In the past two decades, goat numbers have increased rapidly throughout Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) due to rising demand for Lao goat meat from Vietnam. This provides an economic opportunity for Lao smallholders who are already benefiting from the growing goat trade. Despite increased market opportunity, goat production has remained traditional throughout Laos. The predominant management system is characterised by lowinputs, free-grazing, uncontrolled mating and opportunistic sale. Scientific literature suggests that the productivity of these systems is limited by technical constraints, including poor management, poor nutrition and prevalent disease. Previous development projects have begun to address these technical constraints through improved goat husbandry practices. However, there is little evidence of these practices being implemented by farmers in the long term or being adopted at a widespread scale. A contributing factor is lack of understanding of the social and cultural contexts surrounding goat production in Laos. In other developing countries, socio-cultural factors have had a profound influence on smallholders’ decision making. Their integration into the design of development projects has been linked to greater long-term livelihood impacts. To enhance the impacts of the research for development project titled “Goat production systems and marketing in Lao PDR and Vietnam” (LS/2017-34) funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), this Masters Thesis investigated the sociological aspects of goat raising. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 smallholder goat farmers across five villages in South-Central Laos. The semi-structured interviews revolved around three research questions:

1. What are the goat raising experiences of rural households in Laos?

2. What are the perceived benefits and burdens that small landholders have around goat raising?

3. What role do goats play in cultural and social networks/practices, and social learning amongst households?

Grounded theory methodology was used to analyse interview transcripts. The interviews revealed that goats occupy an agricultural niche in Lao smallholder farming systems that yield unique livelihood benefits. Goats were a profitable and liquid asset, providing income for small expenses that occurred frequently, such as paying utility bills and medical expenses, buying food and clothing and emergency expenses. Goats have been integrated into socio-cultural ceremonies, often replacing cattle and buffalo. This has enabled farmers to practice sociocultural traditions at a lower cost, more proportionate to their socio-economic status. Managing goats in free-grazing systems was considered easy and benefited the wider farming system by enabling household labour and land to be allocated to cropping, and for goat manure to fertilise crop plantations. The small herd size of goats (10-15 head) is unlikely to be increased dramatically without cancelling the time-saving benefits of current free grazing systems. This is because the trade-offs associated with free-grazing management such as occasional goat theft, goat injury through dog attacks and car accidents, and goat damage to crops, are likely to become unsustainable with larger, unsupervised goat herds. Low-input project interventions that enhance or at least do not interfere with goats’ specific roles, are likely to benefit the widest cohorts of farmers. Interventions that meet this criterion include improving goat kid management, goat house design and cleaning, and disease management.

Farmers relied on their experiences and observations of goat raising in their communities to inform their management decisions. Farmers valued trial and error as a learning strategy to judge the efficacy of project interventions and modify them to suit their own contexts and constraints more appropriately. Farmers also took guidance from exchanging experiences with other goat farmers. This thesis questions the assumption that technical interventions are inherently optimal and beneficial for smallholder farming systems. Development projects should not advocate increased inputs into the goat enterprise without considering trade-offs to the whole farming system. An understanding of the unique roles and purposes of goats, farmer objectives, learning styles, and trade-offs to goat raising should inform the assumptions that underpin the strategies adopted by development projects and ideally lead to sustained impacts in rural communities.

