Improving understanding of household level biosecurity challenges for smallholder pig producers in Vietnam: A pilot for data collection and capacity building opportunities.

Understanding smallholder pig producers' biosecurity practices in Vietnam has been identified as a priority to better support the pork industry's management of African swine fever. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in three provinces, Bac Giang, Ha Nam, and Hoa Binh, in 2022/23, with the aim of piloting data collection approaches and gaining a better understanding of the lived experience of smallholders affected by African swine fever. A total of 160 smallholders, with less than 100 pigs, responded to the questionnaire. Bayesian Network modelling was used to analyse the data, using a vulnerability framework (likelihood of exposure and response capacity) to segment the respondent population based on the potential susceptibility to an African swine fever outbreak. Results suggest that the diversity within the population, across provinces, number of pigs kept, and percentage of income from pigs should drive the development of tailored interventions. Recommendations developed from the analysis include focussing on support to reduce swill feeding in smaller herds (under 20 pigs), restricting animal access to production areas in medium sized farms (21-49 pigs)and examining barriers to quarantine of both new and sick animals in larger farms (50-100 pigs). The findings from this pilot could be useful in the development of a vulnerability and resilience assessment tool to identify gaps and innovation opportunities to support smallholder pig producer biosecurity capabilities both in Vietnam and other countries affected by or preparing for African swine fever.