Multi-scale assessment of livestock development pathways in Vietnam – REVALTER

REVALTER project aims at promoting a new vision of livestock development in Vietnam, a country faced with extremely rapid intensification and industrialization of the sector.

In order to build some sustainable scenarios for the future, the project will review the past and current changes that affect environmental, economic and social relationships between livestock breeding, agriculture and rural territories. Four specific objectives will be followed: (i) to review the ongoing processes of change related to livestock transformation; (ii) to understand governance mechanisms related to these changes; (iii) to assess and compare sustainable indicators of livestock systems; (iv) to build prospective scenarios in partnership with policy deciders.

The project will conduct a systemic approach of livestock-ecosystems relationships, that will be documented at 3 levels (multi-scale analysis): the farm level, the territorial level, and the nation-wide sub-sector level. Field work will focus on 3 selected zones located in the provinces of Dong Nai, Hanoi and Son La. To address the complex questions related to sustainable livestock development in Vietnam, the project will take into account simultaneously the economic, social, and environmental implications of livestock transformations. Four major concepts will be used for that purpose: transition, governance, viability and sustainability. Recognizing that the transition of livestock-based production systems is multidisciplinary in nature, the project will work with a team composed of animal scientists, agricultural systems scientists, geographers, economists and anthropologists.

The project will be structured in 5 different work tasks that will contribute jointly to the specific objectives listed above. The project will be conducted by the 5 project partners chosen in accordance to their knowledge and experience on the problem and specifically in Vietnam. Three French partners (CIRAD, INRA and CNRS) will be associated to the relevant International Research Center (ILRI) and with one Vietnamese research institute (RUDEC) specialized in rural development and agricultural policies. The project will provide scientific contribution to the Livestock Policy Monitoring System (LPMS) which is currently being implemented by RUDEC and the Direction of Livestock of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in partnership with CIRAD and INRA.