LUMS in collaboration with Tetra Pak Pakistan delves into the reasons behind the slow and haphazard development of the dairy sector despite its contribution to Pakistan’s GDP which is higher than the contribution made by the entire corp sector.
Dairy and livestock sector contributes 49% of the value addition in the agriculture sector and about 11.4% to Pakistan’s GDP which is higher than the contribution made by the entire corp sector (10.9%). This insight became the driving force behind, a comprehensive research based on economic impact study of the dairy sector titled, ‘Pakistan’s Dairy Sector: Lessons from the Past to Build a Resilient Dairy Industry’ spearheaded by LUMS professor Abid A Burki.
This research is an evidence-based sector study in which state-of-the-art measures of impact assessment have been employed on a longitudinal (panel) survey data. One of the objectives of the study was to highlight the impact of milk supply chain of UHT milk industry on productivity and welfare of smallholder dairy producers.
The study found that more than 40 million people are engaged in raising livestock and derive 30 to 40% of their income from this sector. However, despite its contribution to the GDP, the development of this sector is slow and haphazard due to lack of serious attention and investment. The study concluded that one of the major reasons for this lack of attention has been the unavailability of updated and authentic data. This report is a step towards addressing prevalent issues facing the industry, and creating a better understanding of its key drivers and dynamics, with the overarching objective of knowledge-sharing amongst the dairy industry stakeholders.