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development: Significance of the livestock sector —Syed Mohammad Ali

There are some sector experts who argue that it is due to the numerous, geographically dispersed and small-scale livestock producers who dominate the primary production side of the value chain that livestock productivity cannot realise its potential

The rural sector within the Pakistani economy remains vital due to the fact that it still employs a significant percentage of our national workforce, even if it makes a comparatively lesser contribution towards the national income. While most economists and development practitioners would agree that it is imperative to boost agricultural productivity to help overcome the widespread rural deprivation and disparities across our nation, the means to do this remain contested. The aim of this article is to explore the prospect of achieving this goal by focusing on our livestock sector in particular.

The simple reason why livestock offers the prospect to boost agricultural productivity is due to the fact that it constitutes a major proportion of agricultural productivity. Consider for instance the fact that while agriculture currently contributes around 20 percent to the economic output of the province of Punjab, the share of livestock sector within agricultural output amounts to over 39 percent. And this is despite the fact the full potential of livestock productivity is largely untapped. Moreover, there are growing opportunities within the global market for value added livestock and dairy products, the demand for which has been continuously expanding as the world population increases, and individual incomes have been on the rise. Even the domestic demand for meat and dairy products is rising. Let us not forget that livestock is also an important source of raw material, particularly for the leather, carpet and woollen cloth industries.

However, the World Bank points out that in comparison to world trade in livestock, Pakistan’s share remains minuscule at approximately $ 7 million per annum. Before assessing the reasons why we have not been able to boost our livestock productivity sufficiently, let us focus a bit on ground realities related to this sector.

Most rural households (nearly 93 percent) raise cattle and buffaloes, and most of these livestock-holders have less than 10 animals each. It has been estimated that small farms and the landless rural labour force, in particular, own between one to three cattle or buffaloes, and some goats and chickens. It is also important to note that many livestock smallholders are women. Women are responsible for the daily management of livestock, particularly when household male members are working elsewhere as labourers. It is thus hard to dispute that fact that livestock development and productivity can have major poverty alleviation, economic and gender empowerment impacts in the country.

Aside from providing milk as a major protein source to the family, livestock provides nearly 30 percent to 40 percent of average household income of poor rural households, which serve to provide security against crop failure and other emergency situations. Livestock also provides a form of social security for the poor, including those who do not own their own land, who can cash in their livestock at a time of need. For those who own a bit of land, it serves as security against crop failure in barani (rain-fed) areas.

The value of milk alone exceeds the combined value of wheat, rice, maize and sugarcane in the country. Pakistan at current estimates is the fourth largest milk producing country in the world with 33 billion litres of milk produced annually. The potential is huge but the sector operates mostly in the informal economy and needs a consistent effort to overcome constraints, which prevent it from increasing productivity further.

Yet a combination of constraints have resulted in not only preventing us from meeting a greater share of global demands, but also led to a widening of shortages in production of meat and poultry products and by-products at a time of growing demand at the domestic level. For instance, by 2020, the gap between supply and demand is projected to be 55 million tonnes of milk and 2.3 million tonnes of beef. Similar shortages would be experienced for other livestock products and by-products. Projected economic development and population growth in the future will only exert more pressure on the livestock sector to increase its output.

There are some sector experts who argue that it is due to the numerous, geographically dispersed and small-scale livestock producers who dominate the primary production side of the value chain that livestock productivity cannot realise its potential. Because they are unorganised, smallholders do have difficulty in ensuring economies of production scale and of accessing cheaper inputs, including credit, required for achieving potential yields. Consequently, these small livestock producers cannot meet the sufficient quantity and high quality-standard requirements for the trade of perishable and non-perishable livestock-based commodities.

However, there are always two sides to every story. It can easily be argued that instead of the small producers it is the state machinery that lacks the required efficiency and resource commitment needed to adequately support our small livestock holders in order to boost production.

Let us just take the case of milk production for now. To help improve the dairy sector in Pakistan, it is necessary to bring about an improvement in veterinary research facilities, to impart adequate training to extension staff, which should in turn be passed on to farmers. On the other hand, it is necessary to invest in milk chillers, to promote the concept of healthy pasteurised milk, to develop model commercial dairy farms. Simultaneously, focusing on breed improvement, facilitation of credit financing to dairy farmers and linking rural area based farmers to the market mechanism also remains vital. Unless all these measures are introduced in tandem, our dairy sector will not be able to reach its optimal level. The same is the case for a range of other livestock products and by-products potential.

Also, to be realistic, the government cannot do this all alone. It will need technical support from the industry, strategic support from dairy experts, and specific projects funding from the international donor agencies. But all these supplemental inputs will become more readily available if there is a consistent and well-integrated policy direction adopted by the concerned policy makers themselves.

The writer is a researcher. He can be contacted at ali@policy.hu

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