Loss of livestock and poultry in floods of last fiscal year has resulted in malnutrition of millions of people in the country.
Analyst and Head of Institute of Social Movements Pakistan Zulfiqar Shah told The News that there was not a situation of starvation as food was available to the flood-hit people, but there were cases of malnutrition as people were not receiving milk and its bi-products due to loss of hundreds of thousands of animals.
Livestock sector has emerged as a priority sector only recently. In the rural areas, livestock is considered a securer source of income for small farmers and the landless.
According to the latest Economic Survey of Pakistan, livestock is the best hope for poverty alleviation as it can uplift the socioeconomic conditions of our rural masses.
The livestock accounted for approximately 55.1 percent of the agriculture value added and 11.5 percent of GDP during 2010-11.
Official figures show that an estimated 187,000 large animals, 253,380 small ones (total 440,380 animals) and 9.94 million poultry were lost to the floods.
The total loss in livestock (large and small animals) and poultry stood at 0.3 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
The steps taken by the government included establishment of emergency relief camps, treatment and vaccination of animals, and supply of fodder in the flood-affected areas. In these camps, 7.2 million animals were treated and 7.9 million animals were vaccinated.
One official document says that the overall thrust of the government’s livestock policy is to foster “private sector-led development with public sector providing enabling environment through policy interventions and capacity building for improved livestock husbandry practices”.
The emphasis will be on improving per unit animal productivity and moving from subsistence to market-oriented rearing and commercial livestock farming to meet the domestic demand and export surplus.
The objective is to exploit the potential of livestock sector and use it as an engine for economic growth and food security for the country, leading to rural population empowerment and rural socioeconomic development. Livestock sector’s prospective role towards rural economic development may well be recognised from the fact that 35-40 million rural people depend on livestock.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=56474&Cat=3&dt=7/8/2011
No comments:
Post a Comment