ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research Dr Fakhar Alam on Tuesday said that efforts were afoot to double livestock productivity within the next 5-7 years by introducing innovative means of livestock farming and dairy production.
Addressing a workshop organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on climate financing, he said that for the first time, the government had prepared an Animal Health Bill aiming to ensure the development of veterinary sciences and animal welfare.
The workshop was aimed at curbing methane emissions from Pakistan’s dairy industry and part of USAID’s efforts to boost climate investment in developing countries like Pakistan and bring together stakeholders from various sectors to develop a program for reducing methane emissions in the dairy industry.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Fakhar Alam said that the effects of climate change could be reduced by increasing the productivity of dairy farming and Pakistan warmly welco
med the cooperation of USAID in organizing the workshop.
The aim of this initiative is to strengthen our country’s climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation efforts, he said adding that Pakistan produced less than 1% of the world’s carbon, whereas it was suffering serious consequences of climate change.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan was currently the fifth most vulnerable country in the world, he said adding that climate stability was the greatest need of the hour, he added.
Dr Fakhar said that the development of livestock was the first priority agenda of the government, adding that the Special Investment Facilitation Council under the leadership of the Prime Minister had set priorities for investment in the livestock sector, which was very important for agriculture growth.
“Our aim is to make livestock farming a commercial activity to convert it into a livelihood as well as to increase productivity per unit animal,” he said, adding that an integrated strategy devised to protect
animals from diseases, besides strengthening the surveillance system to protect animals from diseases.
He assured the full cooperation of the government for this initiative of USAID as Pakistan was a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge, which sought a 30 per cent reduction in global methane emissions by 2030.