Smallholder livestock farmers in Northwest Vietnam face limited access to practical and reliable information on animal health, feeding, breeding, and biosecurity. Livestock production in this region is largely managed by smallholder households, many of whom belong to ethnic minority communities. Formative research conducted under the Chăn-hênh initiative identified significant communication gaps: technical guidance is often difficult for farmers to access, not adapted to local languages, and poorly aligned with farmers’ daily practices and production realities. These challenges limit farmers’ ability to adopt improved livestock management practices and reduce opportunities to enhance productivity and livelihoods. 

To address these gaps, the Chăn-hênh initiative, implemented in Son La Province in Northwest Vietnam, is developing a Strategic Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) campaign that translates research knowledge into practical and accessible tools for farmers. At the center of this approach is a livestock management web application that provides user-friendly guidance on key topics including animal health and biosecurity, feed and forage management, and genetics and livestock productivity. The platform is supported by complementary communication tools such as 30 short educational videos demonstrating good livestock practices, practical manuals and visual guides for offline use, and content organized according to the animal life cycle and production stages. Materials are developed in both Vietnamese and Thai languages and disseminated through digital communication channels such as Facebook and Zalo to reach a wider farming audience. 

The SBCC campaign is expected to improve farmers’ access to practical livestock knowledge, increase the adoption of improved health, feeding, and breeding practices, and enhance inclusiveness for women and ethnic minority communities. By combining digital tools, locally adapted communication materials, and practical training resources, the approach provides a scalable model for strengthening livestock knowledge dissemination systems in Vietnam and other smallholder livestock systems in Asia.