ILRI scientist Randall Ritzema at the IPSARD event (photo credit: IPSARD)

On 9 September 2015, the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), a research institute under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and one of the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) partners in the country, celebrated 10 years of policy-related research in agriculture and rural development.

ILRI and IPSARD have been collaborating on livestock policy research for smallholder farmers, particularly on pig value chains in Vietnam, since IPSARD’s inception.

Some notable examples of this collaboration include contributions to Vietnam’s ‘Livestock development strategy toward 2020’ (now toward 2030), as well as to the ‘Livestock sector restructuring plan toward added values and sustainable development’.

As a result of the partnership, the two organizations have contributed to Vietnam’s livestock sector restructuring plan, especially in highlighting the importance of smallholder farmers in the local pig sector as a supply source of pork products and in proposing strategies to reduce the price of animal feed and other policy recommendations to improve the competitiveness of smallholder livestock farmers.

Also, together with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), ILRI and IPSARD have co-developed a pig sector model, a multi-market macroeconomic modeling platform for Vietnam that is informing Vietnam’s pig sector development policy.

Randall Ritzema, a scientist specializing in systems analysis at ILRI, represented the institute at the IPSARD event in Hanoi.

IPSARD as a key livestock research partner

IPSARD’s main functions include doing research to provide scientific evidence, information and facilitating cooperation activities. The institute works in agricultural commodities and markets, agricultural economic integration, rural society and economy and farming systems, resource management and environmental protection.

Along with MARD and other key partners in Vietnam, IPSARD and ILRI will work closely for the next five years, as part of a newly signed long-term partnership plan for livestock research for development in the country.

For further information about IPSARD, visit their website.

Learn more about ILRI-IPSARD’s collaboration.