Potentials and Constraints of Small-Scale Livestock Productions in Cambodia

Livestock husbandry plays a very important role in rural areas of Cambodia. Farmers mostly have complained about the declining revenue from livestock production which supports their livelihood. Therefore, the study aimed at investigating the potentials and constraints of smallholder livestock productions in Battambang province. Primary and secondary data were collected to meet the objectives. Data were collected interviewing 204 households. Some of the advantages of the Cambodia livestock subsector are the increasing market demand: increasing domestic market for livestock and increasing demand from neighboring countries (especially cattle); the rich source of manure and other agricultural input such as transportation means, ploughing etc. More so, there is high expectation of the farmers experiencing increase in production since more supports are provided by both governmental and non-governmental organizations. On the other hand, the subsector witnesses some constraints including the low level of education of the livestock farmers, erratic market prices as a result of too many middlemen, local breed with low productivity and traditional management system still dominates the subsector. Scarcity of abled labor and seasonal cost is also one of the factors impeding the subsector to reaching it potential. This study suggests that to reach full potential in the livestock sector of Battambang of Cambodia, the government needs to address the infrastructural problems and private sector needs to be encouraged to invest in the sector in livestock input industries.

serves as a major source of cash income and delivers important products and services such as asset saving, traction, manure for fuel and fertilizers and fiber.
The demand for livestock products projected to grow about 70% in the year 2050, to be driven by growing world population, increasing affluence, and urbanization [1]. In developing countries, the total consumption of meat is projected to expand to around 48 Mt by 2025 which will account for approximately 73% of the additional output [2]. In Cambodia, with an estimated annual human population growth rate of 1.8%, the livestock subsector projected increase in meat demand to about 274,479 to 328,085 tons/year from 2014 to 2024. The projection for pig annual demand is 3.25 million heads compared to the annual demand in 2.7 million heads in 2014. The current broiler demand is around 800,000 -1,000,000 birds per month [3]. All these evolving developments will have considerable alignment to the future demand and supply pattern of the livestock subsector of Cambodia [4]. The rise in demand for livestock products will provide a significant economic opportunity for livestock farmers in developing countries and may provide a way for them to escape poverty.
However, most livestock in Cambodia are raised under a subsistence production system, with a few small commercial cattle (beef and dairy), pig and chicken farms. Cambodian farmers raise animals traditionally following their cultural heritage. Shortage knowledge in livestock husbandry and inadequate institution and infrastructures results in low productivity and widespread of disease (in border and trans-boundary diseases), parasitism and poor nutrition [3] [5] [6] [7]. Base on the current trend, the growth rate of livestock production for the next few years remains moderate. This is being achieved under a system in which production inputs are minimal. There is clearly considerable scope for improving production and farming development efficiency and increasing output even within the existing low input system. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the potentials and constraints of smallholder livestock productions in Battambang province. This study is expected to provide guidelines to set up appropriate strategies for future developments of the livestock production in Cambodia and to reveal the main obstacles on livestock production as a whole.

Methodology
The main methods presented in this paper were based on qualitative and quantitative primary data. 204 prepared questionnaires were distributed among staff to interview the small-scale household farmers in six selected district of Battambang province of Cambodia (see Table 1). Informal conversation and direct observation was preliminary used to better understand the target area, living condition, and the existing livestock variety (cattle pig and chicken). All data from the research were entered into EpiData software for coding and classification of variables. The knowledge gained in the interviews was used in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis to formulate options for the future guidelines to the development of the subsector.

Perspective of Farmer in the Last Five Years
The farmers were asked to compare the head count of their present livestock and that of five years back, Figure 1 depicts the changes in the livestock head count.
As shown in the figure, livestock production has increased considerable as 57% of the farmers reported to have had increase in the head count of their livestock in the region. 13% of the farmers experienced a decrease and 30% reported to have relatively the same head count to that of five years back.
To further support these, the farmers were asked to provide causal reasons for these changes. The farmers who experienced increase, they explained that one of the reasons encouraging them to increase the head count of their livestock was the readiness of demand of their livestock in the market at a favorable price.
Other reasons provided include the awareness of government and Government and Non-Governmental Organization supports on vaccinations, de-worming and disease treatments; the relatively stable reproduction of their new breed livestock during that period; and more so, the rethinking and consideration of livestock production as a form of investment and not food alone.
However, the 13% of the farmers that reduced experienced reduction in their livestock head count have different views to the reason why the reduction occurred. They complained that the high death rate of their livestock especially from diseases (chicken and pig) discourages them to invest more into the livestock farming. Among other reasons include the high cost of inputs such as concentrated feed for pig and chicken; an unfavorable market prices; diminishing labor forces; and insufficient grasses due to limited land space for grassland. As for the labor force, majority of the farmers had their children taking care of the larger livestock but as these children go to school or finds jobs in other regions or the neighboring countries, the farmers are left with no choice but to cut down the number of livestock to increase optimal production. Another reason provide by the farmers was the insufficient capital to maintain or increase the stock of their livestock.
As for the 30% of the farmers which maintained the production scale of their livestock, majority of them are satisfied with the level of production and do not wish to increase or reduce despite the opportunities provided by the market, the government and NGOs, as well as the weakness and threats experienced. These farmers are in two categories; those that deliberately maintained the same level of production and those that natural remained in the same level of production.

Potentials and Constraints to the Small-Scale Livestock
The study focused habitually on livestock production in the six (6)

Conclusion and Recommendation
The study uses a quantitative and qualitative survey data collected from six districts of Battambang province of Cambodia to show the potentials and constraints of livestock production in the province. The result illustrating in Table 2 below highlights meaningful areas at which the livestock subsector can be