Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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    • Good Evening Colleagues,

      Community participation in agriculutral transformation is hurdled by several factors, especially in the developing countries like Pakistan. Let us discuss some of these factors with reference or the livestock value chain (LVC).

      The main stakeholders of the LVC, the livestock and poultry farmers and butchers belong to poor socioeconomic background with little access to the state resources like policy making and funding opportunities. Their farming processing practices prevent their business setup from generating quality products and profitability. Above this, the price fixation policy call for lower prices, irrespective of the products quality. A good entrepeneur, struggling to make a place in the market through quality products, is discouraged by the irrationally low prices fixed by the district administrative authorities. Hence, the farmers and butchers raraly sustain their small scale operations and can not attract their growing kids to come into such businesses. 

      LVC is served by several public sector organizations like Livestock and Dairy Development Department KP Extension and Research Wings, taking care of extension and research needs of the livestock sector. 
      Livestock Markets and Slaughter Houses are being managed by Local Council Board, livestock education 
      is managed by Higher Education Department through various universities, Livestock Enterprises and Trade 
      are overseen by KP-LFWA, KPCCI and SMEDA; food quality by KP-FSHFA and price regulation by the district 
      administration. Fisheries have got their own Directorate General. Hence, 10 government/private organizations are taking care of a single livestock sector. All of these organizations work in total isolation without any mechanism for coordination or judicial access to the government resources. Hence, the issues of the livestock stakeholders across the livestock based food value chain remain ignored. This may not qualify to be called as a good governance model. 

      This Author, as Natinoal Consultant (Qureshi 2019, FAO KP Livestock Action Plan), was of the opinion that the private sector is suffering badly by the price regulating policies of the District Goverments. Price capping has restricted the growth of the dairy and meat industries. Young dairy and meat entrepreneurs providing high quality 
      products, are fined, punished and sealed by the district administration/. KP-Foof Safety and Halal Food Authority (KP-SHFA) while those selling low quality items keep on working. 

      Degree programs of three provincial universities have got non-accredited by the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council. Livestock Market and Slaughter Houses failed to attract attention of the Government. Private sector could not get appropriate patronage of the government to survive and contribute in economic growth of the province through generation of decent employment and exportable surpluses. Consumers could not get access to milk, meat and eggs of their desired quality. International opportunities like collaboration with Konya Technopark, Tukey could not be honored. 

      This Author suggested that Livestock Technopark Peshawar (LTP) may be established, initially as an LTP Task Force through an executive order of the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Later on, an Act of the Legislative 
      Assembly/Ordinance of Governor may be initiated. LTP will be an autonomous authority with full 
      regulatory, administrative, financial and legislative powers to protect all the stakeholders of the livestock 
      industry, and to engage all the relevant private and public sector organizations in the process. This would 
      create an enabling environment for the growth of the emerging entrepreneurs, through a coordinated 
      approach, targeted at generating decent employment and exportable surpluses. A balance approach 
      would provide a level playing field to all the stakeholders and ensure a private sector led growth as per 
      international standards. The Managing Board of Livestock Technopark Peshawar would comprise one 
      representative each of: i) DG LDD Ext; ii) DG LDD Res; iii) DG Fisheries; iv) Dean FAHVS UAP; v) Secretary 
      Local Council Board; vi) VC WUM; vii) KP-LFA; viii) Poultry Farmer; ix) Fish Farmer; x) Feed Processor; xi) 
      Dairy Processor; xii) Meat Processor; xiii) KPCCI; xiv) KP FSHFA and; xv) MPA. 

    • Under the present governance system, focus of the public sector organization has been on: i) Livestock Extension, breeding and health coverage; ii) Livestock Research, vaccine, diagnosis and nutrition; iii) Livestock Education, veterinary medicine; iv) Agric Extension/Research, Fodder/Crops Production & Mngt; v) Deputy Commissioner, price capping, no Quality Control; vi) Legal courts, export ban; vii) SMEDA, little focused attempts; viii) KPCCI, low priority; ix) Public Health Services, low priority; x) ORIC Offices of Universities, underutilized. It has led to missing entrepreneurship/ exports/ Quality Control/ Traceability/ Halal aspects of the livestock-based food value chain.

      As National Consultant FAO (Livestock), this author suggested establishment of LTs under KP Livestock Action Plan 2019, as autonomous bodies which would explore and enhance the capacity of the public sector organizations to support entrepreneurship development across the Livestock Value Chain. It will contribute to Environmental Sustainability through good practices, Social Sustainability through empowerment of the farmers’ community and Economic Sustainability through development of a network of entrepreneurship models in livestock farming, products processing and service delivery, targeted at generation of decent employment and exportable food surpluses. 

