Module 7 - China: Smallholder Cattle Development for Import Substitution

Livestock raising is a large part of the household farming system in China, with farm families traditionally keeping a few animals, mainly pigs and chickens, for sale and home consumption. Beef production has mainly been from cattle that have outlived their usefulness as draft animals.

Over the last 20 years, per capita meat consumption has increased from 0.4 to 2.4-3.0 kilograms per year, while domestic production has increased at only half that rate. The increased demand for quality beef cannot be fully satisfied, owing to generally weak infrastructure in marketing, slaughtering, and processing and a weak market information system linking producers, processors, and commercial buyers. There is an urgent need for a better-integrated system involving forward and backward linkages among producers, processors, and buyers.

Project Objectives and Description

The Smallholder Cattle Development Project aims to (1) improve smallholder cattle production within crop farming areas by using surplus crop by-products and (2) improve the quality and marketability of cattle to enhance farmers’ incomes and reduce poverty.

The project supports the government policy of developing the beef cattle subsector in response to emerging market demand for quality beef and of developing meat production systems that do not use grain. The project puts special emphasis on assisting smallholders, who have surplus labor and crop by-products but are constrained by low productivity and the poor quality of their cattle operations. The project involves improvements to animal husbandry technology and processing and marketing infrastructure. Strengthening the commercial infrastructure to link production and markets through the development of live-cattle markets, processing facilities, market information services, and quality assurance programs is an innovative component of this project.

The Market Linkage Development component aims to provide linkages from producers to cattle markets. The project supports the construction of nine small markets for live cattle that act as centers for trade and market information as well as places to access technical knowledge and veterinary services. They give farmers a competitive alternative to direct sale to slaughterhouses and processors.

The project also supports the construction, expansion, and rehabilitation of five cattle slaughterhouses and processing plants to expand markets for farmers and provide value-adding opportunities. These processors provide key linkages between production and final-product markets by producing quality beef of specified grades on delivery schedules required by end markets.