HCMC, Vietnam -- A US$79 million project, funded by the World Bank, has been of great benefit to the country's animal husbandry sector, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Livestock Competitiveness and Food Safety Project (LIFSAP), which began last year, aims to improve husbandry products in all three stages — production, processing and consumption.
Introduced in Ha Noi, HCM City and Dong Nai and Thai Binh provinces, the five-year project encompasses investment in breeding infrastructure, animal feed, breedstock, competitive production, animal hygiene, animal-disease control, and construction of slaughterhouses.
A good animal husbandry practice (GAHP) zone or area has been set up in each of these places.
Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Breeding Department, said the project had already helped reduce animal mortality rate and improve their growth.
It had also helped animal farmers reduce the environmental pollution caused by their activity.
This year some 2,000 breeding households are expected to receive financial support to buy equipment, including bio-gas trenches.
Each GAHP area will get $30,000 to build a station to produce compost from animal excrement.
All breeding households in GAHP areas will receive free training in GAHP.
Eight other provinces and cities have identified 48 GAHP areas that meet the criteria, out of which 39 have been approved and will be implemented this year.
The World Bank has agreed to provide each GAHP $10,000 per hectare, up from the earlier $5,000.
Many slaughterhouses and food markets will be upgraded and a waste management system built this year.
Some 45 abattoirs have already been chosen in seven provinces and cities, with 15 of them set to be upgraded this year.
The World Bank recently agreed to increase funding for the upgrades from 25 per cent to 50 per cent and the maximum assistance per slaughterhouse from $30,000 to $50,000.
Public abattoirs will get 100 per cent funding.
The project also focuses on the management of food safety at markets, including sanitation control, improving quarantine service, training for market management staff, and meat preservation at stalls.
But the process is running behind schedule, with none of the 12 markets getting upgrades planned for last year.
Of 223 food markets in 11 provinces and cities that were considered, 190 fulfilled the conditions required to join the project this year.
They will get 100 per cent financial support for their upgrades.
