For Ghulam Shahwani Farooq, a small-scale livestock farmer from Mastung in Balochistan, his work is more than a livelihood, it is a legacy.
Taking pride in his herd of 300 sheep, Farooq said that “this herd has been with our family for generations”, adding that “we Balochis grow up watching our fathers and mothers care for our sheep. In return, we get milk, wool, meat, and a lot of warmth from our beloved sheep”.
Farooq wants to pass his family tradition on to his children and to ensure that his educated children do not shun the legacy of his ancestors, Farooq flew to Australia in January on a three-week study tour sponsored by the U S Agency for International Development (USAID) to learn modern farming practices, yield increasing techniques and to ensure that he can sell his family tradition to his children by making it “cool”
More than 40 percent of Balochistan’s economy relies on sheep and wool, however, the sheep-growing sector is still relying upon traditional, centuries old techniques. There is a significant demand in other provinces of Pakistan for the wool from Balochistan to weave carpets and blankets, and Baloch farmers are eager to tap into that huge market.
The USAID-funded Balochistan Agriculture Project helps these farmers along the border with Afghanistan to increase their incomes by modernizing their farming activities. Farooq’s study tour was part of that project.
Farooq was fascinated by practices that add value, such as; washing, sorting, and bailing. Farooq reckons that by adopting these simple processes in their homes instead of having them done elsewhere, the families of Bloch shepherds can increase their household incomes. He also plans to in cooperate other techniques such as battery-operated shearing, baling, and primary grading based on color at his farm.