Pakistan’s Livestock Sector Cries Out for Policy Reform to Unlock Export Potential

Pakistan’s livestock sector, long overshadowed by other industries, is crying out for the attention and investment it desperately needs. Farmers say the country holds immense untapped potential to become a major player in global meat exports, but years of neglect, high production costs, and poor infrastructure have left the industry struggling to compete internationally. They warn that without decisive government action—particularly to cut energy costs, ensure a reliable water supply to animal pens, and secure property rights—Pakistan will continue to miss out on lucrative markets.

Source: Profit By Pakistan Today

Veteran livestock farmer and Memon Dairy Cooperative Farming Society President, Jamil Memon, points to a glaring example: every year, Saudi Arabia imports over three million sacrificial animals during Hajj, primarily lambs and sheep from Australia and New Zealand, because Pakistani livestock is up to 40% more expensive. In drought years, Australian farmers flood the market with surplus lambs weighing between 60 to 200 kilograms—disease-free and competitively priced—making it almost impossible for Pakistan to match them.

On the outskirts of Karachi, thousands of farmers in areas such as Sohrab Goth, Kathore, and Gadap Town rear between 200,000 and 250,000 large animals without a single connection to sweet water. They rely entirely on groundwater, a situation worsened by the expiry of their 30-year land leases, leaving them without legal property rights and unable to plan long-term investments. In Landhi’s vast Bhains Colony, home to 400,000 animals, half the farmers face the same water scarcity, while also operating on expired leases that have been in limbo for decades—eroding confidence among commercial farmers and deterring new investors.

Livestock experts, like Sindh’s deputy director of Animal Husbandry, Dr. Mazhar Ali Rind, stress that the province is blessed with abundant breeds of goats, lambs, sheep, and cattle spread across multiple districts, from Shaheed Benazirabad to Tharparkar. With the right policies—such as creating disease-free zones in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Rahim Yar Khan, and Tharparkar—Pakistan could produce healthier, export-ready animals to meet international demand. Farmers say the choice is clear: support the sector with the infrastructure, incentives, and policy reforms it needs, or risk watching other countries claim the markets Pakistan could dominate.