Enhanced pig productivity on smallholder farms is recognised as a necessary strategy to enhance financial and food security in Timor-Leste where poverty and malnutrition are abundant. While poor pig health is recognised as a main constraint, information on pig herd health and management have not been thoroughly quantified. This study surveyed 120 pig owners (63 were female) and 352 of their pigs in Bacau and Bobonaro municipalities in 2018 to develop baseline information. Our analysis investigated three management systems among surveyed pig owners: confined management, characterised by permanent penning and/or tethering pigs (33.6%), semiconfined management (39.7%) and free-roaming management (27.7%). Free-roaming management was only observed in non-urban villages. Most inputs were limited across all management types with heavy reliance on cooked household scraps to feed pigs (84.7%), limited use of commercial feeds (5.1%), a lack of routine pen cleaning (73.8%), a lack of vaccination against classical swine fever (72.9%), limited use of para-veterinary services when pigs were sick (71.7%), and low treatment rates for pig skin diseases (10.3%) and intestinal parasites (8.7%). A high use of uncontrolled breeding (79.1%) was identified, accompanied by a limited knowledge of oestrus (20.7%) and gestation length (24.1%). Low output was observed with animals mainly sold when money is needed or when they were old. There was poor health with high piglet mortality rate (22.4–24.4%), moderate rates of current illness (22.4%), common occurrence of mites (12.2%), and high faecal presence of A. suum (29.0%), T. suis (10.2%), and S. ransomi (22.7%). To overcome the widespread constraints to productivity affecting all management systems, and to limit the impacts of highly infectious and often fatal African swine fever which was first reported in Timor-Leste pigs in September 2019, improved animal health and veterinary support, and education on pig management and suitable available nutrition sources are needed.

Pinkeye is a highly contagious disease of goats with different aetiologies. Surveys in Lao PDR have identified eye lesions typical of pinkeye as a common condition, however, this has not been confirmed diagnostically, and the responsible pathogens have not been identified. A matched case-control study was implemented in 70 goat holdings from Savannakhet province, Lao PDR, to detect agents causing pinkeye and conduct phylogenetic analysis of the identified pathogens. Fifty eye swabs from goats with infected eyes (cases) and 50 paired samples from unaffected cohorts (controls) were collected from 25 holdings. Samples were tested using quantitative PCR assays targeting known pinkeye pathogens at the genus and species levels. The prevalence of pathogens in case and control goats was as follows: Mycoplasma conjunctivae (94% and 74% respectively, P = 0.006, OR = 5.5), Chlamydia pecorum (4%, 10%), Moraxella ovis (30%, 30%), Moraxella bovis (0%, 0%) and Moraxella bovoculi (0%,0%). M. conjunctivae was present in a high proportion of goats in both groups revealing that Lao goats are carriers of M. conjunctivae. However, the mean log₁₀ genome copy number/µL of DNA extract was significantly higher in case goats than control goats (P < 0.05). Thus, M. conjunctivae is likely the principal causative agent of pinkeye in Lao goats with carrier status converting to clinical infection following corneal damage or other causative factors. M. conjunctivae detected in samples from different goats and districts showed low genetic diversity. Identifying the causes of pinkeye in Lao goats will assist in designing appropriate treatment and control strategies.

Context. Anthelmintic treatments are not widely adopted by smallholder farmers in Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) to treat bovid Toxocara vitulorum, resulting in high calf morbidity and mortality.

Aims. Field trials were conducted to provide baseline efficacy data on an alternative, easy-to-use treatment by provision of fenbendazole-medicated molasses blocks (FMB) in situ.

Methods. Participating villages were randomly allocated to the following treatments: (1) conventional orally administered pyrantel, (2) access to FMB, (3) access to non-medicated molasses blocks (MB), and (4) no blocks (control). Faecal eggs per gram (EPG) and weight were monitored in cattle (n = 171) and buffalo calves (n = 44) under field conditions for 48–56 days.

Key results. In 2016, the MB treatment was associated with the fastest reduction in predicted average EPG at 2% per day, while FMB and pyrantel had an equivalent reduction of 1% per day, relative to the control (P = 0.062). Predicted average weight also differed significantly among treatments, with pyrantel and MB having the greatest average daily gain at 230 g and FMB at 200 g, which was higher than for control calves at 170 g (P = 0.002). In buffalo calves, treatment was not significantly associated with EPG or weight. The 2018 trial corroborated that FMB and MB treatments were associated with increased EPG reductions in cattle at 3% per day, relative to control calves (P = 0.007). Again, the MB treatment had the greatest predicted average daily gain at 200 g, compared with FMB calves at 160 g and control calves at 150 g (P = 0.005).

