Minister for rehabilitating rangelands to promote livestock, ensure food security
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan Wednesday said that 60 percent of the country’s geographical area was rangeland, calling attention of policymakers to rehabilitate these to support livestock that has been playing important role in food security, nutrition and livelihood of poor and vulnerable.
“The total rangeland area of Pakistan is 52.2 million hectors, which is around 60 percent of the total geographical area,” the federal minister said while addressing an inaugural session of two-day Rangeland Symposium on Wednesday.
The symposium has been organised by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and Ministry of Food Security and Research.
The federal minister said that livestock sector contributed over 11.9 percent to the national GDP, besides contributing 55.4 percent to the agriculture value addition during the last fiscal year. He said that livestock production was one of the major activities, as it engages about 30-35 million people in rearing livestock in the rural areas, who derive around 30 to 40 percent of their incomes from it.
“In this case, rangelands provide forge to the livestock in various ecological zones, throughout the country,” he remarked and added that the rangelands also play key role in water recharging and sustainable water flow for human consumption, irrigation and hydel.
Livestock sector contributes to the food security and nutrition of the poor and vulnerable population both in rural and urban areas in the form of milk and meat, he said. Therefore it requires special attention to keep these rangelands under a good vegetation cover to ensure water supply downstream, biodiversity, clean environment and eco-tourism.
The federal minister called for immediate attention of the policymakers, government departments, research institutions, private sector organisations and local community to initiate some key developmental activities for the rehabilitation of these rangelands. He was of the view that in the absence of National and Provincial Rangeland policies, this sub-sector has not gained the required attention, which means less investment in the sector. He assured the participants that the ministry would implement the recommendations of the symposium to help rehabilitate the rangeland.
Speaking on the occasion, PARC Chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmed said that in addition to serving as production base for livestock, the rangelands provide fuel, building material, medicinal plants and habitat for wildlife. He said that rangelands also served as watersheds to the mighty Indus and its tributaries and drain into Tarbela and Mangla dams. He was of the view that this ecosystem is under severe threat due to climate change.
Re-vegetation and management of watershed rangelands is essential for checking soil erosion and production of good quality water for increasing life-span of these dams. He was of the view that development of rangelands is environmentally sensitive, socially beneficial and economically sustainable.
Speaking on the occasion, FAO Country Representative Patrick Evans said that his organisation was working with Pakistan on various areas including productivity, management and governance to improve livestock quality. He said that the symposium was organised to bring together the experts to address the challenges and enhance the performance of livestock, which is backbone of the agriculture sector.
FAO assistant representative Nasr Hayat, National Agriculture Research Council Director General Dr Azeem and Rangeland Researcher Dr Faizul Bari also spoke on the occasion and highlighted various issue, calling for the attention of the government to address these to help ensure food security in the country.
