Collective action in pig production inTan Yen District, Bac Giang Province

Analysing collective action in pig production of Tan Yen collective group showsthat the collective action is characterized by the following: (i) Farmers are volunteer to participate in the collective groupand(ii) Activities of the collective group include coordination in feed purchasing, breed purchasing, veterinary services, access to credit and selling of product. The members of the collective group obtain higher economic return from pig production than non- members. Furthermore, members of the collective group have a better access to market information and technical knowledge than non- members. However, collective action is still weak. Members of the collective group donotparticipate in all collective activities. In addition, the pork label of the collective group lacks standards for traceability. The group leaders are limited in management capacity. The production scale, education level and gender of household head are factors affecting the participation of farmers in the collective group. To promote collective action and to increase farmer’s income, members of the collective group should participate in all collective activities, make plans for pig production scaleamong members, apply VietGap standardsin production,and properly utilize both local cropsas feed and industrial feed. The local authority should support to strengthen thecollective action in order to reduce small scale pig production.