Pakistan’s livestock sector is a cornerstone of the national economy, producing annually 70 million tonnes of milk, 6.5 million tonnes of meat, over 2.2 billion poultry birds, 25 billion eggs, and other by-products, while supporting the livelihoods of over 70 million people directly or indirectly. Despite this massive contribution, the sector remains severely underfunded in public budgets. This meter allocation shows the inability at the federal level of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research and provincial livestock departments. A sector with vast potential is being ruined, and this is the reason there is no research activity towards breed improvement, biosecurity measures, value addition, or establishment of a local FMD vaccine production unit.

Modern slaughterhouses meeting global standards, which could ensure safe meat for the public and export potential, are largely absent, leaving the sector further ruined.
Surprisingly, successive governments and politicians continue to declare that Pakistan is an agricultural country, but what happened to this slogan at the time of budget allocation needs clarification. This foul play with the sector responsible for food security shall pull the nation into devastating consequences and eventually starvation beyond one’s imagination.

This is a wake-up call for the sleepy policy makers.
Recent Economic Survey of Pakistan data show that agriculture contributes roughly 23–24% of national GDP. Within agriculture, livestock accounts for about 63–64% of the sector’s value addition, translating into nearly 14–15% of Pakistan’s total GDP. In practical terms, almost one-seventh of the country’s entire economic output originates from livestock production. No other single productive sector, apart from large-scale manufacturing, contributes at this magnitude to the domestic economy.

Despite this substantial contribution, the public spending pattern presents a reverse picture. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, livestock services fall primarily under provincial responsibility; therefore, fiscal support is reflected through provincial Annual Development Programmes. Across provinces, development expenditure on veterinary services, dairy development, disease control, breed improvement, and extension generally ranges between approximately 0.3% and 0.8% of total development budgets, and in certain years remains even lower — a wake-up call for sleepy policy makers who keep repeating slogans about Pakistan being an agricultural country but fail to act.

The fiscal comparison is therefore stark. A sector generating roughly 14–15% of national GDP receives less than 1% of development spending. If budgeting were aligned with economic contribution, the allocation would at least fall within a comparable range. Instead, the sector receives nearly one-twentieth of what proportional public investment would imply. Pakistan’s budgeting framework thus appears administrative rather than production-linked, and the consequences are increasingly visible — the sector is being ruined by neglect.

This underinvestment is not merely a statistical imbalance; it explains the structural weaknesses of the livestock economy. The absence of adequate funding has resulted in negligible research activity towards breed improvement. Pakistan possesses one of the world’s largest cattle and buffalo populations, yet systematic genetic selection programs, progeny testing, and performance recording systems remain weak because research institutions lack sustained financial support. A productive genetic base cannot develop without long-term investment, and the national herd is gradually being ruined by policy indifference rather than biological limitation — a harsh wake-up call for anyone claiming to prioritize agriculture.

Similarly, national biosecurity remains fragile. Effective disease surveillance, vaccination coverage, laboratory diagnostics, and animal movement control require continuous public financing. Without it, recurring outbreaks of transboundary animal diseases continue to reduce productivity and farmers’ income. The country repeatedly faces Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), yet establishment of a reliable local FMD vaccine production unit has not materialized at the required scale. Continued dependence on imported vaccines leaves disease control uncertain, and animal health protection is repeatedly ruined by inadequate funding — a wake-up call for sleepy policy makers.

The same fiscal neglect affects value addition and public health. Pakistan still lacks sufficient modern slaughterhouses meeting international hygienic and sanitary standards. The majority of animals are slaughtered in traditional facilities without proper ante-mortem and post-mortem veterinary inspection, cold chain, or traceability. Consequently, safe meat supply for the public is compromised, and export opportunities are lost; a sector capable of earning foreign exchange is effectively being ruined by insufficient investment in infrastructure.
This pattern of minimal allocation also reflects institutional weakness.

The extremely low development spending indicates the inability of both the Federal Ministry of National Food Security and Research to design a coherent national livestock growth strategy and the provincial livestock departments to prioritize productive investment within their own budgets
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The sector remains administratively present but financially neglected, and its performance is steadily being ruined not by lack of potential but by lack of fiscal commitment.
In simple terms, a sector with vast economic and food security potential is being ruined by the meagre allocation it receives. The ratio of economic share to budgetary share approximates 15:1 — livestock contributes about fifteen times more to the economy than the public resources it receives in return.

This continued neglect is not merely an administrative oversight; it is a dangerous policy failure. Livestock is directly linked with national food security through milk, meat, poultry, and eggs, providing daily nutrition for millions of households. Persisting with such fiscal indifference amounts to a form of economic self-damage. If the sector responsible for food security continues to be ruined, the country risks facing severe and destabilizing consequences — shrinking food availability, rising prices, nutritional deficiencies, and a level of hardship approaching food scarcity beyond imagination.

Budget allocation is not merely accounting; it is a statement of national economic priorities. When a sector providing a substantial portion of GDP receives negligible investment, productivity stagnates, opportunities disappear, and long-term growth is ruined before it can materialize. Increasing livestock development expenditure even to 2–3% of development budgets could initiate breed improvement programs, strengthen biosecurity, support domestic vaccine manufacturing, develop modern slaughterhouses, ensure safe meat for the public, and enable export-oriented value addition across the dairy, meat, and poultry chains.

It should also be kept in mind that budgetary priorities must focus on food security, not on overhead bridges, underpasses, or other development projects that do not directly contribute to feeding the nation.

Ignoring this is a policy failure that will ruin the sector responsible for sustaining millions of lives.

Pakistan’s livestock sector financially supports a significant portion of the economy, yet fiscally it remains peripheral. The figures summarize the issue clearly: nearly 15% contribution to GDP but less than 1% return in development allocation.

The policy question therefore is straightforward — can a country continue to depend on a sector while its future is being ruined by persistent underfunding? Until budgetary priorities begin to reflect economic contribution, the national economy will continue to receive output from livestock, but its real potential will remain ruined by neglect — a final wake-up call for sleepy policy makers.

Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik
Advisor,Veterinary Sciences
University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Swat
Former Financial Adviser,Finance Division
Government of Pakistan