Inaccurate livestock data hinders policy-making in Pakistan

FAISALABAD: Accurate data on livestock numbers, milk and meat production is not readily available within the government departments at the national and provincial levels.

Moreover, the rate of livestock increase is not meeting the nutritional needs of the population adequately. The most recent agricultural census in Pakistan was conducted in 2010, while India has a history of conducting 11 censuses.

This was revealed during a recent workshop held by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the Agricultural University on Wednesday. At the workshop, Secretary Livestock and Dairy Development Masood Anwar expressed concerns about the reliability of current livestock data. He noted that Pakistan’s livestock growth rate was 2.7%, while 40% of the population suffered from malnutrition.

He stressed the importance of correcting production statistics for milk and meat and the significance of conducting the seventh agricultural census to obtain accurate data for developing effective policies at the grassroots level.