      The principle of "Thinking Globally, Acting Locally" profoundly aligns with the Dairy Science Park's mission, aiming to harness livestock resources to create a network of entrepreneurial models that generate sustainable employment and exportable surpluses. Despite facing resistance from influential stakeholders in large-scale projects, the initiative has found strong support among stakeholders throughout the livestock value chain, particularly those striving for survival and advancement.

      This transformative vision originated from discussions between Prof M Subhan Qureshi and Dr. Abdur Rahman Ilyas at the 2010 Industrial Biotech Conference in Cairo, culminating in the establishment of the "Dairy Science Park" in 2011 at the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan. Since its inception, the initiative has garnered backing from local farming communities, allied sectors, Chief Minister GoKP, and esteemed international organizations like FAO-UN, ITC-UN, and ASRT-Egypt, underscoring its broad recognition and endorsement.

      Despite receiving support across various fronts, tangible implementation in the public sector remains pending. Nonetheless, private partners and individuals have embraced the concept, albeit on a limited scale, delving into the industrial aspects of livestock resources to promote entrepreneurship. This endeavor has already yielded the production of Halal and hygienic foods/biotech products for both local and international markets.

      The transformative potential of converting livestock resources into entrepreneurial models through livestock technoparks extends beyond borders and offers promise for replication in numerous developing countries and regions, signaling a pathway toward sustainable economic development.

      See the attachments:

    • In continuation to national consultancy for FAO-UN, the International Trade Centre - WTO/UN provided me an opportunity as National Consultant, to contribute in reducing the hardships faced by the people of Balochistan, getting benefits from the natural resources available in the form of sheep, camels, goats, poultry, and cattle. ITC is focusing on internationalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises in selected districts of Balochistan under the EU-funded "Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress" project. Four universities and public sector organizations (PSOs) each and Balochistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) were consulted to participate in the process and contribute their regulatory, academic, financial, natural and human resources for transformation of livestock resources into an entrepreneurial network through a triple helix good governance model of academia-industry-government nexus. The consultative process led to recommendation to establish Livestock Technopark Quetta comprising two Centers of Excellence (CE) at universities and nine Livestock Entrepreneurship Development Centers (LEDC) at PSOs. University graduates would be facilitated to establish startups utilizing demonstrated-feasible models. CEs would provide academic and LEDCs would provide land, animals, value addition, services and marketing support for such models. An Endowment Fund (EF) would support the network through an uninterrupted funding and recovery. We expect generation of decent employment and exportable food and biotech surpluses from successful implementation of this program.

      See the attachments:

    • Price Volatility and Food Security have been great issues in the Pakistan. Social Protection for Food Security & Nutrition is an appropriate approach to handle this issue. A National Consultancy was made for developing Balochistan Livestock Breeding Policy 2022 as an attempt to transform the livestock resourcebase in to a tool for generating decent employment for the educated and skilled youth and hygienic/Halal food for the local and internatinoal market. 

      Balochistan is Pakistan's southwestern province, the largest in area but the smallest in population, with Quetta as its capital and most populous city. The total area of the province is 34 million ha, of which only 4% is cultivated, and 60% of the cultivated area is rainfed. The rangelands make up about 93 percent of the province. The ranges in Balochistan have been a source of livestock forages, wildlife habitat, medicinal plants, water storage, and distribution. These ranges also provide energy, minerals, fuel wood, recreational facilities, and a natural landscape. Balochistan is rich in natural resources and provides some of the best assets for developmental interventions, as reported by the World Bank in 2008. The vast rangelands support the farming of goats, sheep, buffaloes, cattle, camels, and other livestock. Its southern border makes up about two-thirds of Pakistan’s coastline, giving access to a large pool of fishery resources. This frontier province provides a trade opportunity with the neighbouring countries, resulting in historical and cultural linkages. The province has been supplying cheap natural gas to the rest of the country, supporting industrialization.

      Although it has a huge natural resource base, the economy of Balochistan has not done well. The livestock population of the province contributes 52.0%, 41.0%, 22.0%, 12.7%, 11.0%, and 2.6% of Pakistan’s sheep, camels, goats, pack animals, cattle, and buffaloes, respectively. These animals provide a source of employment to about 66% of households in the province in the arid regions, which are unsuitable for cultivating crops. The rising living standards of the people and the rapid urbanisation of the province have resulted in increasing demands for milk and meat products. LDD has been providing services to the farmers, and BRSP has been supporting livestock farmers through a network in 25 districts. However, the commercial aspect of this resource-base is still unexplored, and the poverty level in the province is high.

