The changing beef industry in south-eastern Cambodia

The cattle industry is Cambodia is at an important crossroads as it begins to move from a subsistence-based system providing draught services to the cropping sector to an industry increasingly driven by international demand for high-quality beef products. During the past 5 years, there have been significant shifts in the underlying bases of the industry that relate both to the change in motivations for keeping cattle and to domestic and international markets. Stakeholders in the beef value chain have identified that some potential influences on beef industry structure are price and exchange rate pressures, increasing demand for beef in Vietnam and China, declining use of cattle for draught, and increasing imports of cattle from Australia and India into Vietnam. This paper summarises issues affecting the changing Cambodian beef industry, using information collected as part of Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Project AH/2010/046 (Domestic and international market development for high-value cattle and beef in south-east Cambodia). This project aims to assist Cambodian smallholder cattle farmers to begin the transition from subsistence to a more market-driven production system.