expertise to act as goat
production specialists in their provinces. The initial training of 14 DARD officers at
GRRC has had a flow on effect, in that, when farms were selected for inclusion in the
project, one DARD officer, one local government officer and the commune (village)
head was involved in all stages of the process, from interview to implementation. This

5. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues
5.1 Environment
There have been no issues which significantly impeded the progress of the project,
even the advent of the wet season and its effects on implementation were anticipated
to some extent by choosing farms which had “all-weather” access by DARD officers.
5.2 Gender and Social Issues
There have been no gender or social issues which have affected the implementation
of the project as planned.
6. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
6.1 Issues and Constraints
There have been no major issues which have impeded the implementation of the
project as planned, with excellent access and collaboration being gained on all 27
farms being studied, and with eager participation in the application of the
technologies proposed. It should be noted that this is a complex organisational
exercise, requiring the co-operation of many individuals, and this complexity has so
far been expertly managed by Dr Mui and her team. There is no doubt that some
issues will arise as we progress further into the project. There is one issue that does
deserve comment, and that is associated with our plan to introduce selected (and
superior) Bachthao bucks to improve the genetic background of this breed in the
region. As noted above, many owners did not actually have adult breeding bucks,
having sold them in previous season. It is not clear what these farmers were going to
do in the coming breeding season, perhaps borrow or buy a new buck. Dr Binh plans
to identify in each province a large goat enterprise which has “superior” Bachthao
bucks, to buy these bucks and circulate then around the project farms (and others)
over the period of the project. The issue here is determining the extent to which they
are superior, it is not sufficient to select on body weight (size) alone, since this may
simply be “environmental” (single born, good nutrition) and not necessarily genetic
(as determined by progeny performance). While we have ensured that all farms will
have bucks to breed with in the coming season, the selection of “superior” bucks for
the longer term remains a contentious issue. It was at first suggested that “proven”

management. The next part of the project will to consolidate these achievements and
extend to other goat producers in these areas.