Urban and peri-urban family-based pig-keeping in Cambodia: Characteristics, management and perceived benefits and constraints

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

Keeping pigs in urban and peri-urban areas may not only provide many benefits for the urban households, but may also be challenging and a potential health hazard. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe household characteristics and to evaluate perceived benefits and constraints among pig-keepers in the urban and peri-urban areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The study included 204 households and a structured questionnaire was used to interview the household member responsible for taking care of the pigs. Descriptive analyses showed that most households kept between 5 and 15 pigs and that all households kept their pigs in confinement. About 97% of the households owned the pigs themselves and the pigs were generally managed by female household members (43%). Pigs were mainly kept for commercial purposes and more than 60% of the households stated that income from pig-keeping was the main or one of the main sources of revenue for the household. More than 82% reported that they had experienced disease outbreaks among their pigs during the past three years and disease outbreaks were more commonly reported in households with lower socio-economic position (P = 0.025). Disease outbreaks were considered one of the main constraints, along with expensive feed and low payment prices for the slaughter pigs, but few households considered sanitary or other public health issues problematic. Thus, pig-keeping makes an important contribution to the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban households, but many households face external constraints on their production, such as diseases and low revenues, which may have a negative impact on their livelihoods.

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Urban and peri-urban family-based pig-keeping in Cambodia: Characteristics, management and perceived benefits and constraints

August Urban and peri-urban family-based pig- keeping in Cambodia: Characteristics, management and perceived benefits and constraints Gunilla StroÈ m 1 2 Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt 0 2 Sofia Boqvist 2 Ann Albihn 2 Seng Sokerya 2 Sorn San 2 Holl Davun 2 Ulf Magnusson 1 2 0 Department of Human Geography, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, 3 Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 4 National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, 5 Centre for Livestock and Agriculture Development, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 6 National Veterinary Research Institute , Phnom Penh , Cambodia 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Uppsala , Sweden 2 Editor: Iratxe Puebla, Public Library of Science , FRANCE - Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: This study was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through Swedish Research Council (VR). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Keeping pigs in urban and peri-urban areas may not only provide many benefits for the urban households, but may also be challenging and a potential health hazard. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe household characteristics and to evaluate perceived benefits and constraints among pig-keepers in the urban and peri-urban areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The study included 204 households and a structured question naire was used to interview the household member responsible for taking care of the pigs. Descriptive analyses showed that most households kept between 5 and 15 pigs and that all households kept their pigs in confinement. About 97% of the households owned the pigs themselves and the pigs were generally managed by female household members (43%). Pigs were mainly kept for commercial purposes and more than 60% of the households stated that income from pig-keeping was the main or one of the main sources of revenue for the household. More than 82% reported that they had experienced disease outbreaks among their pigs during the past three years and disease outbreaks were more commonly reported in households with lower socio-economic position (P = 0.025). Disease outbreaks were considered one of the main constraints, along with expensive feed and low payment prices for the slaughter pigs, but few households considered sanitary or other public health issues problematic. Thus, pig-keeping makes an important contribution to the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban households, but many households face external constraints on their production, such as diseases and low revenues, which may have a negative impact on their livelihoods. Introduction Keeping livestock in urban and peri-urban areas is a common practice in many low-income countries. The driving force appears to be increased migration from rural to urban areas, along with increased demand for animal-based foods [ 1 ]. Simultaneously, there is an urbanisation of poverty [ 2,3 ], and the occurrence of food insecurity and malnutrition is a prevailing problem among the urban poor [ 4,5 ]. Keeping livestock in urban and peri-urban areas can be an important survival strategy for the urban poor [ 6,7 ]. Keeping livestock may offer an opportunity to improve the quality of life through increased cash income from sales, and through improved nutrition [ 8,9 ]. Improved nutrition is attained as these households are likely to consume a diverse and nutritious diet, including animal-based foods [ 7,10,11 ]. As diets change, as a consequence of urbanisation and rising income [ 1 ], urban livestock production may also, to some extent, meet the increased urban demand for animal-based foods, and may complement rural and foreign sources of food supply to cities. It has been estimated that urban and peri-urban livestock production actually represents more than one-third of the world's total meat production [ 12 ]. Even though livestock-keeping may contribute to the livelihoods of the urban poor, keeping livestock in urban areas may be controversial. For instance, there are rising concerns about the public health risks associated with keeping livestock in densely populated areas. These concerns include transmission of zoonotic diseases [ 13,14 ], and sanitary aspects of smell and pollution, caused by inadequate handling of livestock manure [ 15,16 ]. Inadequate handling of manure may also attract insects and rodents, which may further increase the risk of disease transmission [ 17 ]. Keeping livestock, especially pigs, is a common practice in Southeast Asia [ 18 ]. Pigs require low inputs of labour and feed and pig-keeping can easily be combined with domestic work, providing a potential source of empowerment for women. To date, research has been conducted on u (...truncated)


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Gunilla Ström, Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, Sofia Boqvist, Ann Albihn, Seng Sokerya, Sorn San, Holl Davun, Ulf Magnusson. Urban and peri-urban family-based pig-keeping in Cambodia: Characteristics, management and perceived benefits and constraints, PLOS ONE, 2017, Volume 12, Issue 8, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182247