Overview
Indonesia has developed many policies at national and provincial levels to develop the beef sector to increase cattle numbers and import and distribute breeding cows from abroad and from within Indonesia.
This project aimed to build on previous research undertaken in eastern Indonesia with a focus on developing integrated village management livestock system technologies. Having made early progress assessing the drivers and impediments to on-farm practice change and wider adoption of proven approaches to improving smallholder cattle production systems, this project is continuing the promising assessment of alternative approaches to adoption and scaling in Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), and testing whether the entire system or individual components of the integrated village management system can be adapted to increase both adoption and scaling.
The project scoped options to develop a new beef value chain focused on suppliers, processors, wholesalers and consumers in NTB. Earlier research undertaken by Indonesian and New Zealand collaborators in NTB demonstrated that using the bull fattening strategies from IVMS, in conjunction with proven meat processing technologies, could significantly improve the tenderness and eating quality of beef from smallholder farmers, thereby creating a demand for higher quality beef from high-end hospitality, food service and retail outlets in Lombok (and likely elsewhere across Indonesia).
Our findings suggest the main drivers for adoption in the area studies are the non-viability of traditional methods, the presence of incentives, and success stories from farmers using the innovation. On the other hand, our results suggest that access to inputs to implement innovation, natural resources, financial credit and appropriate technical assistance are the most important promoters of adoption in the area. The baseline study findings also suggest that cattle are seen by the majority of farmers as savings - for emergencies, or specific means such as children’s education or to buy other assets rather than as a source of income.
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