The Contribution of Livestock to Sustainable Development of Mountain Farming in Northern Vietnam

Living standards and food security in the mountain zones of Southeast Asia are largely determined by the availability, quality and use of resources in rural farming families, by the accessibility of markets and by the education and cultural behaviour of the indigenous ethnic groups. Changes in production conditions, degree of market orientation and socio-economic conditions of the families can be found as one progresses from urban to remote zones. Research has been carried out in Son La Province in Vietnam by

Lentes

(2003),

Tai

(2004) and

Huyen

(2004) to investigate and analyse the variations in the principal development parameters and to determine the driving forces behind them. Livestock production is an important component of farming systems and has played a significant role in their spatial and temporal differentiation throughout the area. This paper deals with such research questions as the role that livestock has played in improving living standards and food security within the framework of rural development in the past, and what strategies should be applied to minimise differences in the level of development of farming systems in different locations. in the future.