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Abstract
In a market economy, poor breeding
farmers usually face many difficulties due to the lack of
information exchange in advanced technology and
science, market and breeding experience. Cao Bang
Province in the mountainous North of Viet Nam has the
highest household poverty ratio, with 40% in 2007. The
H’mong minority settled recently in the agro-ecological
setting of the high mountains of Northern Vietnam,
including Cao Bang, with small-scale land; therefore
intensive livestock has become a main source for their
livelihood.
Cao Bang has two main local cattle races namely, “Small
yellow” and “H’mong” registered in the Vietnam animal
breed Atlas. H’mong beef accounts for 30% number of
total animal. H’mong beef is indigenous breed, fairly
weight, mature male beef weigh 400 – 600 kg, fresh red
meat, and smooth muscle, special sweet tasting.
This local H’mong beef has good meat quality but this
quality value is not known by supermarket in cities due
to the weak coordination in beef value chain. An actionresearch
by CASRAD/CIRAD funded by IFAD
(Superchain project) and aiming to link rural poor
households to supermarkets and other quality chains
has selected the H’mong beef value chain. The objective
is to develop small scale H’mong beef farming in groups,
and link them to high value chains becoming a localized
production cluster, in a way which is suitable to
breeding conditions in mountainous areas.
The approach is based on the theories of Institutional
economics and collective action (Dao the Anh et al.,
2007). Collective actions of small scale farmers may
reduce transaction costs; increase the size of
commodities in trading and the possibility of market
access of the farmers. It is also based on value chain
analyze (Kaplinsky et al. 2001; Gereffi et al., 2003).
Characteristics of transactions, in particular in terms of
quality, and the supplier’s capacity will create different
regulating structures of the value chains. The supply
capacity in terms of quantity and quality is the key
barrier of participation of the poor into the value chain.