Systemic Change in the fodder sector
The fast read
MDF in Pakistan was part of a flagship, multi-country Australian Government program which aims to create additional employment and income for poor women and men in rural and urban areas through sustainable and broad-based pro-poor growth.
MDF is a system change program—instead of taking the traditional development approach of finding a problem and stepping in to solve it directly, it uses its resources to change how market systems work. The MDF Pakistan program closed in June 2020, but a small post-implementation team continues to monitor activities until May 2022. MDF first published a case study on systemic change in Pakistan’s silage market in September 2017.
Pakistan is a large and well-established economy, but it faces many challenges in stimulating inclusive rural economic growth.
Despite modest growth, poverty is prevalent in 45 per cent of the population, reaching up to 90 per cent in remote rural areas. MDF Pakistan found that large firms were well connected to innovation, investment and export markets, yet they rarely entered remote rural areas. Conversely, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that serviced large swathes of the rural economy were significantly disconnected from innovation, technical expertise and investment.
The rural dairy and meat sector presented a feasible opportunity for inclusive growth, as Pakistan has the fifth-largest livestock population globally, with small farmers (landless and small landholders) owning 80 per cent of the country’s animals. In addition, over six million households in Pakistan have some livelihood dependency on livestock for milk or meat.
Numerous constraints inhibited livestock productivity.
Despite Pakistan’s significant livestock population, its dairy and meat sector was not nearing its potential. Small livestock farmers lacked access to nutritious fodder, animal health and nutrition inputs, information about animal husbandry and finance. They were also disconnected from formal dairy and meat markets. MDF identified poor animal nutrition as a key constraint to livestock productivity. Its analysis showed that, regardless of improvements in other areas, farmers would see immediate improvements in animal yields if they used quality fodder. However, livestock needs for nutritious fodder outstripped supply by more than 70 per cent.
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