Conclusions. The field trials provided baseline evidence that FMB and MB have potential applications in reducing environmental contamination of T. vitulorum eggs and may improve calf growth in low-input systems. However, further testing ex situ is required to control for variability in calf weight and T. vitulorum burdens, so as to optimise anthelmintic doses, assess the addition of urea to the block formula and assess product marketability.

Implications. If successful, medicated nutrient blocks may be a simple method to reduce calf mortality and morbidity, enhancing the reproductive efficiency of large ruminant production in smallholder farms in developing countries.

This paper examines smallholder goat management systems in Lao PDR within the context of achieving improvements in productivity to benefit rural livelihoods. A survey of70 goat raising households from seven villages in Savannakhet province was conducted in February 2020.Respondents owned an average of 9.0 goats per household and most herds were free-range during the day and housed at night with minimal input to management. Goat raising was a shared activity by men and women. Goats provided just under a third of household income(27.9%) and 40.6% of total farm income, demonstrating how significant they have become to livelihoods. The most important constraints to goat production identified by respondents were prevalence of Orf virus, diarrhoea, seasonal feed shortages and lack of access to animal health services. All respondents indicated they plan to keep goats in the future with 85% wanting to increase goat numbers for increased income. Improvements to goat raising will require a step by step learning process starting with easy, low cost practices such as good housing, feeding quality forages, and avoiding in-breeding. Any increase in labour demand or costs will have to be carefully considered against economic returns and other family responsibilities.

Context. Smallholder beef farming in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) is constrained by poor reproductive performance, contributing to regional food insecurity. To address this, interventions were promoted in some rural communities by extension services to enhance cattle and buffalo nutrition, health, and reproductive husbandry.

Aims. This study assessed the impacts of these interventions on cattle and buffalo reproductive performance.

Methods. Knowledge, attitude and practice surveys were conducted on smallholder beef farmers in 2015 (n = 637) and 2018 (n = 226). With written records lacking on these farms, the survey relied on farmer recall of the number of calves born in the previous 12 months and the number of female cows (>12 months of age) present. The rate of these, calves/female cows, was used as an indicator of reproductive performance.

Key results. This proportion was higher in 2018 at a predicted mean 0.27 calves/cow compared with 2015 at 0.21 calves/cow (P < 0.001), suggesting a beneficial effect of interventions over time. Specifically, reproductive performance improved with increasing land dedicated to forages (P < 0.001) and increased farmer market-orientation (P = 0.006). Farmers who believed that selling sick large ruminants stopped the spread of disease had enhanced reproductive performance (P = 0.008). Although the practice of culling animals of low reproductive performance is desirable, in countries where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic, it is important to discourage practices that increase infectious disease transmission risk.

Conclusion. As reproductive knowledge interventions were not associated with reproductive performance, introducing interventions such as castration and weaning to consolidate reproductive knowledge is recommended as well as addressing challenges that limit forage adoption; and debunking misconceptions on effectiveness of biosecurity.

Implications. The use of evidence-based research helps inform the selection of interventions required to best enhance reproductive efficiency, potentially leading to improved reproductive performance of smallholder large ruminant systems in Laos and beyond.

