Livestock farming failed, costing them both their land deeds and their vehicles.

2 years of struggling

Reports on the development of livestock and poultry in our country show that, over the past five years, livestock farming has been a sector with stable growth rates, reaching 4.5-6% per year. Meat production increased from 6.6 million tons in 2018 to nearly 7.36 million tons in 2022.

According to Mr. Pham Kim Dang, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in recent years, pig farming has experienced significant fluctuations in total herd size and meat production, reaching a record low in 2019 due to African swine fever, before recovering to 29.1 million pigs in 2022. In 2022, pig farming ranked 5th in the world in terms of herd size and 6th in terms of live weight meat production.

Vietnam is also one of the countries with the largest poultry population in the world, and the second largest waterfowl population in the world.

By the end of September 2023, the estimated output of live pigs for slaughter reached over 3.63 million tons, an increase of 6.8% compared to the same period in 2022; the output of live poultry meat reached 1.74 million tons, an increase of 6%; and poultry eggs reached 14.2 billion eggs, an increase of 5.6%...

Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest poultry population in the world (Photo: Anh Sinh)

However, the livestock industry is facing many limitations and difficulties. In the first nine months of 2023, the prices of livestock products fluctuated greatly, but food prices did not fluctuate much. From this, it can be seen that the profit distribution is not guaranteed, he observed.

Summarizing the current state of the poultry industry, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Association, stated that over the past two years, the industry has struggled to overcome difficulties caused by market crises, the aftermath of Covid-19, and the skyrocketing price of animal feed. Never before have poultry farmers been so pessimistic and dire. Even leading businesses in the poultry sector have suffered heavy losses of hundreds of billions of dong.

Mr. Vu Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company, acknowledged that in recent times, fluctuating prices, rampant diseases, and the influx of smuggled goods have caused heavy losses for livestock farmers.

Millions of livestock farmers are suffering.

According to Nguyen Xuan Duong, Chairman of the Vietnam Livestock Association, for livestock farming to develop sustainably, it must have stable growth and ensure a harmonious balance of interests among all participating actors and consumers.

To achieve this, it is necessary to effectively control disease outbreaks, ensure food safety, protect the environment and markets, and organize supply chains.

Regarding the implementation of the livestock development strategy, according to Mr. Duong, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development needs to reconsider it. Because after Covid-19, after African swine fever, and especially with integration, the domestic livestock market has changed in terms of herd structure and product structure.

"We didn't think that small-scale, household-based livestock farming would be replaced so quickly. Many people say this is an inevitable trend, but that's not actually the case," he said, citing South Korea as an example. He pointed out that it took South Korea 40 years to reduce its farms from over 600,000 to just 6,000. In our country, if not properly controlled, small-scale, household-based livestock farming could disappear in just a few years.

pig farming.png — In recent years, pig farmers have consistently had to sell pigs below cost, suffering heavy losses (Photo: TL)

This is the livelihood of the people, and their legitimate rights must be considered and protected. Therefore, smuggling must be prevented and imports must be well controlled. Mr. Duong emphasized that this issue is extremely important. Without control, the market cannot be protected, and production without a market is doomed.

"In recent years, livestock products have been difficult to sell, often below cost, while imports have increased, especially smuggling. Millions of farmers are suffering," he said.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, Vietnam slaughters approximately 49-51 million pigs, about 2 billion poultry, and produces about 18 billion eggs annually. The scale of livestock development is extremely important, with up to 6 million farming households involved in this sector.

However, he also pointed out the reality that livestock farming has suffered serious losses in recent years, losses so severe that they are leading to bankruptcy. Livestock farming has depleted even land ownership certificates and vehicles.

This is a key sector in agriculture , but its resilience is weak, affecting its competitiveness. If this continues, Vietnam will find it difficult to attract FDI livestock businesses to invest.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, in order for the livestock industry to thrive and remain sustainable, there must be a breeding industry, because breed determines productivity and quality.

Along with that is the development of the animal feed industry. Vietnam exports rice worth 4 billion USD, but imports animal feed raw materials worth over 7 billion USD. The Deputy Minister reiterated the directives of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on the issue of self-sufficiency in animal feed raw materials, emphasizing that imports cannot continue indefinitely.

Furthermore, for livestock farming to achieve high added value, there is no other way than to enhance deep processing. As he once warned, if people only think about boiled meat, braised meat, and a few other dishes every day, they won't be able to consume it all.

Smuggled pigs and chickens flood the market, causing hardship for farmers and heavy losses for businesses. The livestock industry has already struggled through the crisis, but the influx of smuggled pigs and chickens is making things even more difficult. Never before have livestock farmers been so pessimistic and in such dire straits.

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