      This Consultant was enthusiastic about providing services for the transformation of the livestock sector from farming into an entrepreneurship base to generate decent employment and exportable foods and biotech products across the livestock breeding value chain (LBVC) under the Balochistan Livestock Breeding Policy 2022 and Action Plan. Presently, LBVC is provided services officially and mainly by the Director General Animal Health with a handsome current budget of Rs. 4.53 billion and a development budget of Rs. 1.63 billion. Looking at the SNE for 2022, it appears that the farmers are served by the regular staff stationed at civil veterinary hospitals and dispensaries, livestock farms, SPUs, dairy and poultry farms, etc. The department is protecting animal health and productivity to some extent, while the entrepreneurial aspect is totally lacking.

      Management of the LBVC by the Directorate General Animal Health may be supplemented with inputs from Public Service Organizations (PSOs) through an autonomous Livestock Technopark Quetta (LTQ), an Academia-Industry-Government Nexus, a Triple Helix Model of Good Governance with legislative, regulatory, financial, and administrative powers, to boost entrepreneurship development, regulating and facilitating all the Functional Units at PSOs. An endowment fund (EF) may replace the repeated funding to remove the financial burden on the government treasury. Nine PSOs would work in coordination to achieve the common goal of transforming the provincial livestock resources into prosperity for the people. These resources would be utilised for generating decent employment and quality products that are certified, traceable, and hygienic. Halal foods and biotech products for local and export markets would be produced through an interconnected network of entrepreneurial models covering livestock and poultry farming, dairy and meat factories, diagnostic, clinical, and consultancy centres, and marketing facilities.

      See the attachments:

    • The livestock farming system in northern Pakistan comprises a huge resource base comprising cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloes and camel animals and poultry birds, in addition to wildlife. The animals are mostly reared in herds of sheep and goats in the remote rural areas or some dairy cattle and buffaloes in the urban and periurban areas. The farming families associated with such businesses belong to lower socio-economic backgrounds; hence their rich natural resource base is unable to provide them a graceful livelihood. In addition, the products coming out of such setups are not quality certified and lack any traceability towards a farming or processing centre following good livestock practices.

      Role of the public sector organisations is at minimum level and rather hostile, in responding to such issues and even prestigious international organisations like FAO-UN fail to integrate good practices into mandates of these organisations. This is evident from the FAO KP Livestock Action Plan 2019 prepared by the author but prevented by the powerful stakeholders across the livestock value chain from being implemented. 

      Such farming families do possess qualified kids, usually with graduate level education, However, the young generation are afraid and fed-up with the issues and challenges in the farming and products processing setups. Matching grants may be provided to such farming and products processing families, especially thier educated kids, to establish their viable entrepreneurship models, linked with technical, quality control and marketing bodies.

      See the attachments:

    • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations engaged Prof M Subhan Qureshi as National Consultant Livestock with the mutually agreed TORs requiring development of the Action Plan with estimated budget for Livestock Sector Development and Transformation, based on KP Livestock Policy; covering regulatory issues, value chain development, private sector engagement and overall required capacity at provincial and district levels; to elaborate on roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders focused on institutional reforms; review the current policy/strategies/program and align livestock sector priorities. All the participants except representative of the DG LDD Ext agreed on establishment of an autonomous body with full administrative, legislative, regulatory and financial authority. Livestock Technopark Peshawar (LTP) was suggested by the Mission, on the basis of FAO opinion on good governance, to build institutions and mechanisms that provide international norms, standards and data, promote international cooperation, and support an enabling environment for effective collective action to solve problems that cannot be addressed, or as effectively addressed, working at national level alone. The LTP would be an autonomous corporate body with legislative, regulatory, financial and administrative power to support entrepreneurship development and protect interests of the producers, processors, service providers and marketing partners. DSP considers this Good Governance model to be implemented in letter and spirit.

      See the attachments:

    • Good governance is lacking in the developing countries due to inefficiency of the relevant public service organizations. The red tape and tightly defined mandates of these organizations make their services almost non accessible for the stakeholders. An appropriate approach would be Academia-Industry-Government Nexus, providing win win situation for everyone.

      Scientific Societies may contribute their services to the stakeholders across Food Value Chain through their expert groups and partner organizations. Dairy Science Park has come up with a Good Governance Model. Www.dairysciencepark.org.pk/services-2