Nghiên cứu khoa học nông nghiệp " A blueprint for sustainable smallholder pig production in Central Vietnam - MILESTONE 8 " pptx

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Progress Report
A blueprint for sustainable smallholder pig production
in Central Vietnam
CARD Project 004/05VIE

MILESTONE 8 TRAINING MANUALS


Figure: Mrs Tuyet (Thua Thien Hue demonstration farmer)
administers medication for the prevention of coccidiosis to 5-day old
piglets.
1. Institute Information
Project Name
A blueprint for sustainable small holder pig production in
Central Vietnam
Vietnamese Institution
N
ational Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH); Hue
University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF); National
Institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR)
Vietnamese Project Team Leaders
Dr Ta Thi Bich Duyen (NIAH); Professor Nguyen Quang
Linh (HUAF); Dr Cu Huu Phu (NIVR)
Australian Organisation
The University of Queensland/Victorian Department of
Primary Industry/South Australian Research and
Development Institute
Australian Personnel

Dr Darren Trott, Dr Ian Wilkie, Dr Colin Cargill, Dr Tony
Fahy
Date commenced
April 1st 2006
Completion date (original)
April 2009
Completion date (revised)
September 2009
Reporting period
Milestone 4
Organisation
NIVR
Email:


2. MS achievements
Training manuals for extension worker and smallholder farmers including:
a) Copies of training material and extension aids
b) Formats of pig monitoring and recording systems and their use in CIPs

Evidence:

a) Copies of training material and extension aids
Using the continuous improvement model, a large variety of training materials have been developed
during the life of the project and training has been delivered using several different methodologies.
At the outset of the project, we anticipated Australian scientists making regular short visits to
Vietnam, approximately four times per year to visit farms during different seasons to monitor
progress and provide specialist training to a variety of recipients. In the early stages of the project,
these were primarily delivered to the six Vietnamese scientists who received training in Australia to
provide them with the opportunity to exercise the skills they had learnt. The plan was then to move

to the veterinarians and paraveterinarians to provide the next layer of training and expert
information before involving the farmers directly. During this time, the smallholder farmer would
receive advice and assistance, step by step to the point where they would essentially become the
trainers for groups of farmers in the region to facilitate farmer to farmer training.
We soon abandoned this model at the end of 2007, when it was clear that progress was not being
achieved at a rate consistent with milestones. Australian scientists were not spending enough time
in the country to delve deeper into the reasons why progress was not being achieved according to
the timeline. There was also some confusion regarding project objectives (ie NIVR produced E. coli
vaccine for the project farms, but then vaccine production ceased for a period of time as it was
assumed that this portion of the project had been completed. Following a site visit in 2008, vaccine
production and supply was immediately revamped in line with the project refocusing on
establishment of “expert farmers” which led to the formation of farmer clubs. We were able to
observe first hand the formation of strong relationships between the Vietnamese project scientists
and the farmer clubs. The level of trust between researcher and farmer steadily grew as didactic
instructor/recipient training gave way to farmers being responsible for gathering their own
information and transferring it to others. This was also paralleled by a strong sense of collaboration
and friendship between the three independent groups of Vietnamese scientists. We also noticed that
as the farmer groups became stronger, more responsible and more independent, district and
commune veterinarians appeared and became more involved in the discussions and joined site visits
by Australian Scientists, strongly contributing to the discussions (eg prudent use of antimicrobials
and major disease problems). This culminated in our decision to “go for it” with regard to
production of a training DVD in which farmers were responsible for storyboarding
A list of training resources and materials used during the life of the project to train farmers is
provided as follows:
i) Training manuals: A variety of training resources (in Vietnamese) used during the project to train
farmers are provided in the appendix.
ii) Training DVD and report on final training exercise (November 2009-February 2010)
iii) In MS6 we reported that the following training initiatives were to be explored during the final
phase of the project:
 Use of the existing commune farmer clubs as the major base for farmer to farmer training

activities occurring in January 2010. This was extremely successful with the major farmer
clubs in each province responsible for the delivery of one chapter each to the training DVD.
Farmers met with project scientists and were taught the basics of how to put a storyboard
together. An unexpected outcome of this was that some farmers who did not have the benefits
of project and training and infrastructure also attended the farmer club meetings and
contributed to the DVD. This provided a range of experiences re project development and was
actually an excellent way of educating new farmers to realise that success can only be
achieved in a step by step, logical process.
 Identification of the best farms in each commune that can be used for demonstration
training. Farmers will be encouraged to apply for small “project initiative funds” up to $1000,
with $5,000 available per province (allowing for the six best applications to be chosen per
province) to plan a major improvement to their farm so that it can be ready for demonstration
training. Model project demonstration farms have been selected in each province and leftover
project funds will be distributed so that final infrastructure upgrades can be initiated. It is
hoped that funds for farmer projects can be delivered during the final April project site visit.
 Development of a video “Farmers tell their own story” as a major initiative to be undertaken
by Tarni Cooper in collaboration with a film maker and Vietnamese scientists integrated with
a more formal training video covering the major project interventions, with short introductions
by Vietnamese experts, commune veterinarians, and excerpts from the farmer stories to
highlight each of the major points to be addressed. Following many discussions it was decided
that the farmers SHOULD be the focus of the training video and in their own words, become
the vehicle for delivering training based on the major project initiatives. This was a
tremendous success with each club responsible for delivering a chapter. Chapters covered the
major project interventions of Housing and Ventilation, Hygiene and Waste Management,
Integrated Farming Systems, Feed Formulation and Local Feed Sources, Record Keeping,
Gilt Selection and Breeding, Sow and Piglet Management, Farm Biosecurity and Common
Pig Diseases. The chapters are designed to be reviewed individually, followed by discussion
as part of ongoing training exercises. The impact of the DVD has been profound and has
encouraged the research team to apply for more funding from Atlantic Philanthropies to
continue beyond the life of the project.

 Formation of training posters which can be used on training days to facilitate deeper
learning. Whilst all efforts were directed towards production of a high quality training DVD
in January/February, final efforts are now being directed towards providing ancillary
training materials that can be supplied to farmers attending future training initiatives. These
will not be reported upon in the current report.
 Creation of a project handbook. As above. It is hoped that seed funding obtained in 2010
from The University of Queensland will provide funds for this initiative
 Certificates of attendance and short quiz of participants on uptake of knowledge and skills.
As above
 Tours of demonstration farms led by farmers following suitable biocontainment policies
such as participants avoiding contact with pigs for 24 hours and wear fresh clothes and for the
demonstration farmers to place fresh disinfectant at the entrance to their sheds. Biosecurity is
covered in one of the DVD chapters. Shoe covers and disposable overalls have been provided
by the project for farm visits.
b) Formats of pig monitoring and recording systems and their use in CIP programmes

Record keeping is the subject of one of the DVD chapters which illustrates first hand how accurate
records allow farmers to document improved production parameters. Vietnamese scientists are
finalising the last of the survey forms so that complete production records have been obtained for
24-30 “Demonstration farms” (at project commencement, mid-term and conclusion) and 24-30
matched “control farms” (at project commencement and conclusion only). Previous reports have
detailed how CARD members can login to the project website. An analysis of records will be
submitted with the MS 12 report.