The smallholder pig farming project in Niue began implementation in late 2005, after several months of waiting for the project to be cleared, trying to understand the Food & Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) implementation procedures, and getting national project staff assigned to the project. During the inception phase, project staff needed to be trained on FAO procedures and it was soon realised that staff was needed both for the administration of the project and for technical field work. Two staffs of the Dept1 were chosen as project managers to assist in the project, both for the first phase and the extension phase. A National Project Implementation Assistant (NPIA) was recruited in October 2005, after advise from the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU) to assist the implementation of the project. Project implementation was also supported by four Chinese technicians as part of the South-South Cooperation Programme (SSC).