Abstract

Keeping pigs in urban and peri-urban areas may not only provide many benefits for the urban households, but may also be challenging and a potential health hazard. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe household characteristics and to evaluate perceived benefits and constraints among pig-keepers in the urban and peri-urban areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The study included 204 households and a structured questionnaire was used to interview the household member responsible for taking care of the pigs. Descriptive analyses showed that most households kept between 5 and 15 pigs and that all households kept their pigs in confinement. About 97% of the households owned the pigs themselves and the pigs were generally managed by female household members (43%). Pigs were mainly kept for commercial purposes and more than 60% of the households stated that income from pig-keeping was the main or one of the main sources of revenue for the household. More than 82% reported that they had experienced disease outbreaks among their pigs during the past three years and disease outbreaks were more commonly reported in households with lower socio-economic position (P = 0.025). Disease outbreaks were considered one of the main constraints, along with expensive feed and low payment prices for the slaughter pigs, but few households considered sanitary or other public health issues problematic. Thus, pig-keeping makes an important contribution to the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban households, but many households face external constraints on their production, such as diseases and low revenues, which may have a negative impact on their livelihoods.

Published in

PLoS ONE
2017, Volume: 12, number: 8, article number: e0182247

SLU Authors

• Ström Hallenberg, Gunilla

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Boqvist, Sofia

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Albihn, Ann

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • National Veterinary Institute (SVA)

• Magnusson, Ulf

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable


UKÄ Subject classification

Human Geography
Animal and Dairy Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182247

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83955