Collective action in pig production in Tan Yen District, Bac Giang Province

Abstract

      Analysing collective action in pig production of Tan Yen collective group shows that the collective action is characterized by the following: (i) Farmers are volunteer to participate in the collective group and (ii) Activities of the collective group include coordination in feed purchasing, breed purchasing, veterinary services, access to credit and selling of product. The members of the collective group obtain higher economic return from pig production than non - members. Furthermore, members of the collective group have a better access to market information and technical knowledge than non - members. However, collective action is still weak. Members of the collective group do not participate in all collective activities. In addition, the pork label of the collective group lacks standards for traceability. The group leaders are limited in management capacity. The production scale, education level and gender of household head are factors affecting the participation of farmers in the collective group. To promote collective action and to increase farmer’s income, members of the collective group should participate in all collective activities, make plans for pig production scale among members, apply VietGap standards in production, and properly utilize both local crops as feed and industrial feed. The local authority should support to strengthen the collective action in order to reduce small scale pig production.