N. caninum, bovine viral diarrhoea virus, Brucella abortus and Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo are globally significant reproductive pathogens that cause abortion and reproductive loss in large ruminants. Prevalence information is lacking in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) despite the poor reproductive performance of cattle and buffalo. Serological examination of frozen cattle (n = 90) and buffalo (n = 61) sera by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays provided the first reported screening of some of these pathogens in Laos. Seroprevalence differed amongst these large ruminant species, with N. caninum, BVDV and L. interrogans serovar Hardjo antibodies found in 68.9% (95% CI ± 11.6), 4.9% (95% CI ± 5.4) and 3.3% (95% CI ± 4.5) of buffalo sera, respectively, and in 7.8% (95% CI ± 5.5), 10.0% (95% CI ± 6.2) and 22.2% (95% CI ± 8.6) of cattle sera, respectively. Buffalo sera had a significantly higher seroprevalence of N. caninum compared to cattle (p < 0.001) and cattle sera had a significantly higher seroprevalence of L. interrogans serovar Hardjo compared to buffalo (p = 0.003). Variability was also observed across provinces for N. caninum in buffalo (p = 0.007) and for L. interrogans serovar Hardjo in cattle (p = 0.071), suggesting provincial risk factors conducive to pathogen transmission. BVDV and N. caninum seropositivity were negatively associated in buffalo (p = 0.018) and cattle (p = 0.003). In buffalo, L. interrogans serovar Hardjo and BVDV seropositivity were associated (p = 0.035, p = 0.039). The identification of antibodies against three major abortifacient pathogens in Laos prompts further research to determine if infection is associated with low reproductive efficiency and the risk factors for infection. This is needed for the development of evidence based prevention strategies for improved large ruminant reproductive management among smallholders in Laos.

Goat numbers in Lao PDR are increasing rapidly, fuelled by exports of goats to Vietnam. Since 2017 the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has worked with government agencies in Lao PDR and Vietnam to evaluate the sustainability and future direction of this trade and the production systems underpinning it. Research to date has identified that almost all production in Lao PDR is by smallholders and was found to contribute 35 ± 16% of household income in goat keeping households (Gray et al. 2019). Smallholder systems, particularly in the lowlands, benefit from a relatively low-cost production model in which goats are typically housed at night and released to graze unsupervised on communal land during the day. Vulnerable crops, rather than livestock, are fenced and free ranging and browsing behaviour limits the severity of helminthiasis. Goats are sold to visiting traders at high prices, commanding a premium in Vietnam of 20-40% over local Vietnamese crossbred goats with farmers capturing approximately 70% of the market value of goats they sell (Gray et al. 2019).

Livestock agriculture in Cambodia and Laos is severely affected by endemic and exotic transboundary animal diseases, impacting household livelihoods and food and nutritional security. Collaborative animal health and biosecurity projects were conducted in each country between 2015 and 2019 aimed at increasing smallholder livestock production through mainly knowledge-based interventions in large ruminant disease prevention, nutrition, reproduction and marketing access. This study's objectives were to identify baseline animal health and biosecurity knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of farmers, and temporal changes in key attitudes and practices associated with improved knowledge. Data for each country were analysed separately, and a formal between-country comparison was avoided due to major implementation and management differences. Binomial logistic regression without random terms compared the overall knowledge scores between 2015 and 2018 in each country, and binomial logistic regression with random terms was used to investigate possible associations between animal health and biosecurity knowledge scores and attitudes and practices. In Cambodia, the average animal health and biosecurity knowledge score increased from 4.8 (±2.2)/17 in 2015 to 13.0 (±2.8)/17 in 2018 (p < .0001). In Laos, the average scores improved from 7.2 (±2.5)/12 in 2015 to 7.9 (±2.9)/12 in 2018 (p = .0003). Clinical signs of foot-and-mouth disease were accurately reported by 100% of Cambodian and 88% of Lao project farmers, and overall, attitudes and practices improved in both countries over the study period. The belief that vaccination can improve livestock value was associated with increasing knowledge in both countries (Cambodia: OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.24–1.68, p < .0001; Laos: OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.16–1.75, p = .0006) as was the use of the services of village para-veterinarians if they had better training (Cambodia: OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.20–2.58, p = .004; Laos: OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.19–3.41, p = .009). However, the source of livestock information (District veterinary officials) was the only practice associated with knowledge in both Cambodia and Laos. The influence of resource scarcity on farmer decision making and knowledge measures was considered of particular relevance to the findings.