Climate Resilient Livestock – Engine for economic growth and food security

Livestock, a crucial sub-sector of Pakistan’s agriculture, has its roots deeply embedded in the history of our country, dating back to the early Indus civilization. The importance of livestock in our economy has only grown over time, and today, it stands as the largest contributor to Pakistan’s agriculture, accounting for 62.68% of the agricultural value-added. Significantly, livestock also plays a vital role in our national economy, contributing 14.36% to the national GDP and growing at a rate of 3.78% during the fiscal year 2022-23. Animal husbandry stands as a critical economic activity for rural residents in Pakistan, with over eight million rural families participating in livestock production and deriving between 35 to 40 percent of their income from this sector. The livestock’s contribution to the nation’s foreign exchange earnings is accounting for around 2.1 percent of the country’s total exports.

With private sector investment exceeding Rs 1,056 billion in poultry, and similar levels in the dairy and meat sectors, the livestock industry is generating employment opportunities for over 2 million people across Pakistan. Currently, with a stock of 220 million ruminants and 1.9 billion poultry birds, the sector supplies 55 billion liters of milk, 5.5 billion kg of meat, and 24 billion eggs to the country’s population of nearly 240 million.  Milk and eggs are primary sources of essential nutrition for infants and pregnant mothers. Their adequate intake is crucial for maintaining normal health, reducing the risk of stunted growth in children, and preventing anemia, especially in pregnant mothers.

The global market for livestock products is approximately 200 billion USD. Pakistan’s share in this market is currently modest, with meat exports valued at 340.9 million USD, or just 0.22% of the global market. This is primarily due to the non-existence of specific beef breeds and low carcass yield.  To boost export growth to its true potential, the Ministry of Commerce has identified the meat product line as one of the national priority sectors for export strategic trade policy framework. The vision is “to develop the Pakistani meat industry with the highest food safety and halal standards to serve international markets with value-added products”.

Climate change has emerged as a significant hurdle in both sustainable livestock farming and overall wellbeing of our planet. Livestock production has profound impact on the environment, contributing to greenhouse emissions, land degradation, and water pollution. Additionally, the changing climate patterns pose threats to livestock production including altered grazing patterns, increased disease risks, and food and water scarcity. The situation necessitates to explore the resilience of our national livestock to face these challenges

Livestock sector’s policy and development priority areas under the ambit of 5 E, 4F and SIFC framework are as under!

1. Conducting a National Livestock Census

The last national livestock census was conducted in 2006. A new census is overdue and essential for informed operational decisions and policy formulation in the areas of livestock production, health, and trade.

2. National Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Control in Pakistan

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a priority livestock disease in Pakistan, which causes significant economic losses of farmers through reduction of milk and meat production and mortality issues of animals as well.  This disease is also classified in Stage 2 of the Pprogressive Control Pathway (PCP) for World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH) restricts access of Pakistani livestock products to most international markets and efforts are now required to reduce viral circulation and further progress to PCP-FMD Stage 3. Locally vaccines production may be the priority intervention to substitute the import bill and ensure its availability to all dairy farms to control these diseases. Furthermore, the development of digitalized animal disease tracking, reporting and response system, disease diagnostic network and the establishment of disease-free zones for FMD are essential elements of the national disease control program.

3. Breed Improvement Initiative

Improving livestock breeds should be a priority. This initiative will increase milk productivity from the current 7-10 liters per day to 30 liters per animal. The development of specific beef breeds will improve carcass yield and quality, fetching a higher premium through local marketing and exports. This presents opportunities for value addition and diversification of animal products.  Academia can play a crucial role in this initiative through demand-driven R&D and collaboration with global corporate players in biogenetics, sex semen technology, and embryo transfer to help the industry and farming community become more productive, profitable, and diversified.

4.Development of Climate Resilient Fodder Seed and Livestock Production  

It’s crucial to conduct appropriate research to develop climate-resilient fodder seed varieties for different climatic zones of the country to cope with the climate change challenges.   Methane from enteric fermentation is the highest contributor (44.1 percent), N2O emissions from manure is the second largest contributor (13.4 percent) followed by CO2 emissions related to feed production (12.9 percent). Methene emissions could be reduced by better quality fodder production, improved feeding practices and adopting, adoption of TMR practices, improving manure and land management and tailored diet for the animals. Resilient of the climate change initiates may also include livestock insurance schemes and access to financial institutions. Govt of Bangladesh has recently launched a national program exclusively to promote climate smart livestock production. Pakistan’s commitment to a 30 percent reduction in methane emissions necessitates climate smart initiatives in livestock sector. With our pledge, we aim to strike a balance between our environmental responsibilities and economic necessities, aligning with our national goals of sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and resilience building.

  5. Range land development – Corporate Livestock through Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) 

Pakistan has a geographic area of 79 million hectares (1H=2.47acres). Out of that 15.7 million hectares are cultivated. Besides, more than 8.2 million hectares are classified as culturable waste (uncultivated farm area that is fit for cultivation). The highest percentage of rangeland land is located in Balochistan (46.6 percent) followed by Sindh (19.5 percent), the Punjab (17.8 percent) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (16 percent). Considering the large culturable waste in the country (deserts, riverine belts, rangelands), new land development is essential to make our country food secure and to reinvigorate the economy.  Commercial scale dairy farms, industrial feedlots, poultry and small ruminant (sheep / goat) farms, silage and hay production inclusion in Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) may transform the livestock and dairy sectors in next one decade.  Corporate livestock has a higher potential for vertical integration, supply chain management and marketing options.

The Planning Commission of Pakistan is always open to receiving innovative ideas and viable development models from the public and private sector. We are particularly interested in those that can be translated into best practices and profitable business models for farmers and others involved in the milk, meat, and poultry industries. Let’s commit and join hands to build a better future for Pakistan through collective wisdom and positive actions. Together, we can create an environment that fosters growth, innovation, and sustainable development for national food security and export led growth.