Livestock and livelihoods of smallholder cattle-owning households in Cambodia: the contribution of on-farm and off-farm activities to income and food security

Abstract

The majority of smallholder farming households in Cambodia are rurally based and rely on agriculture to support their livelihoods. However, in recent years, growth in the agriculture sector has stagnated with farmers facing several challenges including declining prices for traditional crops and irregular rainfall patterns. This has led to a need for farmers to diversify income sources with livestock promoted as a more viable livelihood activity, particularly the raising of cattle and poultry. However, uncertain profitability of livestock activities is a common perception by smallholders, especially where animals have not been traditionally viewed as a primary income source. To address this, information is required which compares the income and expenses associated with livestock raising to other on-farm activities and off-farm sources. This study reports on a survey of livelihood survey of 17 male and 21 female representatives of 20 households owning cattle in Cambodia, comparing the associated income and expenses of the various livelihood activities in the 12-month period from January to December 2016. Combined total household income from both on-farm and off-farm sources ranged from USD875 to 17730 with an average of USD6779, representing 51% and 49% from on-farm and off-farm activities, respectively. Cattle raising was the most common source of on-farm income (85%), contributing USD1064 and representing 22% of total household income. General household expenses, such as food and transportation (including expenses associated with off-farm employment), represented the majority of total household expenses (79%). Gross profit calculations indicated higher values for pig raising (USD1841.79), cattle (USD950.80) and non-rice crops (USD884) whilst the highest gross margin value was recorded for cattle (89.33%) followed by vegetables (85.27%) and non-rice crops (83.08%). Whilst wet season and dry season rice returned a negative gross profit value of USD197.27 and USD90.60 on average per household, respectively, both were ranked as most important for household consumption, followed by poultry, providing the main source of energy (rice) and protein (chicken meat) and sustaining household food requirements. The study concludes that although smallholder cattle-owning households in Cambodia undertake a diverse range of on-farm activities, as cattle raising provides a superior income source due to higher returns and lower variable costs, it could be promoted as a preferred livelihood activity by agencies conducting rural extension activities. Although consideration of available labour and monetary funds to invest in cattle raising is required, it was observed that income from off-farm sources may prove beneficial in providing the additional monetary funds to support cattle-raising activities and assist in providing generally poor smallholder households with enhanced economic resilience.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of smallholder farmers on foot and mouth disease control in two Cambodian provinces

“…The study intended to identify opportunities for improving FMD vaccination uptake and implementing biosecurity interventions in rural communities. The study identified that although smallholder farmers undertake a range of farming and off-farming activities, large ruminants contribute a large proportion of total household income (KC 30%; PS 25%) at the rural community level (Ashley et al, 2018;Samkol et al, 2015) and deserve investments to mitigate disease risk, despite the majority of surveyed farmers still practicing the traditional method of cattle raising.…”

“…Achieving adequate vaccination coverage to produce effective herd immunity, both nationally and within villages, is a major challenge in Cambodia (Sieng & Kerr, 2013), with vaccination coverage of the national large ruminant population estimated 2% in 2010 (Young, Suon, Leong et al., 2013). Farmers generally have a poor understanding of the need for FMD vaccination and have financial constraints that limit investments in disease risk management (Ashley et al., 2018; Young et al., 2017).…”

Determinants of Smallholder Households’ Resilience to Livelihood Insecurity in Goncha District, Northwest Highlands of Ethiopia

“…From livelihood assets, improved livestock husbandry contains poultry, apiary, fattening practice (of cattle, sheep, & goat), and horse and donkeys for transportation. It could be promoted as a preferred livelihood activity as it is a superior income source due to higher returns and lower variable costs [12]. Livestock husbandry contributes more (sell milk and fattened livestock to meat) to total household income, constitutes an important safety net during times of economic hardship, is used as traditional means of transportation (donkey and horse), and draught power for farming, and produce dung for household energy and as organic fertilizer [12,35].…”

“…It could be promoted as a preferred livelihood activity as it is a superior income source due to higher returns and lower variable costs [12]. Livestock husbandry contributes more (sell milk and fattened livestock to meat) to total household income, constitutes an important safety net during times of economic hardship, is used as traditional means of transportation (donkey and horse), and draught power for farming, and produce dung for household energy and as organic fertilizer [12,35]. The value of productive livestock husbandry is found to be significantly associated with the probability of a household generating sustainable livelihood [15,44,59].…”

SNP Diversity in CD14 Gene Promoter Suggests Adaptation Footprints in Trypanosome Tolerant N’Dama (Bos taurus) but not in Susceptible White Fulani (Bos indicus) Cattle

“…Cattle provide an important source of income to small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, however infectious diseases pose a major challenge to the industry through economic losses and concerns on human health [9,19]. Certain indigenous cattle breeds have acquired tolerance to a number of diseases through a better capacity to control parasitemia and limit anemia development [4,8].…”